Global Representative Committee
Ann Swain
Ann is founder and Global CEO of APSCo, an international trade body representing the professional recruitment sector with operations in the UK, Germany, Australia and across South East Asia.
She has over thirty years’ recruitment experience including time as UK Sales Director of multinational staffing firms and Managing Director of recruitment training company Learning Curve before establishing APSCo in 1999.
In 2009, she was honoured to receive a fellowship from the NSPCC and in 2018, received the prestigious Leadership Award from the Trade Association Forum. Ann currently features in the SIA ‘Global Power 50’ list of the most influential women in international recruitment. She is also one of the select recruitment sector leaders to have made the Staffing Industry Analysts Hall of Fame, which celebrates individuals in the recruitment field whose accomplishments, dedication and drive are making a difference to work today, and to what work will look like in the future.
Ann is an acknowledged thought leader and her articles feature regularly in the national and recruitment media. An award-winning business leader and inspirational keynote speaker, she is also the co-author of the best-selling ‘Professional Recruiter’s Handbook’.
- Twitter:
- @AnnAPSCo
- LinkedIn:
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/annswain/
Samantha Hurley
As APSCo's Operations Director, Sam has responsibility for the development of APSCo’s presence and reputation within the UK. She ensures innovation, development and improved delivery of existing and new members services, resources, and engagement through the various delivery teams, and the continuing improvement and development of the operational running of the UK business.
Sam has over 30 years’ experience in the UK recruitment sector, and previously ran APSCo’s legal and public affairs offering. Prior to joining APSCo in May 2013, Sam owned and ran a legal services company and held senior management positions within the recruitment sector.
Miles Hunt
Miles Hunt is a leading international recruitment entrepreneur and expert. He has taken companies from start up to IPO in more than 25 countries over a career spanning 30 years.
Miles is an active investor of the industry and is Chairman of four companies in Australia and the UK, as well as an advisor to a number of international staffing and HR related organisations.
Miles founded Benula Capital in 2013 to provide development funding to ambitious management teams operating in the Human Capital Services sector.
Miles is the current Chairman of APSCo Global. Miles welcomes connections and discussions about the promotion of best practice within the recruitment industry as well as contact from owners and management teams of recruitment companies considering how best to realise shareholder value.
Che Hookings
Offering and tempering views with such a prestigious peer group has been a tremendous experience during my first term on the Representative Committee. Seeing active change in the sector as a result, in part, of my efforts boosts confidence and encourages a deep affinity with the team.
I have experience in a few areas that I believe beneficial; the majority of Recruit 121's trade is across broad international territories, we are technology specific and our business model is one of empowerment where we have embraced fully remote working. I offer this knowledge in an enthusiastic, happy to be challenged/wrong personality style which I believe encourages others to contribute and feel engaged.
The challenges intensify, with geopolitical unrest, unbalanced fiscal and monetary priorities and the impact of AI. Harnessing wide ranging views and influencers from within the recruitment sector and bringing them to focus on these issues is more important than ever. My work is not yet done!
Lesley Horsburgh
Previous owner of recruitment extra magazine (established in 1998) recruitment extra was acquired by Thomson Reuters in 2007. recruitment extra is an independent, monthly trade publication for the Australian and NZ recruitment industry.
Founder of Recruitment Excellence Awards (REA's) established in 2008.
Drives growth initiatives, sales and product development for:
Australasian Legal Business (ALB)
ALB Law Awards
Recruitment extra
Recruitment Excellence Awards
CPD News services
Professional Development Seminars and workshops.
Manages a large and diverse team of sales, production, design and content generation professionals.
Specialties: Extensive background in delivering solutions to the recruitment industry
Marketing,
Idea generation & strategic business development
Copy Writing,
Product development,
People Management
Stephen Smith
Sirius People is a people-first business that specialises in recruitment for technology, office support, blue collar and events, sales and marketing across a number of industries. As CEO and Managing Director, I lead the development and implementation of Sirius People’s strategy.
Instead of the traditional recruitment approach, we believe in building and fostering relationships first, recruitment later. So for us, it doesn’t start with advertising a job. It starts with conversation and learning about our clients and candidates long before a job opening exists. This allows us to gain greater insight into the quality of the candidate’s potential fit with our clients.
We recruit in the following spaces:
- Technology: PHP, Javascript, Salesforce, Business Intelligence, Data Analytics, Microsoft Dynamics, .Net Development, IT Testing, Front End, and IT Infrastructure
- Support: Call Centre, Executive Assistants, Personal Assistants, Receptionist, Operational Support Staff, - Administration, Customer Service, Freight and Logistics
- Blue Collar: Labourers, Manufacturing and Warehousing
- Events, Sales & Marketing
Thomas André Sola
Thomas André Sola has over 15 years of experience in the German speaking recruitment markets, encompassing contingent permanent, executive search, freelance and temporary services. His relationship with APSCo goes back many years. As the Managing Director of a recruitment member company, he has seen in the last 5 years for himself the value that APSCo brings to support its members.
André was educated in Venezuela, U.S.A., Germany & Switzerland. His recruitment career began in 2006 when he joined Hays, one of the world’s largest recruitment firms. In 2011, André co-founded an innovative recruitment start-up, EarthStream Global. André successfully established and grew their operations within Germany and Switzerland, leading to the successful integration of the EarthStream business into the TechStream Group.
André is committed to APSCo Deutschland’s mission to support its members in developing their businesses and in continually raising the quality and reputation of the professional recruitment market in Germany. Recruitment is his passion and he is dedicated to support all of APSCo's members – from start-ups to SMEs and international firms.
His experience, language skills and understanding of APSCo will help him to excel in the position as Managing Director of APSCo Deutschland.
Marco Raschia
Managing Director and CEO Professional Services within Be Group, the leading Pan-European Consultancy and ICT Provider for Financial Services Clients, listed on the STAR segment of Italian Stock Exchange with more than 1.500 employees across 9 European countries. Marco has served the Recruitment Industry for more than 20 years in various international responsibilities, including Business Development, Key Account-Engagement- and Change Management as well as Strategic and Operative Consulting. Born in Turin, Marco has a master’s degree in Intercultural Management from Passau University and lives with his family in Munich. Besides Italian and German, Marco is fluent in English and keeps up with French, bringing into APSCo more than 30 years of professional experience.
Melanie Forbes
Melanie has been involved in the outsource market for over two decades most recently as Group MD of Rullion; MD of Managed Solutions at AMS and CEO of Guidant Global.
She has been listed in the SIA Global Power 150 Women in Staffing every year between 2015 and 2019 and was also listed in the SIA European Staffing Top 100 in 2016, 2019 and 2020. Melanie also sits on the board of the Recruitment Industry Disability Initiative (RIDI).
Chris Hughes
Since joining PRO in 2013, Chris has played a pivotal role in the success and ongoing growth of PRO’s international business. Chris is the Senior Director of Global Services, based in London, and manages the Global Services function. This consists of leading PRO’s Supplier Partnership’s department, PRO’s international Services team as well as many of PRO’s global Compliance services. Chris also works across PRO’s client portfolio and plays a pivotal role in developing client and country driven solutions to ensure PRO’s service offerings are “best in class” while being delivered to market compliantly.
With extensive experience across many global markets, Chris has guided large and instantly recognizable clients spanning a myriad of different industries by providing strategies on how to implement, operate and maintain multi-country contingent workforce programmes. Specifically, Chris now leads a highly specialised team on supply chain structure, risk mitigation and compliance, contingent employment legislation, worker classification, cross border activity and finance and transactional flows.
Chris started his career in 1998 working for a Contractor Management Company, holding a variety of different positions which provided the grounding for his extensive global compliance knowledge relating to the temporary workforce. Chris also spent several years at a leading global immigration law firm where he provided extensive account and stakeholder management in the EMEA region for many of the firms’ large and strategic clients.