Christine Raynaud’s acquisition of executive search firm the MRI China Group represents a “fresh challenge” to lead a firm with her own “vision and beliefs”, according to the former Hudson/Europe president and chief executive.

Raynaud was appointed new CEO and majority owner, following the sale, completed on 29 October between founder and former CEO, Tony Dickel and herself.

Raynaud told Recruiter: “From a personal development standpoint, after 20 years of establishing and developing – with some success – recruitment and staffing operations for large corporations in over 35 different countries, including nine Asian countries, I felt an entrepreneurial project would be a fresh challenge along with the opportunity to lead a business with my own vision and beliefs.

“At first, it was the choice of a region that I like very much. It offers enormous growth potential and an opportunity for me to bridge two cultures and share best practices.

“I became interested in and excited by The MRI China Group most specifically for its people. The culture of the company, its integrity, team spirit, eagerness to serve clients and candidates in the most professional and caring way, the yearning to learn and their pride of professional achievements without arrogance I found most attractive.

“Going forward my goal is to help the 200-strong team unleash its potential and grow the company to the next level. We have not yet formed any details of our strategic initiatives but clearly we need to put more emphasis, internally and externally, on our specialist areas.

“Currently we are most effective in the industrial (management and engineering positions in chemicals, power, automotive, transportation, renewable energy, manufacturing), retail and consumer (management and sales/marketing positions) and life sciences sectors (pharmaceutical and medical devices). We are also growing in financial services and support functions (HR, legal and accounting/finance).

“I am also confident that we can expand in the outsourcing solutions space through our Tal-os division. It’s a new business line but this year the team has made great strides in the retail space. Recently they recruited 350 people for a large retail chain and to date only one individual has left the company.”