Robert Baldwin

After a number of years in business Robert moved into Executive Search in the 1980’s. In 1989 the search firm he was managing was acquired by another company and he went in-house as Group Recruitment & Development Director. He was subsequently appointed HR Director for the European operations of their North American businesses.

He joined executive search firm Alexander Hughes in 1994 where he ran a successful advertised recruitment division. He went on to play a key role in establishing and then leading the Professional Services executive search practice across EMEA and was a core member of the Financial Services practice in the UK, specialising in Corporate Banking.  His main focus was the recruitment of business leaders and senior business developers.

Robert joined The Willis Partnership in 2010 to focus on executive search for leading Consulting Firms and providers of Corporate Banking services.

Michael Bewes

With many years of general management experience in the financial services industry, since joining the Partnership in 1994, he has carried out assignments in insurance, reinsurance, banking, investment, company ratings, compliance, actuarial consulting, the leisure industry, trade/professional bodies, risk management, ART, education, healthcare, government organisations and charities, many at board level, both executive and non-executive.

A Cambridge MA, he is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and a past president of the Chartered Insurance Institute. He was the ‘Master Insurer’ in 2004. He has specialist experience in the application of psychometrics and multiple-assessment at senior management levels.

Helen Crofts

Helen is a qualified actuary and current member of the Council of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. She has worked in the mainstream life insurance, reinsurance and consulting world for over 20 years, both in the UK and Bermuda. She has had a broad range of experience in a variety of roles including pricing and reserving, management, product and team development with companies such as Swiss Re, XL Re and PricewaterhouseCoopers before changing career direction to work in executive search.

She founded and currently chairs The-Women's-Insurance-Net-Work, a membership-based organisation for senior women within the insurance industry, providing a forum for both business networking and professional development via a programme of seminars, conferences and social events.

Dick Hawkes

Dick Hawkes spent the earlier part of his career in Advertising and Marketing, as Board Director of McCann-Erickson and as Managing Director of two Marketing Services companies. He worked with a wide range of clients in sectors including Consumer Goods, Retail and Financial Services, and advised the Organising Committee of the Barcelona Olympic Games on TV rights across the world. A former Chairman of Red Post Production, Dick has also raised finance for small companies from Private Equity firms.

He joined executive search firm Alexander Hughes in 1994, becoming Managing Consultant in 1998. Joining The Willis Partnership in early 2004, Dick focuses on general management, board level and head of function assignments across a range of businesses, and in particular those in the Media and Consumer Goods markets.

Ian Willis

Since founding the company with a partner in 1979, he has completed assignments in many different fields in commerce and industry in the UK and internationally. He has a particularly deep knowledge of many of the businesses and professional bodies active in the City of London, having worked extensively for clients in the Lloyd's market, the actuarial profession, the investment markets and the insurance company sector.

He spent several years in military service and has an MA and M Phil from Oxford.