Executive Interim Team

Julie Towers | Managing Director, Recruitment Solutions

Julie joined Penna in 2011 to expand and enhance the resourcing offer to both the public and private sector. She is responsible for developing Penna’s business across Communications, Resourcing, Executive Search and Executive Interim. Prior to joining Penna, Julie was Chief Executive of Tribal Resourcing, a £60m turnover business offering integrated resourcing solutions. One of the fastest growing recruitment companies in the UK, Tribal won recruitment business of the year in 2010. Julie has been in HR, and specifically resourcing for over 25 years. During her career she has been employed by organisations such as Nottinghamshire County Council and the Riley Group, where she worked for 17 years, starting life as an Account Executive before becoming Managing Director of the Midlands region offering recruitment advertising, executive search and selection and education marketing to a wide range of private and public sector clients. For the last 2 years at Riley, following an acquisition by Euro RSCG, she led the search and selection consultancy and graduate recruitment business across Europe. Julie joined Tribal Group plc in 2002 and became Chief Executive of their Resourcing business in 2003.

Simon Drake | Executive Interim Director

Simon has worked in the executive resourcing and consulting sectors for over 15 years, working with Boards of FTSE 100 companies through to SMEs. He’s also managed assignments ranging from CEO level to Project Specialists. His executive interim management experience is backed by management experience at strategic level (LSE-listed consultancy), with a background in project management and consulting.

David Weir | Head of Public Sector

David’s focus at Penna is on interim management recruitment across the whole public sector having previously led our presence in the local Government sector. Since joining Penna in 2006, he has personally delivered on numerous assignments, appointing board level Executive Interim managers across a range of functions nationally and leads a growing team of consultants. Prior to joining Penna, David worked for the MPS Group at their public sector executive recruitment business, Lawson Bishop. As a Senior Consultant he spent three successful years developing their Central Government business and delivering international assignments as the account manager for a major contract with the European Space Agency.

Gavin Best | Head of Interim Projects

Gavin joined Penna in 2010 and is Head of Interim Projects, which offers interim solutions in the space of Project & Programme Management, Change and Business Transformation. Gavin has worked in the Interim Management market for over 10 years and he has managed and led teams of 20+ consultants and managers across Europe. He has extensive business knowledge in a variety of industries and specialisms including major blue-chip companies, SMEs, and New Ventures, where his placements cover all disciplines. He has particular expertise in delivering senior programme and project management-related assignments across the UK and Internationally.

Jason Rommer | Consultant – Retail, FMCG, Consumer Markets

Jason joined Penna Interim Executive in April 2010 to expand the Interim Management practice across the Retail, FMCG and consumer markets. He has over eight years’ commercial and recruitment experience, having worked in the Trading team of one of the UK’s leading retailers before successfully recruiting for a broad range of commercially-focused appointments into many FTSE 250 businesses. Jason has extensive experience of recruiting for Interim and Permanent appointments across Retail, FMCG, Pharmaceutical and Financial Services, having filled positions across Trading & Commercial, Procurement, Change Management, System Implementation and Supply Chain. Having worked in Buying in the past, he appreciates the value of honest, collaborative and professional account management, and provides a knowledge-based service built on these values.

Jonathan Hawes | Sector Head, Financial Services

Jonathan Hawes has 20 years’ senior level recruiting experience working with and advising financial services and private equity firms. He joined Penna in 2003 to establish and lead the Interim Financial Services practice, having spent a decade in the Financial Services practice of Heidrick & Struggles and its predecessors. His early career was in derivatives trading and asset management. He holds an MBA with a Human Resources specialisation.

Martin Smith | Consultant, Local Government

A key consultant on our Public Sector Interim Management team, Martin joined us in October 2008. Initially focusing on housing and social care, but now working across a wide range of functions, he delivers interim management solutions to Local Government & RSL clients throughout the country. For the last three years, Martin has built up an extensive network of senior candidates, forged strong client relationships and recruited to numerous interim roles, including Director and Chief Executive appointments. Prior to joining our team, he worked for Morgan Hunt where he set up the Interim Executive Management desk.

Rob Hilder | Consultant - Transport, Infrastructure, Support Services

Rob joined Penna’s Executive Interim business in September 2011 and is responsible for developing and enhancing a presence within Transport, Infrastructure, Support services and Engineering clients. Rob will focus on providing interims who have experience in delivering large scale change and transformation programmes. In addition Rob will recruit executives into corporate functions including HR, Finance, Marketing, Procurement, Supply Chain, Business Development & IT at board level.

Prior to Penna, Rob spent six successful years’ at Morgan Hunt where he established the company's Senior Interim Practice across public sector and held a divisional sales management position, regularly dealing with board-level mandates. Rob has developed long lasting effective credible relationships with both public and private sector clients on a national basis through his ability to understand market developments and anticipate client needs.

Robert Dagge | Associate Consultant

Robert has worked with and supported senior executives for the past 15 years, initially within interim management and executive search, but most latterly in the technology arena for Gartner and as a senior executive of a number of Tech Software and Consulting start-ups. Robert joined Penna to drive forward the expansion of the TMT practice, both in the UK and internationally.

Sally Wilson | Consultant, Financial Services

Sally has worked in Interim Management since 2004 for established Interim Management providers such as Tribal and Interim Partners. She has experience across both the Private and the Public Sector and her clients have included various Retail Financial Services clients such as Aviva, HBOS and Provident.

Sally’s focus is to help clients through periods of organisational change and growth by quickly providing them with the best available Interim Resources. Through an understanding of market trends and the wider issues facing the sector, Sally is able to anticipate the needs of her clients and build exceptional talent pools of interim managers who can manage the various challenges the market faces.