HW Group — an executive search firm which serves some of the world’s biggest brands — has launched a new Leeds-based finance division to meet the growing demand for financial industry expertise in the North of England.
HW Finance, as the new business will be known, will be led by a four-strong team who have joined HW from the Leeds office of Marks Sattin, which they built from a start-up 14 years ago.
Rafi Davies, Ross Broad, David Clamp and Ryan Johnson between them have over 60 years’ experience in the recruitment sector. They will be based in Leeds and cover the whole of the North of England and the Midlands, with plans to expand nationally.
“The launch of HW Finance comes in response to growing demand for finance talent resulting from the trend for ‘North shoring’ – companies relocating from London – as well as the emergence of Leeds as a fintech centre, the digital transformation agenda and the growth of other regional cities such as Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield and Newcastle,” said HW Group.
“HW Finance will provide a professional talent acquisition service for ‘emerging leader’ roles with a salary level of up to £120,000 across all areas of finance including tax, treasury and audit.
“It will complement HW People, which focuses on ‘emerging leaders’ in disciplines other than finance, and HW Global, which focuses on C-suite appointments in the UK and internationally.
“It also has HW Global Interim Solutions which matches interim and change management executives with Plcs, large private companies, SMEs and private equity-backed organisations in the UK and globally.”
HW Group — which is based in Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and London — was founded in 2006 by Adrian Hitchenor and John Wakeford and serves clients including L’Oréal and Mars. The group has doubled revenue in the last three years to more than £30 million and employs over 80 people.
Rafi Davies, Managing Director, who will lead HW Finance with the three co-founding directors said: “As a team we had achieved everything we set out to do at our previous firm and wanted a fresh challenge with the opportunity to build a national finance offering. HW Global is one of the most respected executive search firms in the UK and their culture and ambition were a perfect fit.
“Although it is a time of uncertainty and political change, we are a resilient team, having launched our last venture during the credit crunch and ridden out recessions and seven Prime Ministers! The current climate means there will be a lot of movement within finance teams and this, together with relocations and other factors, means now is a perfect time to launch.”
Hitchenor said: “North shoring has been a key trend in recent years, with names such as the Bank of England, HMRC, Starling Bank and Channel 4 all building teams here to reduce costs and access talent in the region.
“Our work with financial services, retailers and FMCG organisations in the region has highlighted the growing demand for financial skills, which was the one gap in provision.
“HW Finance is the missing piece of the jigsaw for HW Group. The launch reflects our ambition to offer a unique multi-disciplinary service to clients across all sectors and all parts of the country.”