43 www. ceotodaymagazine . com Uni ted Kingdom Chi e f Exe cut ive , Neuven Group Manche s t e r Int e rnat i ona l Of f i c e Cent r e , St ya l Road , Manche s t e r, M2 2 5WB Te l : 0161 437 4337 | Ema i l : info@neuven. co .uk John Simmonds Even prior to becoming CEO of Neuven Group, John Simmonds amassed a wealth of experience in senior positions within the UK staffing sector. He has held Managing Director and CEO positions within the sector for the past 20 years, and previously occupied a board-level role at one of the largest staffing providers in the UK. Since 2010, he has led the team responsible for rebuilding Neuven from an embryonic state into a leading vendor-neutral service provider with an established and respected audit and compliance division. Neuven Group is made up of two companies: Neuven Solutions Ltd, who are the leading provider of neutral vendor solutions in the UK, and Neuven Consult Ltd, who are the leading provider of audit, training and bid writing services, also across the UK. Neuven is a specialist procurer in the temporary staffing market, developing and licensing software platforms that revolutionise the way companies manage their contingent workforce. John remains committed to continuing Neuven Group’s remarkable growth while staying true to the principles and values that have underpinned the company’s success to date. Can you tell us about what led you to Neuven and how you prepared to take on the role of chief executive? Neuven already existed as a dormant incorporated company at the point where I became involved. Due to my prior experience leading companies of a similar type, it was a good match for me to take the leadership role of CEO and shape how the company would grow. The initial decision for me to take the challenge was encouraged by a previous client, who urged me to build a company that gave them and the wider market an alternative to what already existed. I basically started building the company from scratch with a few highly talented and loyal colleagues, who are the foundation on which the success of Neuven has been built. I took the role of CEO at Neuven because I saw the opportunity to take the good and bad from what I had seen in previous organsiations and build a company on strong values that was a force for good for clients, suppliers and colleagues alike. From regular colleague surveys, I am proud to say we appear to have achieved that aim. How did your previous experience in leadership positions help during this process? I think that one of the benefits of starting Neuven after having many years in senior leadership roles was being able to take all the positives from previous organisations and incorporate them into the new venture. This helped to ensure that Neuven learned from negative prior experiences to deliver a positive environment for our colleagues, clients and suppliers. I felt that in the past I had seen a concentration on client satisfaction to the exclusion of everything else. Obviously, whilst this remains the barometer of a great business it is equally important to have the same focus on colleagues and suppliers. I feel that if you can achieve all three, you have the ingredients for remarkable success. Of course, we do not get it right every time. However, I am confident that even when we fall short, it isn’t for a lack of striving to do the right thing the right way. The single best thing I have done since starting the Neuven journey is recruit dedicated, high-quality colleagues who have the same ethics as I do. This is particularly true of the board of directors, who are custodians of the values and drive the success of the company. Each one of those board members was a key appointment at the time they joined us and with each one W W W . N E U V E N . C O . U K
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