CONNECT SEARCH - Key Persons

Andy Naylor - Founder, Managing Director

Job Titles:
  • Founder
  • Managing Director
  • Member of the Leadership Team
Founder and Managing Director of Connect, Andy leads the Personal Care and Retail Practices, and has a track record of working with a wide range of UK and International groups across diverse locations around the world. Andy operates across functions at executive level and has particular strength in finance and sales & marketing roles from divisional and regional level up to main board. Andy established Connect in 2010, having spent the previous 17 years developing and leading multi-site teams for international recruitment businesses in finance, and sales and marketing. He combines responsibility for the strategy and growth of Connect, with a passion for delivering high-impact executive talent in the consumer goods sector. Recent projects include:

David Hammond

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Leadership Team
  • Non Executive Director
David has been our Non-Executive Director since 2011. He has spent his 30 plus year career entirely in the mid-market sector, advising, managing, investing in, buying, and selling mid-market businesses. A qualified Chartered Accountant, he spent 11 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers before joining Camden Motor Group. In the last 19 years, he has been instrumental in growing the business into one of the largest privately held Automotive businesses in the UK with a turnover of £1.3 billion at its peak. A number of successful business disposals have been achieved in the last 10 years. He is currently CEO of Camden Ventures Limited, a property and investment vehicle and additionally holds a number of Non-Executive directorships both inside and outside the Automotive space.

James Tickner

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Member of the Leadership Team
  • Director - Food Division
James is a Director at Connect Search and leads the Food Practice. He has an extensive international network within the Food & Beverage sector, with a particular focus on EMEA, North America and APAC regions. He partners organisations spanning from Fortune and FTSE listed Groups to small and medium sized enterprises and operates across functions to appoint executive talent, from divisional and regional level up to main board. James has deep recruitment experience and a track record of delivering key strategic hires for a diverse client portfolio across all functions.

Paul Don

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Member of the Leadership Team
  • Director - Ingredients & Flavours Division
Paul is a Director at Connect Search and leads the Ingredients & Flavours Practice. He has an extensive international network within the Ingredients & Flavours sector, with a particular focus on EMEA, North America and APAC regions. He partners organisations spanning from Fortune and FTSE listed Groups to small and medium sized enterprises and operates across functions to appoint executive talent, from divisional and regional level up to main board. Paul has 20+ years' recruitment experience and a track record of delivering key strategic hires and developing teams for international recruitment groups at Director level.

Robin Allix

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Member of the Leadership Team
  • Director - Dairy & Beverage Division
Robin is a Director at Connect Search and leads the Dairy & Beverage Practice.

Vanessa Penuela Traub

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Leadership Team
  • Head of Business Services
Vanessa is Head of Business Services at Connect Search and supports all Divisions across the business.