Board of directors | Governance | Gattaca

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) 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

Patrick Shanley – Independent Chair

Appointment Group and Board: December 2015

 

Skills and experience

Patrick has extensive boardroom experience having previously been Chair of chemicals business, Accsys Technologies, CFO of Courtaulds plc and Acordis bv, CEO of Corsadi bv, Chair 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 and has worked in high growth businesses, manufacturing and service industries.

 

Matthew Wragg - CEO - Gattaca plc

Matt Wragg – Chief Executive Officer

Appointment Group and Board: April 2022

 

Skills and experience

Matt has been with Gattaca for 20 years, most recently as Chief Customer Officer and before this, Group Business Development Director. He has substantial knowledge of the recruitment industry and a deep understanding of Gattaca. He has been a management board member since 2016.

 

Oliver Whittaker - CFO - Gattaca plc

Oliver Whittaker – Chief Financial Officer

Appointment Group and Board: April 2022

 

Skills and experience

Oliver was appointed to the Board in April 2022, having joined Gattaca in January 2018 as Group Director of Financial Planning where he actively supported the Board and worked closely with Matt and the wider management board. Oliver was previously UK Finance Director for Fitness First where he was instrumental in the transformation and return to growth between 2012 and 2018, prior to which he held a number of operational finance roles within Serco and IBM. Oliver trained and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with RSM Robson Rhodes.

 

Richard Bradford

Richard Bradford – Upcoming Independent Non-Executive Chair

Appointment Group and Board: December 2023

 

Skills and experience

Currently Chairman of InHealth Group, the UK’s largest private provider of diagnostic tests and scans, deputy Chair of IHPN and a Board director/advisor for several digital health tech companies in UK and USA. He is a Partner and Investment Committee Chair of a Venture Capital fund investing to date in 15 digital early stage companies.

Richard’s career has been as Chief Executive of service and people orientated companies, most recently InHealth Group over 10 years, and previously over 11 years with Carlisle Group which he led through a stock market listing before a merger to create Impellam. He has led significant numbers of transactions and has a track record of organic growth and value creation. His early career as a Graduate trainee was with Exel Logistics (DHL) for 11 years. 

In 2010, Richard became a Non-Executive Director at Matchtech (now Gattaca) and after a break of several years returns as Independent Non-Executive Chair in December 2023.

 

George_Materna

George Materna – Non-Executive Deputy Chair

Appointment Group and Board: July 1984

 

Skills and experience

George has over 45 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 led the flotation of the business in 2006. He is a fellow of both the Institute of Recruitment Professionals and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. The Board does not consider George to be independent.

 

tracey-james

Tracey James – Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointment Group and Board: December 2020

Skills and experience

Tracey is a Chartered Accountant and leadership coach and a non-executive for Eco Animal Health Group plc. She trained and spent most of her career at Grant Thornton where she was a Senior Audit Partner as well as a member of the Partner Oversight Board and Audit Risk Committee; specialising in advising fast growing quoted companies around financial reporting and governance. Tracey has also lived in France and Canada where in the latter she was the Director of Finance for a medical supplies business.

 

David_Lawther

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 £1.6bn turnover, operating internationally in 26 countries – gaining its reputation as a world-leading fit-out specialist focused on commercial, retail and 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 and commercial property developer. In earlier years, he worked at John Mowlam and co plc, an international contractor. David is currently a non-executive Chair for Syntegra group plc an engineering design and planning services company and senior independent non-executive for Maris LLP. David is a Chartered Accountant. He graduated from Durham University with a degree in Engineering, Science and Management.

 

 
Ross

Ros Haith – Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointment Group and Board: December 2021

 

Skills and Experience

Ros has a broad background in business, particularly within the digital and technology sectors, combined with a formidable sales career. She has held sales positions within IBM, Accenture HR Services Ltd and Genpact Inc where she was Global Vice President (Sales Leader). Her most recent role was at Capgemini UK where she was Global Sales Officer for their Global Business Services division. She also held board positions on Capgemini’s UK Country Board, CSR and Diversity Board and Women’s Network. Until recently, she was a nonexecutive director at Aurora ecs, which uses AI powered solutions.