Macmillan Davies has boosted its HR Executive Search team by appointing Kerry White and Simon Cutner to lead the function, looking after the North and South of the UK, respectively.
The appointment comes after the business saw a continued increase in demand for HR leadership and search-level roles. Simon and Kerry will focus on the recruitment needs of FTSE-listed companies, PE-backed, mid-sized firms and high growth start-ups seeking executive-level talent across the UK.
On his new role, Simon Cutner comments: “I am delighted that Kerry are now able to focus on growing the Executive Search offering at Macmillan Davies. In today’s competitive talent market, it’s never been more difficult for companies to attract and hire high-level HR talent.”
“As we saw from the last recession and post-pandemic, many more businesses have seen the value of HR, with the function now having its feet firmly under the top table. Business leaders are seeing that HR is paramount in supporting organisations in any change management, transformation and organisational restructure and we don’t see this changing. Many of our latest senior roles have had a mandate of people change agendas and transformation.”
HR specialists
“What sets us aside from the competition and other search firms is that we purely specialise in HR. This means we understand the idiosyncrasies of a business and its HR function, at a senior level, every hire is critical.” explains Kerry White. “As a business solely focusing on the ever-changing HR talent market, we are in the best position to advise and react quickly to changing gaps and trends. We challenge conventional thinking. I believe this is why we have so many long-standing partnerships and relationships and typically why so many candidates become clients.
We see ourselves as a true value add partner to our candidates and clients with our combined knowledge and wealth of expertise within Macmillan Davies.”
A key part of business growth
Macmillan Davies has seen double-digit growth and a surge in demand for its services over the last 18 months. Darren Hayman, Managing Director at the firm believes this is partly down to a buoyant market but also down to the firm’s business development strategy: “We pride ourselves on creating long-term relationships with our clients and candidates. Our team of experts offer an outstanding level of service, finding the right fit for both client and candidate. Growing our Executive Search function is a key pillar of our business strategy. Unlike large search firms where you have multiple people working on a search, we are a boutique, and our model means our directors are involved with all phases of the search process, from start to finish. As some of our most experienced HR recruiters Simon and Kerry, with over 35 years between them, are best placed to support our clients with senior hires.”