CurzonTrinitas Broadens Sector Coverage
June 30, 2016 – Executive recruiters CurzonTrinitas has strengthened its staff with the addition of Robbie Paterson as a partner.
Mr. Paterson previously served as partner and head of the renewable energy and utilities practice at Korn Ferry. In that role, he led the placement of CEOs, managing directors and other C-suite roles for businesses across the renewable energy, utilities and infrastructure sectors in the U.K. and internationally. His experience includes extensive work in the Middle and Far East, Australasia, North America and Continental Europe. Before that he was an associate principal with Heidrick & Struggles.
Prior to his search career, Mr. Paterson spent six years at Bain & Company where he advised on a diverse range of assignments across a wide variety of industries, including energy, for many FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 companies. He began his career at Exeter Venture Partners, a New York-based private equity firm specializing in mezzanine co-financing of small to medium-sized enterprises in North America.
Managing partner, Jane Christopherson, expressed the importance of his appointment in broadening the scope of sector coverage within CurzonTrinitas: “Robbie brings with him a wealth of expertise working at the highest levels within power, utilities and renewables, which complements our established footprint in the energy and infrastructure sectors.”
As the energy and infrastructure sectors restructure away from traditional models of ownership, she said, and investors drive the evolution towards real asset clusters, “businesses are looking for creative and experienced leadership. Robbie not only brings a track record in this area, but also a flexible, client-first approach, which lies at the heart of the CurzonTrinitas offering in executive recruitment.”
CurzonTrinitas’ long-established track record in the energy and infrastructure world “makes for a natural fit with my own experience, but equally important for me is their thoughtful and creative approach to executive search,” said Mr. Paterson. “I relish the opportunity of combining our skills to bring a truly superlative level of service to our clients.”
Formed from the merger of The Curzon Partnership and Trinitas Search Partners last year, CurzonTrinitas is a U.K.-based executive search firm focused on the infrastructure, energy and finance sectors.
A report issued by ManpowerGroup, ‘Strategies to Fuel the Energy Workforce,’ found that 58 percent of energy executives said they struggle to find the talent they need and 74 percent believe the problem will worsen over the next five years. The study found that the talent shortage may already be slowing growth and expansion throughout the sector. By some estimates, there will be three million energy sector jobs by 2020. In the utilities subsector, where half of the workforce is already over the age of 40 — 100,000 net new jobs are projected. Many of the positions will require tech-savvy candidates to keep pace with future developments.
In response, a number of recruiting firms have been expanding their energy sector practices to fill critical roles for clients. Here’s a closer look at some of them:
- Preng & Associates recently appointed Steve Raben as a senior consultant in its Houston office. He has led over 500 domestic and international client assignments for public and private oil & gas, petroleum equipment, service and hydrocarbon processing & transportation companies at the board, C-suite and business segment leadership levels;
- Korn Ferry recently bulked up its staff in the sector, naming former Heidrick & Struggles recruiter Chad Hesters as managing director of the firm’s Houston office and a senior client partner in its energy search practice;
- Heidrick & Struggles, in turn, strengthened its oil, gas and power expertise in the firm’s global industrial practice with the addition of David Pruner. He joins the firm from Wood Mackenzie, a global research and strategic advisory firm specializing in the energy, chemicals, metals and mining industries, where he has been a senior vice president for the past 12 years;
- Extract Talent opened its doors to serve clients ranging from Fortune 100 companies to startups. The firm concentrates in the downstream sector of the oil, gas, chemicals, and catalysts industries;
- Earlier this year, executive search consultant Chris Reinsvold launched Reinsvold & Associates, LLC, an executive search and strategic consulting firm dedicated to serving the industrial and energy sectors. The firm, based in Houston, plans to name incoming recruiting consultants in the coming months.
Contributed by Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor, Hunt Scanlon Media
