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<h1>Our people</h1>

<p>James Kennard is the Chief Executive Officer of Hintel USA, bringing over 15 years of construction industry experience and more than a decade in recruitment to his role. With a degree in Construction Management and background as an Assistant Project Manager, James transitioned to construction recruitment in 2010 where he discovered his talent for identifying exceptional leadership.</p>
<p>Prior to leading Hintel USA, he built and scaled a recruitment enterprise in the UK to 80 staff members and $33 million in revenue within just three years before successfully selling the business. James offers comprehensive executive search services including retained, contingency, and global talent acquisition, having conducted successful searches throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Singapore, and South Africa. Known for his ability to "engineer growth through people," James advises clients on organisational structure and talent optimisation to scale their businesses effectively. His deep market immersion and extensive network have made him the trusted advisor to many of the construction and development sector's most influential leaders.</p>

James Kennard

CEO - Hintel USA

<p><strong>Pete Sheppard, Managing Director of Hintel, brings over two decades of specialised experience in construction and property sector outsourcing solutions.</strong> For the past ten years, he has developed and managed comprehensive outsourcing programmes within the industry, building upon a previous decade of direct recruitment experience and team leadership in the same sector.</p>
<p>Mr Sheppard has successfully delivered first-generation Managed Service Provider (MSP) and Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) programmes for leading industry clients, including:</p>
<p>&bull; Balfour Beatty<br>&bull; Vistry Homes<br>&bull; CBRE<br>&bull; McCarthy and Stone<br>&bull; Redrow Homes<br>&bull; Bellway Homes<br>&bull; Vinci Construction</p>
<p><strong>Key Programme Achievements:</strong></p>
<p>For Balfour Beatty, Mr Sheppard designed and implemented a &pound;50 million blue-collar MSP solution, coordinating approximately 100 agency suppliers and managing 1,500 temporary workers. He concurrently operated an RPO contract handling approximately 400 permanent positions annually, supported by a curated network of 60 recruitment agencies.</p>
<p>For Vistry Homes, Mr Sheppard established the foundational infrastructure that now supports their internal recruitment function. This comprehensive implementation included technology integration, standardised contractual frameworks, enhanced digital recruitment platforms, and the development of structured recruitment processes across the organisation.</p>

Pete Sheppard

Managing Director - Hintel UK

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<div class="tab-parent">Andrew founded the deverellsmith group in 2006 and the firm has since been awarded &lsquo;Sunday Times Best Company to Work&rsquo; for 7 consecutive years. Andrew leads the Executive Search, Research &amp; Talent Advisory team across the Group brand (deverellsmith &amp; Hintel).</div>
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<p>Andrew and his team source elite Real Estate leaders across the globe, as well as providing consultancy services and supporting large growth projects.</p>
<p>Over his 22-year career, Andrew has worked with many highly successful organisations. Inspired to elevate people&rsquo;s careers and to accelerate partnering businesses&rsquo; success, or to unlock challenging situations to deliver outstanding outcomes for all.</p>
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Andrew Deverell-Smith

Group CEO & Founder

<p class="">Debra, the Founder and CEO of SAY, brings over 25 years of expertise in residential property. Based in London, SAY specialises in providing strategic operational asset advice for both existing and planned developments, with a focus on residential-led projects across the UK, Europe, and the UAE.</p>
<p class="sqsrte-small">Before establishing SAY, Debra served as Director of Asset and Property Management at Grainger plc for a decade. She is recognised as an authority in residential property and asset management, particularly in rental living and the development of new communities. Debra advocates for incorporating future economic viability into the planning and development stages, emphasising that strategic operational advice is crucial for creating and maintaining successful and sustainable communities.</p>
<p class="sqsrte-small">In May 2024, Debra was honoured with the title of Residential Property Personality of the Year by Property Week. Beyond her role at SAY, she holds non-executive positions with Grove End Housing Limited, Deverell Smith Recruitment, Jewish Care, and the M&amp;G Shared Ownership Fund.</p>

Deborah Yudolph

Non Executive Director/CEO of SAY Property

<p class="whitespace-pre-wrap break-words">Georgia Zambakides serves as the Executive Director of deverellsmith, where she spearheads growth initiatives across the entire company. In this pivotal leadership role, Georgia leverages her extensive experience and strategic vision to drive the expansion of&nbsp; deverellsmith's presence throughout the United Kingdom.</p>
<p class="whitespace-pre-wrap break-words">Her deep industry expertise lies in executive recruitment for the residential development sector, where she specialises in placing senior professionals within leading consultancies and major property developers. Her comprehensive understanding of the UK property market, combined with her exceptional talent acquisition skills, has established her as a trusted advisor to many of the industry's most influential organisations.</p>
<p class="whitespace-pre-wrap break-words">As Executive Director, Georgia continues to apply her strategic acumen and sector knowledge to strengthen deverellsmith UK's position as a premier talent acquisition provider in the real estate and construction markets, driving innovation and excellence across all business units.</p>

Georgia Zambakides

Executive Director

<p>Passionate about people and communicating, Laura Croggon has built a career on employer branding, marketing and internal communications across the talent space. Understanding specific audience needs and how to deliver messages that actually land are Laura&rsquo;s speciality. She&rsquo;s an excellent communicator, a proud ally and an ambassador for innovation at both group brands, deverellsmith and Hintel.</p>
<p>Laura is an Advisory Board member for The Land Collective, an award-winning, youth-focused organisation that partners with employers to diversify the talent pipeline in the built environment sector.&nbsp;</p>
<p>She is a Mental Health First-Aider, CMI Level 5 qualified in Managing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and has been awarded the Recruitment Marketer of the Year for two consecutive years.</p>

Laura Croggon

Group Marketing Director

<p>Senior executive in the RPO industry since 2006, initially as global CFO with Advantage xPO growing from a vendor neutral concept to a &pound;300 million revenue company, in the banking, telecommunications and construction sectors.<br><br>Paul Day then joined a privately owned recruitment group as the Finance Director of Datum RPO, developing the company from a start up to a &pound;40 million revenue company in the construction and facilities management space. Now working with Hintel Limited, an exciting new brand owned by deverellsmith, bringing the RPO model and it&rsquo;s benefits to the property and real estate industry.<br><br>Specialties: mergers and acquisitions , international background working in Singapore and the middle east , building effective finance and operations teams, business strategy and operational performance improvement and commercial leadership.</p>

Paul Day

Group Chief Operating Officer

<p>Tom serves as the Head of Finance at deverellsmith, where he brings his strategic financial leadership to the property recruitment and talent solutions space. With a keen analytical mind and forward-thinking approach, Tom has been instrumental in strengthening the company's financial infrastructure since joining.&nbsp;</p>

Tom Hammond

Group Head of Finance

<p><span data-teams="true">Yaser is a seasoned business and talent leader with over 18 years of experience across real estate, government, and industrial sectors.</span></p>
<p><span data-teams="true">As Managing Partner of Hintel Saudi Arabia, he is driving the firm&rsquo;s expansion in the Kingdom, aligning with Vision 2030. In parallel, he leads 8848 Consultancy, where he has successfully delivered strategic transformation projects across various sectors.</span></p>
<p><span data-teams="true">Yaser brings a rare blend of talent strategy, business acumen, and local market insight &mdash; making him a trusted partner in complex growth journeys.</span></p>

Yaser Bakhsh

Managing Partner - Saudi Arabia


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