• Elaine O’Keefe has been appointed senior communication consultant and team leader at William M Mercer’s Birmingham office.
In her new role she will provide consultancy about employee benefits to clients in the Midlands, including strategic communication advice and project management.
She joined Mercer from McCann-Erickson where she was a senior account director to the business-to-business division.
• James Thompson has been appointed head of practice in pharmaceuticals for SRG Executive, the specialist arm of Science Recruitment Group for the recruitment of senior personnel.
Thompson will be responsible for building a team to focus on emerging and established industries, particularly those in scientific or highly regulated environments. His previous experience in the recruitment industry, which spans over 12 years, includes nine years as head of practice of the pharmaceuticals and healthcare business unit at Hoggett Bowers.
• Joff Sharpe has been appointed general manager of revolver.com, the on-line recruitment lifestyle web site. Sharpe will take overall responsibility for the business, and reports to Susan Boster, chief commerce and marketing officer of News Network. He joins from Trinity Mirror where he was group HR director. His responsibilities included HR support during the merger of Mirror Group Newspapers and Trinity in September 1999. Prior to joining Trinity he was vice-president of HR for Pepsi, HR director for Pizza Hut (UK) and for Mars (Europe).
• Brian Cernuschi and Pat Crowder have been made board directors of The Scott Edgar Group.
Cernuschi has worked for Scott Edgar for five years and Crowder for three. In that time they have made a significant contribution to the development and growth of the agency. Between them they have over 40 years experience working in the HR and advertising industries.
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• The merger of two UK IT recruitment specialists has been finalised this month. The Aximis Group led by Jess Jaworski has joined forces with Xpert IT Recruitment in a strategic move aimed at strengthening both companies’ market position.
Jaworski founded the country’s largest IT recruitment firm before founding Aximis.
