Towers Watson UK grows Executive Compensation team
Global professional services company Towers Watson has strengthened its Executive Compensation business in the UK with three senior appointments. Jessica Norton joins the firm from EY as a Director, while Alasdair Wood and Suzanne Bliss have been promoted to Director level. All three advisors will be based in Towers Watson’s London office.
Jessica Norton has over 15 years of experience advising companies on all aspects of executive and senior management reward across all sectors in the UK market. She also has expertise in M&A-related reward issues, including IPOs, corporate acquisitions, private equity buy-outs and carve outs/spin offs, as well as significant experience working with tax and regulatory-related pay matters. Norton joins Towers Watson from Big Four firm EY, prior to that she worked at Deloitte.
Alasdair Wood has over 15 years’ international experience in remuneration and broader human resources consultancy having worked in London, Tokyo and Sydney. He works with clients across all industries with a specialist interest in insurance and FMCG. Wood joined Towers Watson in 2012 from Deloitte, previously he spent ten years with Towers Perrin*.
Suzanne Bliss has over 20 years of professional consulting experience, with specific expertise in the financial services sector. Bliss leads on work for Towers Watson’s global universal bank clients and also has spent significant time working in capital markets, investment banking, retail banking and wealth management. She joined Towers Watson in 2007 via the company’s acquisition of MGMC**.
“I welcome Jessica to the team and congratulate Alasdair and Suzanne on their promotions. Their combined experience further cements Towers Watson’s position as a leading presence in executive compensation consulting in the UK, with broad and deep expert knowledge,” says Richard Belfield, Executive Compensation Practice Leader of Towers Watson in the UK.
Growth target
Looking ahead, Belfield expects the practice to further build its footprint in 2015, on the back of a changing HR environment and growing demand from clients. “We anticipate that in 2015 there will be even greater pressure on companies to hone their approach to executive compensation in the light of continued investor scrutiny and demand for clearer demonstration of the alignment between pay and performance,” he comments. In addition, Belfield not surprisingly is confident on his team’s ability to capitalise on the opportunities in the market: “With our wide-ranging business and advisory expertise, the team is very well placed to help clients from all sectors to manage the complexities of the current UK executive compensation environment.”
* In June 2009 Watson Wyatt and Towers Perrin merged to form Towers Watson, creating one of the largest human resource consulting firms in the world.
** Towers Perrin acquired MGMC in February 2007, and integrated the firm’s offices in Darien, Connecticut (US) and London into its Executive Compensation and Rewards practice.
