ZRG Partners Adds Retail Sector Search Specialist
January 7, 2019 – ZRG Partners, one of the fastest growing global boutique executive search firms, has continued its aggressive expansion with the addition of Frederick Lamster as a managing director and a retail sector specialist within the firm’s growing consumer practice. ZRG described the move as part of a strategy and commitment to accelerate its ability to serve a wider range of clients within the global consumer landscape.
Prior to joining ZRG, Mr. Lamster was a partner with Battalia Winston, where he provided retained search and organizational consulting to clients in the retail sector. His experience includes over 25 years of senior-level human resource leadership with many well-known retail brands including Limited Brands, Aeropostale and Charming Shoppes.
“The retail markets are going through lots of change and leadership has never been more important,” said Larry Hartmann, CEO of ZRG. “Fred brings a wealth of direct retail experience to help clients navigate the changing tides in the industry and adjust to the needs in a fast-evolving digital environment for many retailers. We are pleased to bring in Fred to the consumer team, joining recent hires Giovanni Lamarca and Tom Fuller to support and accelerate our growth in the consumer practice.”
Mr. Lamster said he was excited to join ZRG during this period of growth and expansion. “ZRG is an innovating firm, disrupting the executive search markets with some game changing technology and through the use of proprietary data and analytics tools, enabling clients to make more accurate hiring decisions vs. the traditional search processes,” he said.
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“Having been on the other side of the table, working with all the major search firms through my career, I see ZRG being different in the client centered approach to helping clients build great leadership teams and help organizations build efficient structures that are ready to manage the present while building to the future,” Mr. Lamster said.
Continued Expansion
ZRG has experienced a wave of expansion recently. Here is an abridged overview of the firm’s growth from the Hunt Scanlon Media archives:
This past fall, ZRG hired Greg Gerson as a managing director and leader within the firm’s healthcare services practice. Mr. Gerson has over 17 years’ experience in executive search, as well as the healthcare sector. He was previously with Korn Ferry, where he was the leader in the healthcare market for professional search within the firm’s Futurestep division. He has also worked at Aon as a compensation expert in the healthcare sector.
During the summer, the firm named Rahul Kapur as managing director and leader of ZRG’s newly launched blockchain unit and Bruce J. Robertson as managing director and head of the financial officer practice. The new blockchain practice will help the firm’s financial services, fintech and healthcare clients as well as those in emerging blockchain-centric industries meet the emerging talent needs required to capitalize on opportunities in the distributed ledger/blockchain space, said ZRG Partners. With deep expertise in payments and financial technology, Mr. Kapur previously held senior positions at PwC, Deloitte, Capgemini and MasterCard Advisors.
ZRG Partners also expanded its global human resource officers practice, adding Wendy Murphy as managing director and global practice leader. She will also be engaged in ZRG’s healthcare practice, where she has extensive experience in private equity healthcare searches.
Joining Ms. Murphy are several key leaders that have been collaborating for years, including Davonne Helmer, managing director, who will be working out of the firm’s Chicago office, and Allyson Hauck, principal, working out of ZRG’s Washington D.C. office.
Continued Growth
Here is an overview of further examples of the firm’s growth from the Hunt Scanlon Media archives:
Giovanni Lamarca was recently hired as a managing director and a consumer products sector leader within the firm’s growing consumer practice. Mr. Lamarca is of multiple nationalities and speaks six languages fluently, said ZRG. Previously, he was managing director with RSR Partners.
Just recently, ZRG appointed Charles H. King as managing director and global board practice leader. Mr. King, who has completed more than 600 board mandates in his career, partners with clients to recruit executives to serve as directors of public and private companies.
ZRG also recently acquired certain assets of the Epsen Fuller Group. As part of the asset acquisition 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.
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
