Professional services firm PwC has appointed Gaenor Bagley to lead its people strategy and HR function.

Bagley took up the role of head of people on 1 July, having spent most of her career in tax, although she originally trained as an auditor.

She has held various people and leadership roles and was most recently leader of PwC’s private equity and M&A tax practice.

As the board level people partner, Bagley and her leadership team will focus on performance, diversity, resourcing, talent, development and engagement.

Sarah Churchman, PwC’s diversity director, says: “During these tough economic times when there’s little appetite for any new or costly initiatives, we’ve worked incredibly hard to embed the principles of diversity and inclusion into our talent management processes. We are building our talent pipeline to ensure that we can promote from within and foster female leadership talent.”

Our people agenda at PwC is vitally important. We are ambitious as a firm but we will not achieve our strategic objectives without the role our HR function plays in working with our business and making the most of our people

Gaenor Bagley

Logistics recruitment firm Transline Resource Group has appointed Jason Richards as operations director. Richards, a former Blue Arrow corporate account director, takes up his role with immediate effect.

Search and match specialist Actonomy has appointed Dirk Vannieuwkerke as international sales manager. Based in Belgium, Vannieuwkerke is tasked with growing sales and developing business opportunities in emerging markets.

International executive service search TRANSEARCH has appointed Alejandro Franco as senior client partner for the renewable energy industry in its Miami office. Before joining TRANSEARCH Latin America, Franco co-founded renewable energy consulting firm Omnigenus Energy, which focuses on promoting viable and proven renewable green technologies for energy production.

Recruitment technology specialist Kamanchi has appointed Mike Jewsbury (left) as recruitment technology learning manager.

Technical and engineering recruitment specialist Scantec Personnel has appointed two new account managers. Shereese Doyle joins within the firm’s technical engineering contract team, while Chris Stanley strengthens the firm’s electrical and instrumentation team.

IT and financial services recruitment specialist, Bright Purple Resourcing, has appointed Neil Lafferty (below right) to the new role of sales director. He joins the Edinburgh-based company from Rise Recruitment, part of Murray Capital, where he was group sales director. He will be responsible for all UK sales activity for Bright Purple’s offices in Edinburgh and London.

Procurement, supply chain and purchasing recruitment firm Langley Search and Selection has appointed Steven Deverill as operations director on the Langley board. Deverill has has spent eight years managing key accounts for Langley, first as a consultant and most recently building the Langley interim team as head of Langley’s interim practice.

Engineering and construction recruiter Platinum Recruitment Services has taken on John Howden as electrical manager. Howden was previously contracts director with building services group T Clarke Scotland.

Global executive search firm Sanford Rose Associates, which specialises in the life sciences sector, has appointed Eduard Alberts as vice president and managing partner. Alberts has more than 20 years’ experience in the life sciences industry, both domestically and internationally, as well as across a wide array of companies and cultures.

Financial staffing specialist Search Consultancy has appointed Kim Hunter (left) as associate director of its Aberdeen office. Hunter will target growth sectors such as oil and gas servicing, shipping logistics, finance and manufacturing.

Multi-sector recruiter Letterbox Recruiting has promoted Cath Harrison to commercial director.

HR recruiter Ortus has opened an office in São Paulo, Brazil and has appointed Berta Papp. She joins from legal recruiter Laurence Simons, where she worked as international manager for Latin and Central America. Parent company FiveTen Group’s accountancy & finance brand Marks Sattin, legal recruiter Laurence Simons and marketing recruiter EMR are already established in Rio and São Paulo.