Zebra People specialises in hiring digital product teams, with typical roles including user experience (UX) and product design, full stack developers, product manager and delivery/project managers. The firm recruits for roles up to director level. 

HW Global currently operates on an exclusive and retained basis in the £120k+ search market, also placing interims on daily rates from £700 to £2k.

According to an HW Global statement, the deal is the first in a series of planned acquisitions designed to enable the executive search firm to offer clients an end-to-end talent solution in key functional areas of high growth, transformation and demand. 

The statement went on to say that that the acquisition of Zebra People will enable HW Global to offer a comprehensive digital talent service to its clients, with HW appointing senior digital leaders while Zebra People will build the critical capability sitting underneath.

Both companies will continue to trade under their existing brands with a new holding company HWJ Holdings acting as the acquisition vehicle. The deal creates a £16m turnover business with around 50 staff in London, Leeds and Manchester. HW Global CEO Spencer Jinks and chairman Paul Spetch will sit on the Zebra People board.

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