• Mark Saxton joined bus operator Arriva as a board member and the company’s
first HR director on 21 February. He moves from Cadbury Schweppes where he
spent 12 years, most recently as international vice-president of HR. Other
senior roles included managing director of operations in Austria and
vice-president of HR, Europe, based in Barcelona. Arriva runs a nationwide
fleet of 8,000 busses. It also has operations in Denmark, The Netherlands,
Spain and Sweden.
• Peter Hessey has stepped up from assistant general manager of HR to HR and
facilities director at CGU as the insurance firm announced its tie-up with
Norwich Union. He replaces Tony Clarry, who retired in December having seen
through the previous merger of Commercial Union and General Accident.
Hessey will be based at the company’s Perth office.
• Edinburgh University has appointed Ian Pilbeam as assistant director of
personnel. He was previously assistant HR director at Scunthorpe General
Hospital. Kate Calvert has replaced him in the Scunthorpe role.
• Carrie Dowel has joined mobile phone services company Cellular Operations
as HR and training manager. She moves from Wessex Water where she was HR
manager. Swindon-based Cellular Operations has grown rapidly in the past three
years growing from 80 to 600 staff.
• HR consultancy William M Mercer has recruited an outsourcing expert to
advise clients considering the option. Philip Vernon joins from
PricewaterhouseCoopers where he was director of HR outsourcing.
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• Ann McCluskey has been promoted to HR operations manager at armed forces
caterer Naafi. McCluskey joined the firm as HR manager in 1997 after two years
in the same post at Royal Sun Alliance. She will be responsible for HR policy
at forces bases in the UK and around the world, including Croatia, Bosnia,
Gibraltar, the Falklands and Northern Ireland.
• In the recruitment sector, Walton Churchill has appointed media specialist
Linda Walmsley as associate director. Hays Executive has brought in Nicky
Oxenham as consultant for the packaging industry. Cliff Bradley, a regional
director for Personnel Selection has been promoted to the board. Nicola Roche
has joined financial recruiter Stark Brooks, while IT agency Elan Recruitment
has appointed Tracey Yates, formerly head of recruitment at Sema Group.
