Edward Orme School

The University of Manchester

University of Westminster

University of Manchester - Institute of Science and Technology

Talent Acquisition Director  -  Resourcing Industry Leader  -  RL100 Chair

London, England, United Kingdom

Business and Board advisor. After nearly five amazing years leading recruitment within the UK Civil Service, prior to which I held Senior Recruiting and HR Director roles in some of the UK largest and most recognisable companies, I now help organisations create the most favourable hiring conditions whilst putting effective Talent Acquisition practice at the centre of their people strategy.

Recent Clients (more detail below):
GB Rail Freight: Advisor to the Board
AI Recruitment Technologies Ltd. T/A Horsefly Talent Analytics: Board Advisor.
Transport for London: Strategic adviser to the Executive Recruitment Team supporting the Mayor's vision for a joined up approach to senior recruitment across city hall.
PeopleScout: Advisor to the UK senior management team, supporting the PeopleScout investment in the UK, following the acquisition of TMP.
Green Park Interim & Executive Recruitment: Board Advisor with a focus on internal capability and customer insight.
The Recruitment Events Co: Chair RL100: - Industry network of the leading voices in recruitment
Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service: Advisor to the Chief Fire Officer and senior management team. Supporting their in-house leadership assessment and recruitment programmes.
Ministry of Defence: Civilian Advisor to the Armed Forces Recruiting Programme.
Mind Fit Ltd: Board Advisor.

I am currently open to new assignments, consulting opportunities, speaking engagements and advisory roles.  Please make contact if you would like to discuss any aspect of HR, Talent Acquisition or Resourcing that would benefit from the support of either myself or my team of associates.

Walbridge Ltd

Director of Talent Acquisition/Resourcing, Board Advisor, Retained Consultant

GB Railfreight

Advisor To The Board

Horsefly recognises that the very best Recruitment Teams need the highest quality talent data and evidence whether they are in-house or RPO. Organisations that can attract, hire and retain the highest quality talent will outperform their competitors. My role is to help the board of Horsefly understand how to convey, to the end user, the value of talent analytics and evidence based decision making in delivering a high quality, diverse workforce.

Horsefly

Following the acquisition of TMP by PeopleScout I am retained to advise the UK leadership team.

PeopleScout TMP

Advisor to the UK Senior Management Team

Retained by Bucks Fire & Rescue Service to advise and design their senior leadership assessment and selection process, together with supporting and advising the senior management team on wider HR and Resourcing issues.

Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service

Leadership Assessment Expert Advisor

The Resourcing Leaders 100 is Europe's leading peer network for senior in-house resourcing leaders. Committed to creating positive change in the world of resourcing, the RL100 aims to elevate the standard of resourcing at all levels and raise the profile of resourcing as a profession. After my year in office I now sit as a member of the leadership committee with additional responsibility for Alumni Relations.

RL100

RL100 - Chair

The MOD's Armed Forces Recruiting Programme will lead the next generation of recruitment across all three services. One of the largest and most complex recruitment transformations will be followed by huge steady state recruitment in support of the defence of the United Kingdom. One of the most challenging recruitment assignments possible!

UK Ministry of Defence

Civilian Advisor - Armed Forces Recruitment Programme

Mind Fit Ltd is at the leading edge of positive psychology with a simple model and approach that enables people and organisations to significantly raise their game. Creating a 'Can Do' mindset to performance raises the capability of individuals and teams enabling them to return more for the organisation. Any board of Directors looking to achieve more from their workforce should take a look at this powerful process.

Mind Fit Ltd

Non-Executive Director/Company Advisor

Retained to advise the Executive Recruitment Team grow and deliver a wider remit in support of TfL's and the Mayor's aspiration for joined up senior recruitment across City Hall.

Transport for London

Senior Advisor to the Executive Recruitment Team

Retained by Green Park to advise on a programme of internal development, internal recruitment and resourcing and to deliver a range of interventions to improve and enhance the customer experience. Green Park is the only recruiter featuring on the Sunday Times 2019 Top 100 fast track companies and leads the industry in the appointment of diverse hires.

Green Park Interim & Executive Recruitment

Director of Talent and Customer Insight

Leading a large team and heading the Executive Recruitment activity across the Civil Service. In conjunction with the Civil Service Talent Team responsible for leading the operational recruitment delivery and in-house executive search for the top four grades of the Civil Service (Perm Sec, Director General, Directors and Deputy Directors). Relationship Manager for the Civil Service Executive Search Supplier Framework and member of the cross Civil Service Resourcing Board and Senior Management Team.

UK Civil Service

Head of Resourcing, Executive Recruitment, Civil Service Wide

Leading the Resourcing Function of the Infrastructure & Projects Authority and Project Delivery Function. My key focus is to find the very best senior talent, both internally and externally, ensuring the Government's assurance reviews of its Major Projects Portfolio are resourced effectively, coupled with the  creation of an external pipeline of executive talent for the Infrastructure & Projects Authority (IPA) and wider Civil Service. The Infrastructure & Projects Authority improves project performance for the taxpayer.  It is a collaboration between the Cabinet Office, HM Treasury and other Government departments and has the fundamental aim of significantly improving the delivery success rate of major projects across central government.The IPA is responsible for the assurance reviews of around 250 of the UK's biggest projects. Part time advisory role as an independent consultant October 2014 - March 2015, then full time Civil Servant April 2015 onwards.

Deputy Director/Head of Resourcing, Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA)

A portfolio (see below) of advisory, interim and NED appointments in the Public and Private Sectors. To discuss either a permanent, interim or non-executive appointments please contact me via LinkedIn or directly on <a href="mailto:adrian@art1.co.uk">adrian@art1.co.uk</a>

Roles included:
-  Deputy Director - Infrastructure & Projects Authority (IPA). Initially retained on a P/T basis to advise, design and create a people brokering and recruitment service to deliver a pipeline of executive talent for the IPA and wider Cabinet Office. Subsequently appointed into the role on a F/T basis (see above).
-  Independent Reviewer: Conducted a wide ranging review of Conditions of Service and resistance to change within the English Fire & Rescue Service - Review commissioned by the Fire Minister (Brandon Lewis and Penny Mordaunt) & the Department of Communities and Local Government. Subsequently published by Theresa May when Home Secretary at the Home Office.
-  Interim assignment supporting the GlaxoSmithKline/Novartis merger, acquisition & disposal deal with Novartis.
-  Mind Fit Ltd (Non-Executive Director) – creating ‘can do’ capability in a workforce
-  The Recruitment Society (Chair) - Industry Association representing the whole of the Recruitment Sector. (Pro Bono).

Other previous roles
-  Interim assignment directing a major recruitment campaign at London Overground Rail Operations Ltd (LOROL)
ANT Europe – recruitment of logistics workforce for a Turkish owned shipping broker
-  Wiser Grads - Graduate Recruitment Advertising Agency Start up (Advisory)
-  Elevate Direct - Specialist Contractor Job Board/Agency (Advisory)
-  Association of Graduate Recruiters (Vice President) - not-for-profit company representing over 800 employers of graduates (Pro Bono).
-  Forever Hair Ltd (Chair) – Investor & Director of a leading Male Hair Replacement business, specialising in high quality toupees, based in Central London. (Pro Bono).

Adrian R Thomas Ltd

Responsibility for Network Rails multi-million pound recruitment budget. Management of the in-house recruitment and diversity/inclusion team and the delivery of tactical & strategic resourcing (volume through to executive search), talent management, employer branding (including establishing the EVP) together with successful delivery of projects supporting the transformational change in recruitment from an agency led ‘administrative’ service to a direct approach able to support corporate decision making and financial targets.

Key achievements:-
- 12m savings over five years by introducing a ‘direct to candidate’ approach that minimised agency use and halved recruitment ‘time to hire’
- Delivery of 8,000 – 10,000 internal & external hires per year,
- Enhancement of Oracle iRecruitment enterprise system,
- Supported Government Graduate Talent Pool project – major companies committing to reduce the number of unemployed graduates by offering meaningful work experience.
- Introduced standardised selection processes & pre-employment screening for all roles
- Won multiple industry awards - including nomination for Recruiter of the year 2010
- Strategic Workforce Planning & staffing of 3000 desk National Centre in Milton Keynes

Network Rail

Head of Resourcing

Led the Group Recruitment Teams responsible for attraction, talent management, advertising, preferred supplier lists, recruitment governance & graduate recruitment. Responsible for RBS’s first appearance in the Times Top 100 and Best Employer guides. Winner of numerous recruitment awards.

Key achievements:-
- Established the RBS recruitment brand adopted by all EMEA/Asia Pacific countries
- Introduced the Pre-Employment Screening process every new employee must satisfy
- Transformed the external graduate view of the RBS group. From 85th in the Times Top 100 to 15th, highest climber in the list and most popular (by number of applications).
- Control & Management of Recruitment PSL – achieved significant saving (over £600,000 in graduate recruitment alone)
- Introduced data reporting to manage recruitment and supplier activity
- Eliminated duplication of recruitment activity through the group
- Creation of open, transparent internal jobs market in support of diversity targets

Royal Bank of Scotland

Head Resourcing Policy & Governance

Initially joining The Wellcome Foundation as an employee relations officer, I worked across a number of reward, policy and generalist roles before being appointed, following the acquisition of the company by Glaxo, to HR Manager, covering non-production staff (facilities/quality/safety/procurement/engineering) across 10 national and international sites. Subsequently asked to establish & lead an in-house central resourcing team supporting the manufacturing divisions of GlaxoWellcome and leading on Strategic Workforce Planning, Recruitment and HR projects that led to a transformation change in the way the group approached resourcing and talent acquisition. I retained the same role in the enlarged GlaxoSmithKline group.

GlaxoSmithKline

Director of Recruitment - Manufacturing Divisions

Early careers positions (often intertwined with education) included: -
-  Strawberry Picking (on an industrial scale) for a Jam Manufacturer
-  Roles in the Transport Office, Production Line & Warehouse - Michelin Tyre Company, Stoke on Trent
-  Service with 65 Advanced Training Squadron, Royal Corps of Transport, now Royal Logistics Corps (Aldershot & Bielefeld, Germany - attached to 10 Regiment)
-  The usual bar work (pubs and clubs in & around Newcastle Under Lyme, Stoke on Trent and Manchester) to make ends meet and pay for necessities (rugby boots and golf clubs in the main)

Adrian Thomas