Acertitude Opens London Office; Appoints Guy Barnes to Lead New Office
December 18, 2020 – Executive search firm Acertitude has opened a new office in
London and appointed Guy Barnes as managing partner to fuel
global growth and lead the new location. Working closely together
with co-founders Kevin O’Neill and Rick DeRose, Mr. Barnes will
help drive the continuing evolution and international growth of the
firm. Based out of Acertitude’s London and New York offices, he will
lead the firm’s global business and professional services practice
and co-lead its global private equity practice.
“Rick and I are delighted that Guy has joined the Acertitude
leadership team,” said Mr. O’Neill. “From our first meeting in 2012
in London, it was evident that we shared similar values and a belief
that executive search can and must do better. While Rick and I set
out to build Acertitude, Guy’s career took another path.”
“Great ideas have a certain gravitational pull, which in this case
brought the three of us back together to build upon our early
successes and truly transform the industry that we all love,” Mr.
O’Neill said. “Guy is an extraordinary executive search leader,
recognized throughout the industry and among top CEOs and
business leaders in the world for his ability to connect organizations
with game-changing talent. And perhaps more importantly, his
distinctive ability to build cohesive search teams singularly focused
on serving clients and candidates integrates well with Acertitude’s
vision for global growth.”
Experience in the London Market
Mr. Barnes has over 20 years of executive search and assessment
experience, working as an advisor to boards and CEOs seeking
leaders in the business and professional services and industrial
sectors. In addition, he has experience serving private equity clients
pre-and-post deal, across a broad range of portfolio companies
globally. Private equity is a core competency for Acertitude,
representing over 60 percent of the firm’s engagements. Most
recently, Mr. Barnes worked as managing director at Russell
Reynolds Associates, where he led the business and professional
services practice from London and was a partner on the industrial
and private equity teams at the firm.
Acertitude also added three new consultants in London to solidify
its international capabilities. Tim Cook has joined the firm as partner,
bringing more than 20 years of executive search and assessment
experience from Egon Zehnder and Russell Reynolds. Oliver Staple
has joined as principal with over 10 years of consulting and global
executive search expertise. He will lead executive searches in both
Europe and the U.S., focusing on corporate officers for business
and professional services, financial services, consumer, technology,
and private equity firms that are looking to unleash ambitions for
restructuring, growth, and digital transformation
James Kenyon has joined as principal and splits his time between
London and New York. At Acertitude, he leads assignments for
global functional leaders for private equity portfolio businesses
