Leslie Van de Walle
NON-EXECUTIVE CHAIR
Appointed: November 2022 Committees: Nominations (Chair)
Leslie is a Non-Executive Director of HSBC UK Bank plc and the Chair of Greencore Group plc.
Leslie has held various non-executive roles and was previously Chair of Euromoney Institutional Investor plc and Chair of SIG plc, as well as Deputy Chair at Crest Nicholson Holdings and Senior Independent Director of DCC plc. He also served as Chair of the Robert Walters Group between 2012 and 2018. Leslie's executive career has included serving as Group Chief Executive Officer at Rexam plc and Chief Executive Officer at United Biscuits plc.
Robert Walters
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Appointed: July 2000 Committees: Nominations
After three years at Touche Ross & Co., Robert joined the recruitment firm Michael Page as one of its very first employees. Following an eight-year period which included setting up its New York office, he returned to London and established his own recruitment business in 1985, specialising in middle management professional positions. Since then the Company has grown, largely organically, into different sectors and a variety of regional and international locations. Robert Walters plc is quoted on the London Stock Exchange and currently has a global presence spanning 31 countries.
Alan Bannatyne
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Appointed: March 2007
After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte & Touche, Alan was Commercial Manager of Primecom and then Financial Director of Foresight, both subsidiaries of Primedia, a listed South African Media Group. Alan joined Robert Walters as Group Financial Controller in September 2002 and was appointed to the Board of Robert Walters Group as Chief Financial Officer in March 2007. In November 2022 he was appointed as Non-Executive Chairman of XPS Pensions Group (XPS). Alan has served on the Board of XPS since 2017.
Tanith Dodge
SENIOR INDEPENDENT NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (SID)
Appointed: February 2017 Committees: Remuneration (Chair), Audit and Risk, Nominations
Tanith is an HR executive with a strong consumer background in international organisations. Her recent experience includes Chief People Officer at Bicester Village Shopping Collection. Prior to this she spent eight years at Marks & Spencer Group plc where she ran the global HR for 80,000 employees in 53 countries. Before joining Marks & Spencer Group plc, Tanith was Group Human Resources Director at WH Smith, where she also held responsibility for Public Relations, Communications and Post Office Operations. Prior to this, she was Senior Vice President Human Resources for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at InterContinental Hotels Group. Tanith has also held senior HR roles at Diageo plc and Prudential Corporation plc. Tanith has a breadth of Board experience. Since March 2021 she has been Chair of Samarkand Global plc and also Chair of the Remuneration Committee. Since July 2019 she has been a member of the Advisory Council for PriceWaterhouseCoopers. She is also a Non Executive Director of Silverwood Brands since October 2022.
Steven Cooper CBE
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Appointed: October 2018 Committees: Audit and Risk, Nominations, Remuneration
Steven Cooper is an experienced international business leader who has been at the forefront of business transformation in the banking and payments sector, generating sustainable returns and significantly improving colleague and customer engagement scores. This has been achieved through repositioning the customer offer and using digital and data-driven technologies. He is currently CEO of Aldermore Group and was formerly CEO of UK Private Bank C. Hoare & Co. Steven began his career at Barclays in 1986 and occupied numerous senior positions, including Chief Executive Officer Barclaycard Business, Chief Executive Officer Business Banking and Chief Executive Officer Personal Banking for UK and Continental Europe. Steven is currently Chair of Experian UK and previously he was Co-Chair of the Social Mobility Commission, a Non-executive Director of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, served on the advisory board of Teach First and was also a member of the FCA Practitioner Panel as well as various Government taskforces. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot Watt University for services to banking and social mobility and was last year named as banking CEO of the Year by Today magazine. Steven was awarded a CBE in January 2022 in recognition for his services to banking and social mobility.
Matt Ashley
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Appointed: December 2021 Committees: Audit and Risk (Chair), Nominations, Remuneration
Matt joined the Board of Robert Walters plc on 23 December 2021. He brings a broad range of experience from different sectors. As Group CFO of Micro Focus International plc, one of the world’s largest enterprise software providers, Matt has just completed its sale to Open Text Inc for an Enterprise Value of $6bn. Previously, Matt was Chief Financial Officer at William Hill plc, prior to which he held several senior positions at National Express Group plc including Group Finance Director and Chief Executive, North America. He was a director of transport, infrastructure and public company reporting at Deloitte LLP and began his career as an auditor in London. Matt is a graduate of Leeds University and member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Richard Harris
CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER
Appointed: 2016
Richard graduated from the University of Surrey with a degree in Sociology and then attended the College of Law, Guildford. After qualifying as a solicitor in 2000, he spent the early part of his career as a technology lawyer at a leading London law firm, Bird & Bird. Richard later made the move in-house and worked for several years for communications company, Tiscali. In 2005, he joined PartyGaming, an online gaming business, as Assistant General Counsel. In 2011, Richard joined the Robert Walters Group as General Counsel with responsibility for legal services across the Group. Richard was appointed Chief Legal Officer in 2016. He has considerable experience in complex international outsourcing transactions, employment and commercial law. In 2020 Richard was elected as a member of the Representative Committee of APSCo, one the leading trade bodies for the recruitment industry and has a keen interest in public affairs.
