Former Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) chairman Gary Irvine was one of six new directors elected to the council of the REC at the trade body’s Annual General Meeting held in central London yesterday [13 June]. Three existing directors were re-elected.
The directors who join the REC Council as corporate directors are:
- Helena Benjamin, company director, Care Recruitment UK (newly elected)
- Sean Gallagher, chief executive, ITHR Group. A four-year veteran of the council, Gallagher was elected its head of finance in March (re-elected)
- Rebekah Handford, MD, HighPoint Recruitment Consultants (new)
- Jacqueline Hilton, talent acquisition director, Fidelis Partners. In her candidate biography, Hilton said she was co-opted onto the council in June 2011 “after a number of Board members resigned following the election process” (re-elected)
- Gary Irvine, owner/chairman, Diamond Recruitment Group. Spent two years as REC chairman, stepping down in 2007 (new)
- Lisa Jarvis, owner, Permanent Solutions Direct (new)
- Simon Noakes, joint managing director, Bespoke Recruitment. In March, Noakes was appointed to a vice chairman’s role on the council (re-elected)
Successfully elected individual directorships are:
- Miles Davis, MD, HCL Workforce Solutions (new)
- Jo Edwards, MD, Tate Recruitment, Impellam Group. Edwards is the current chair of the REC Office Professionals Sector Group (new)
Because only two members put themselves forward for the three positions available as individual directors, Edwards and Davis were not elected by membership vote but were co-opted by the board.
A total of 652 votes were cast by REC members via an online voting system, which was first adopted last year.
The REC council consists of up to 17 directors who are representatives of corporate members and up to seven directors who are representatives of individual members of the IRP (Institute of Recruitment Professionals) appointed either by the membership at the Annual General Meeting of the REC or by the council itself during the course of the year as vacancies arise. One quarter of the directors stand down each year at the AGM, and any member can be nominated for election, in accordance with the articles.
Jeff Brooks, chair of the REC Technology sector group, told the AGM: “The encouraging thing is that
27 people put themselves up for election.”
Neil Smith, REC chairman, adds: “It’s fantastic to welcome these very experienced and dynamic new directors to join our truly representative council. They come from all corners of our industry and will bring new energy and ideas to our board. I’m very much looking forward to working with them.”
