Sheffield Haworth Acquires Gillamor Stephens

March 19, 2018 – London-based executive recruitment firm Sheffield Haworth has acquired Gillamor Stephens, a digital and technology sector recruiting specialist.

The firm’s work focuses on hiring board-level executives for both publicly listed and venture capital/private equity backed technology businesses in the U.K. and across Europe.

As part of the acquisition, Gillamor Stephens will become Sheffield Haworth’s newly created global digital and technology practice and will continue to trade under the Gillamor Stephens brand.

“We are delighted to welcome the Gillamor Stephens team to Sheffield Haworth and excited by the opportunity to bring our collective capabilities to clients in the digital and technology sector,” said chairman Tim Sheffield. “The acquisition forms part of a wider strategy of creating a global firm supporting clients in the financial services, business and professional services and technology sectors.”

Steve Morrison, joint managing director of Gillamor Stephens, said his firm is pleased with the acquisition. “The backing and international reach of the company will enable us to accelerate our expansion plans and also broaden the range of executive search and talent advisory services we can deliver to our clients,” he said.

Paul Gillespie, joint managing director of Gillamor Stephens, cited another benefit of the move: “It will further enhance our ability to address high growth areas of our industry such as fintech,” he said.

The addition follows Sheffield Haworth’s recent acquisition of nbi Consulting, a specialist global executive search and talent management firm in the business and professional services sector. Functional areas of focus for nbi Consulting include digital, cloud and technology; data, analytics and automation; cyber security; strategy and transformation; human capital; and commercial and general management. Besides its London headquarters, nbi has locations in Singapore, Hong Kong, Sydney and Manila.

Sheffield Haworth, which was founded in 1993, is a global executive search, talent advisory and interim consulting firm. The organization partners with clients around the world to provide tailored solutions for their business and talent needs at the senior management level. Sheffield Haworth has 10 offices throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific. It serves clients in the financial services, business and professional services and technology industries.

Recent M&A activity

Acquisitions continue to make news in the executive search industry, and this wave appears to be carrying along into 2018. Here’s a sampling of recent acquisitions taken from the Hunt Scanlon Media archives:

ZRG Partners Acquires Epsen Fuller Group
ZRG Partners acquired certain assets of the Epsen Fuller Group. As part of the agreement, Thomas Fuller, formerly the managing partner and CEO of Epsen Fuller Group, is joining ZRG as managing director & global practice leader for the firm’s consumer sector. 

McDermott & Bull Acquires Prime-Core Executive Search
McDermott & Bull has acquired Denver-based Prime-Core Executive Search. Ken Dropiewski, as a result, joins the firm as a principal consultant in the sciences group, specializing in the med-tech space.

Koya Leadership Partners Acquires Rework
Non-profit search specialist Koya Leadership Partners has acquired New York-based recruitment firm ReWork and its sourcing platform technology. ReWork co-founder and CEO Abe Taleb joins Koya as a vice president.

Russell Reynolds Associates Acquires Zygos Partnership
Russell Reynolds Associates acquired London-based Zygos Partnership, a U.K.-based board and CEO advisory firm. Founded by Julia Budd in 2002, Zygos Partnership specializes in the appointment of chief executives, chairmen, chief financial officers and non-executive directors for listed companies or …

Vaco Acquired by Private Equity Firm
Executive search firm Vaco was acquired by Stamford, CT-based private equity firm Olympus Partners. Founded in 2002 by Jerry Bostelman, Jay Hollomon, and Brian Waller, Vaco partnered with its first private equity partner, Quad-C Management, three years ago.

DES Recruitment and Miramar Global Executive Search Merge
DES Recruitment merged with U.K.-based Miramar Global Executive Search. John Hodge, founder and managing partner of DES Recruitment, became managing partner for Miramar. Miramar Global has forged a reputation serving U.S. multinationals in the Americas as well as across EMEA and Asia.

Heidrick & Struggles to Acquire Amrop Denmark
Heidrick & Struggles entered into an agreement to acquire Amrop Denmark. The deal is estimated at $8.4 million, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All five Amrop Denmark partners joined Heidrick’s Copenhagen office.

Prodigy Sports Acquires Ascension Sports Partners
Freehold, NJ-based Prodigy Sports, a nationwide leader in top-level sports recruiting, acquired Ascension Sports Partners, a boutique search firm led by veteran recruiter Dan Rossetti. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.

DHR International Acquires Boutique Search Firm Cooper+Logan
DHR International acquired boutique executive search firm COOPER+LOGAN. With the addition of two new managing partners, the acquisition strengthened DHR’s retail/fashion industry and functional expertise.

Ward Howell Continues U.S. Expansion With Acquisition
Global recruiter Ward Howell International acquired Curran Partners, a Stamford, CT-based executive search firm with a concentration in the life sciences, among other sectors it serves. Founded in 1989, Curran Partners became the U.S. member of ECI Group, an international network, in 2003.

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Andrew W. Mitchell, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media