AIM-quoted, international IT, digital and business change recruiter Nakama Group has a new chief executive – Rob Sheffield.

Sydney, Australia-based Sheffield is one of the founding directors of the company, establishing Nakama in London in 2009 and subsidiaries in Australia and Hong Kong in partnership with London managing director Paul Goodship. 

Nakama was acquired by IT recruiter Highams Systems Service Group in October 2011, creating the Nakama Group.

Speaking to Recruiter this morning, Sheffield said while the business had had CEOs in the past, it had not done so for about two years. 

His appointment now was to add structure to the business from an organisational perspective.

Based on the direction of the business, the management team felt there was previously no need for a CEO but “from a publicly-listed perspective, shareholders and investors want someone that they feel is guiding or directing the strategy and vision of the business and is a point of contact”.

He said the “extremely collaborative” nature of the board and management team would continue and that he would continue to be based in Australia “for the foreseeable future”.

“We work in a world where travel is very easy, technology allows us to communicate on a regular basis and if you’ve got to be physically present to have people do things that everyone has agreed upon then it’s probably not the right business, is it?”

As for the direction of the business, he said it would continue to build its presence in current geographies and to look at potential markets to expand into.

“The end vision is to have a connected group of businesses that are global and linked through our common delivery that is all things digital.”

 He added he did not see his day-to-day job significantly changing: “We’ve got a brilliant team and it’s more about being able to support that team.”

Nakama also operates in Singapore, Shanghai and Bangkok.

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