
| RUSSAM GMS For 28 years the interim specialists |
| Russam GMS, 48 High Street North, Dunstable, Beds. LU6 1LA. Telephone: 0845 658 1717 • Fax: 01582 471757 • E-mail: hq@russam-gms.co.uk Get map and directions here All details of our other offices can be found here. |
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Jason Atkinson Executive Director |
Jason Atkinson has 16 years of international sales and marketing experience across both the financial services and fashion retailing sectors. Prior to joining the Russam GMS team in 2005 he spent eight years working for various life, pensions and banking institutions including Pearl Assurance and AMP. He has expertise in leveraging all aspects of the marketing mix and also a strong background in project & programme management, risk & compliance, governance and sales management. He is the Deputy Chairman of the Interim Management Association (IMA); a founding member of the Financial Promotions Action Group; and is involved in a number of other industry bodies and associations. ![]() |
Stephen Brooker Chairman (Charities Practice) |
Stephen Brooker has been working in the charity and not for profit sector since 1990 when he was recruited to the British Red Cross Society as Director of Finance. Having previously been a partner in Ernst & Young, leading a unit in the management consultancy division, he was ideally placed to help the Red Cross to put commercial systems and disciplines in place as they embarked on a major programme of strategic change under a new top management team. Stephen trained as a Chartered Accountant in the London office of Arthur Young after reading Economics at Cambridge.
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Peter Dunkerley Senior Principal |
Peter Dunkerley is now one of Russam GMS's most experienced and successful Managing Consultants having placed hundreds of interim managers across a diverse range of clients in both the private and public sectors. This experience gained since joining Russam GMS early in 2001, together with his strong commercial background, means that he has become a real expert in understanding and matching the skills of interim managers with the fullest understanding of the needs of his clients. An economics graduate from Keele and the LSE, his early career began with Cadbury Schweppes, where from Foods Division Marketing Manager he became Managing Director of Aerosols International. He then became Group Managing Director of Thomas Jourdan plc and later Chairman of Brays UK plc before becoming an Interim Manager himself. He was between assignments when he joined the Russam team and has been placing executives ever since. Peter lives in North East Hampshire, near Fleet.![]() |
Ben Foster Principal |
Ben joined Russam GMS as a Principal in May 2008.
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Ian Joseph Practice Head (Charities) |
Prior to joining Russam GMS Ltd, Ian Joseph was a senior consultant for one of the UK’s leading executive search firms where he worked on high profile executive and non executive roles in the not for profit and public sector. Prior to this, Ian spent over six years as Chief Executive of a medium-sized charity called HOPE worldwide which specialised in working in the fields of homelessness, addiction, mentoring and international development.
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Emma Kynoch Head of Resourcing |
Emma joined Russam GMS in 2008 as Head of the company’s Resource Management Team, having previously worked as a Vetting Manager and Resourcer within the utilities recruitment sector. Her role is to continuously review and improve all available sources and methods of attracting the highest calibre candidates to ensure a swift and bespoke service to all our clients and similarly provide interims with up-to-date details of the best opportunities in their sector.
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Gary Lawton Director (Public Sector) |
Gary Lawton joins the Russam GMS executive team to direct and drive forward the company’s Public Sector Practice – now Catalist accredited by the OGC-BS - Office of Government Commerce - Buying Solutions.![]() |
Glyn Lloyd Business Manager |
Glyn Lloyd began his business career in the Plastics industry as a Commercial Trainee working for Guinness. Later, after brief spells with BTR and Schlegel of America, he joined Legrand Electric the UK subsidiary of Legrand sa of France, the world’s largest producer of Electrical Fittings. Initially as Distribution Manager, later as Operations Manager and finally as Logistics Director, his responsibilities included Customer Service, Warehousing, Procurement, Quality, Site Services, Transport and Distribution. In 1997 he undertook a couple of interim assignments, both in the field of Logistics, before joining the team at Russam GMS as Business Manager. He is responsible for the day to day running of the company with specific responsibility for Finance, Admin, IT and Web Development. He is a member of the Institute of Logistics and Transport. His eldest son is a Presenter with BBC Radio and his youngest is a Teacher. His wife, Susan, is a Secondary School Librarian. He lives on the Beds/Bucks border. His interests include Politics, IT, Sport, Reading and Music.
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Charles Russam Chairman |
In the ten years before establishing Russam GMS in 1982, Charles Russam, FCA, gained senior management experience with The Burton Group – now Arcadia – and Whitbread in financial, business development and general management areas and was Business Development Director of Beefeater Steakhouses in their exciting and formative early years. Setting up his own management consultancy in the early 1980’s, he quickly noticed that there was virtually no mechanism for the provision of short term management support at senior levels - which is what Charles did - and whence we derive our claim to be "the longest established mainstream Interim Management Provider in the UK". Charles founded the IMA, the Industry Professional Association in 1987 which has now developed into a strong driving force behind the growth of this important sector. He was its Deputy Chairman for eight years and headed up its Marketing Committee. Charles has written and had published over the years well over 50 articles and innumerable quotes about flexible employment at senior levels and the changing ways in which businesses can be managed more effectively through people. He has given evidence to the House of Commons Select Committee on Employment, has spoken at national and international conferences, has been on radio and has appeared on television on two occasions. Charles lives in North Buckinghamshire and enjoys golf and collecting old watches.
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Damian Shaw Principal |
Damian was recruited by Russam GMS as a Principal in August 2008.Following graduating at Sheffield University in BA Hons English Literature in 2004, Damian joined Elan Computing – the dedicated IT arm of Manpower, as an Account Manager. In quickly placing senior IT project and programme interims into blue-chip financial services, pharmaceutical and energy clients, Damian built the foundations of his pro-active consultative skill-set in advising market-leading clients and candidates alike.
Today, Damian is a key player in the Russam GMS Public Sector practice. Specialising in key areas such as Procurement, Programme and Project Management, Change Management, Marketing and Communications, Finance, HR and Board Level Appointments, he currently supplies senior interims into HM Central Government, The Scottish Government and Collaborative Partners and Manchester City Council.
You can E-mail Damian Shaw at Damian.Shaw@russam-gms.co.uk
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Chester Sullivan-Manders Senior Principal (Public Sector Finance) |
Chester Sullivan-Manders joined Russam GMS as a Senior Principal in April 2009 to focus on providing senior level interim managers within Local Government, Social Housing, Education and the NHS.![]() |
Bill Tipping Specialist Sector Advisor (Public Sector) |
Russam GMS are pleased to announce the appointment of the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) former Head of Procurement, Bill Tipping, as a Specialist Adviser to its growing Public Sector Business Division.![]() |
Mike Whitlam Specialist Sector Advisor (Charities) |
Mike Whitlam CBE, MPhil., CCMgtI, has worked at a senior management level, in the Voluntary sector for over 30 years, having been trained and worked as a Prison Governor beforehand. His original management training was gained from Manchester Business School and his M.Phil. was gained at Cranfield, on the subject of Voluntary Sector management.
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John Wilson Director Operations |
John Wilson is our most experienced Principal with over 10 years at Russam GMS. He acts as our Director - Operations and heads up three of our Specialist Sector practices – Defence & Aerospace, Local Government and Manufacturing & Supply Chain. John brings 25 years of senior level PLC experience to the business. As a former Regional Director of divisions of TI Group and of Coats Viyella, he has extensive domestic and international experience. A graduate of the University of St Andrews and fluent in Spanish, his career developed through line management to board level positions encompassing operational, financial, commercial and strategic responsibilities. John lives in Cheshire.