Board of directors
Fundamental to good governance and the strategic direction of the group is ensuring the board has a diverse balance of skills, experience and knowledge. Directors are regularly briefed on new regulations which affect the business through presentations arranged by our advisors and our leadership team. During the year we specifically covered, new accounting updates (Audit committee), GDPR, Governance Codes (Full and QCA) Anti-Bribery and Corruption and AIM rules They are also encouraged to independently remain up to date through independent seminars and CPD courses.
You can find out more about each of Gattaca’s board members below.
Patrick Shanley – Independent Chairman
Appointment Group and Board: December 2015
Skills and experience
Patrick has extensive boardroom experience and is currently Chairman of chemicals business, Accsys Technologies. Patrick has previously been CFO of Courtaulds plc and Acordis bv, CEO of Corsadi bv, Chairman of Cordenka Investments bv and of Finacor bv. Patrick began his career working for British Coal where he qualified as a chartered management accountant. He has a strong operational, restructuring, merger and acquisition background within a manufacturing environment.
Kevin Freeguard – Chief Executive Officer
Appointment Group and Board: October 2018
Skills and experience
Kevin was appointed as Chief Executive Officer on the 1st October 2018. He was previously Managing Director for Verifone from 2015 to 2018. He brings extensive international and business transformation experience across multiple sectors including Financial Services, Technology and Industrial having held senior leadership positions with organisations such as De La Rue, Siemens and Motorola.
Keith Lewis – Chief Operating Officer
Appointment
Group: July 1993
Board: September 2012
Skills and experience
Keith is a fellow of the Institute of Recruitment Professionals who joined the business in 1993 as a senior consultant, before progressing to his current position. Keith is also on the steering committee for the Engineering and Technical sector at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC).
Salar Farzad – Chief Financial Officer
Appointment Group and Board: June 2017
Skills and experience
Salar joined the company from Zodiak Media, a television production company where he was Group Chief Financial Officer from 2014 to 2016. Prior to this, Salar held senior financial roles at Macmillan Science and Education, 2Entertain, MTV Networks International and EMI. He qualified as an ACA with PricewaterhouseCoopers.
George Materna – Non-Executive Deputy Chairman
Appointment Group and Board: July 1984
Skills and experience
George has 40 years’ experience in the recruitment industry and is the founder of the Group, having founded Matchmaker Personnel in 1984 and Matchtech Engineering in 1990, before combining the two businesses in 2002 to form Matchtech Group plc. George is a fellow of both the Institute of Recruitment Professionals and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Due to his long-standing relationship with the Group, and his material shareholding, the Board does not consider George Materna to be independent.
Richard Bradford – Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointment Group and Board: August 2011
Skills and experience
Richard has a background in solutions and services businesses. He was Chief Executive of AIM-listed Carlisle Group from 1997 to 2008, up to and including the merger to create Impellam Group, and subsequently Chief Executive of LPM Group. He is currently Chief Executive Officer of UK-based InHealth Group, a leading provider of diagnostics and imaging services.
David Lawther – Independent Non-Executive Director
Appointment Group and Board: June 2018
Skills and Experience
David is a senior leader in the global construction industry. He was formerly CEO at ISG Plc., where he grew the company to a 1.6 billion turnover, operating internationally in 26 countries – gaining its reputation as a world-leading fit-out specialist focused on commercial, retail & data centres. Prior to that, David was Chief Financial Officer at ISG. David has served as the Group Finance Director for Wilson Connelly holdings, a quoted house builder operating across the UK. In earlier years, he worked at John Mowlam and co plc, an international contractor. David is currently non-executive chairman of Syntegra group; an award-winning engineering design company. He is also a non-executive director of Ensemble infrastructure India ltd; a private fit-out company based in Mumbai. David is a chartered accountant. He graduated from Durham University with a degree in Engineering, Science & Management.