Carmichael Fisher Opens First U.S. Office

March 15, 2017 – Executive search firm Carmichael Fisher has expanded into the U.S. with the opening of a new office in Los Angeles. The new location will be led by Justin Hobday, supported locally by two regional directors, new hire Kimberley Rice and Ciara Kelleher, who transfers from the fIrm’s EMEA headquarters in London.

The Los Angeles outpost is the firm’s first in the U.S. and is a direct response to growing client demand, according to the search firm, and will be dedicated to providing bespoke recruitment solutions inclusive of search, talent mapping and competitor analysis. Carmichael Fisher already works with U.S. multinationals in EMEA, but the establishment of an office here underscores its commitment to service clients locally.

Mr. Hobday joined Carmichael Fisher in 2008 as managing director to develop the EMEA region. Since then, he has overseen the expansion from one office in London to now six locations across Europe and Africa.

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Ms. Rice has over 25 years of experience in executive recruiting, having managed searches for companies across the U.S., Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. She has extensive knowledge in the life sciences sector conducting senior and board level assignments for organizations ranging from large multinationals to SMEs and early stage companies. She will report to Anke Janssen who leads the firm’s life sciences practice globally. Previously, Ms. Rice was an executive search consultant with Thermo Fisher Scientific. Before that, she gained search experience with Boyden, life sciences leader Coulter Partners and DHR International.

Ms. Kelleher is one of the firm’s most experienced consultants and her move from London to Los Angeles signifies the importance placed by the firm on building its local U.S. capability in order to effectively service all of the sectors that it serves. She has extensive experience in executive search within industrial manufacturing and she will lead the firm’s industry & manufacturing efforts in North America. She reports  to Scott MacRae who leads Carmichael Fisher’s industry & manufacturing practice globally.

More Growth to Come

“Expansion into the U.S has long been a goal for us and with so many of our clients being U.S. multinationals, with many having a presence on the West Coast, this was the next logical step for us as we continue to grow and expand our international coverage,” said Mr. Hobday.

“We are thrilled to have Ciara transfer across to our U.S. business and to welcome Kimberley on board as we expand into the largest executive search market in the world,” he added. “We have a solid foundation to grow the U.S. arm of the business around our key sectors and we will make further additions to the U.S. team in the near future.”

Los Angeles has one of the most diversified economies in America, with established industry clusters ranging from aerospace, entertainment, and fashion to biomedical services, consumer products, finance and technology. Carmichael Fisher focuses on nearly all of these.

The LA area has a gross metropolitan product of $866 billion, making it the third largest economic metropolitan center in the world, after Tokyo and New York. The economy of Los Angeles is driven by international trade, entertainment (television, motion pictures, video games, music recording, and production), aerospace, technology, petroleum, fashion, apparel, and tourism. Other significant industries include finance, telecommunications, law, healthcare, and transportation.

An Expanding Platform

Established in 2002, Carmichael Fisher is an international executive search firm with over 100 consultants, researchers and support staff. The firm focuses on senior level recruitment with a particular focus on financial services, legal & professional services, life sciences, manufacturing, transport & infrastructure, energy, real estate, media, and the retail & consumer sectors. The firm’s offices are in London, Brussels, Stockholm, Hamburg, Lagos, Dubai, Singapore, Sydney and Melbourne.

In addition to its expansion to the U.S., the firm also opened a new office in Zurich. This becomes the firm’s seventh EMEA location and further cements its commitment to a single European proposition that allows for a seamless focus to conduct cross-border, pan-European work for clients to identify and attract candidates from an international talent pool.

“Zurich has been a city of significant interest to us for some time,” said Mr. Hobday. “Having built a strong foundation across Europe, our goal is to add to our existing bench strength and also broaden our offering to support the growing needs of our clients based in Zurich and beyond.”

U.K. Firms See Growth Opportunities In the U.S.

Carmichael Fisher is not alone among highly specialized and expanding U.K.-based recruiting boutiques seeking refuge – and a business hedge – across the pond. Call it a British invasion with a modern twist. As the fallout deepens in the post-Brexit world, the U.S. is looking more attractive to search firms headquartered in London who find they can just as easily expand their global search platforms to America.

Here’s a look at just a few of the recent moves made by search firms to the American shores, taken from the Hunt Scanlon Media newswire archives:

• La Fosse Associates opened its first U.S. office based in Santa Monica, the hub of Los Angeles’ thriving tech and digital sector, where it is already engaged in a number of assignments for organizations ranging from early stage start-ups to global concern. Tom Vaughan heads-up the new location and is responsible for establishing and expanding the firm’s West Coast presence. With almost a decade of executive search experience, he helped scale La Fosse from a team of 12 to 150 in just six years;

• SRi (Sports Recruitment International) just expanded to the U.S. with the appointment of Steven Moser as a consultant. Mr. Moser becomes the first SRi appointment to be permanently based stateside, expanding the firm’s global reach that already includes bases in Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Singapore, Switzerland and the U.K. He is based in Phoenix;

• London-based executive search firm Nolan Partners expanded its operations to North America with the opening of offices in Los Angeles and New York and the appointment of Chad Biagini as managing director of North America;

• U.K.-headquartered Expand Executive Search recently launched its first U.S. office, establishing a presence in New York City. Executive search consultant Ollie Shipp heads the new location, relocating from the U.K.;

• London-headquartered executive recruiting firm eg.1 opened is first office in the U.S., establishing a location in New York City. The firm is led by Victoria Gumbley. She has assumed the title of vice president of North America, relocating from London to New York;

• London-based executive search firm Erevena opened its first U.S. office, establishing a location in San Francisco. The office is being led by partner Terry Shaw and principal consultant Max Levy, who relocated from London. Further additions the office are expected in coming months.

Contributed by Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor, Hunt Scanlon Media