Chris Howard joins boutique HR consultancy LACE Partners
LACE Partners has boosted its marketing and PR capabilities with the hire of experienced recruitment industry marketer Chris Howard. The former Head of Marketing at the Recruitment & Employment Confederation joins LACE as the firm looks to continue building its client base in the human resources sector.
Founded in 2014, LACE Partners is a UK based boutique HR transformation, change and technology consultancy business. The firm partners with clients to tackle human capital challenges, leveraging sustainable business change programmes and tech adoption services to do so. Working from an office near London’s iconic Shard building, LACE’s team of experts offers a bespoke service to a variety of corporate entities. Clients include major global brands such as commercial real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield, transport manufacturer Bombardier, and Zurich-headquartered financial services group Credit Suisse.
As the firm has sought to expand its reputation and client base in recent times, LACE has committed to a hiring drive in the last 18 months. In March 2018, this saw Recruitment & Employment Confederation CEO Kevin Green recruited to LACE’s newly formed Advisory Board. This was soon followed by LACE installing Emma Leonis as Director of HR Transformation, who joined from Big Four firm Deloitte.
Now, the firm has continued to ramp up its headcount with the addition of experienced recruitment industry marketer Chris Howard. Joining as Marketing Director at the consultancy, Howard will work to develop and deliver the marketing strategy of LACE, helping to expand its notoriety in the sector, drumming up new contacts and clients in the process. His remit includes all digital, SEO, website management, direct marketing, communications, and PR strategy.
Co-Founder Aaron Alburey said of Howard’s arrival, “As we grow into the leading HR Transformation practice in the UK, the emphasis on marketing, our knowledge and expertise increases significantly. We are excited to hire have brought on such an experienced marketeer as Chris to lead our marketing efforts.”
Howard brings the best part of 12 years of experience to his new role, having worked in marketing within the recruitment industry for over a decade. This saw him work as a Brand Manager at Manpower Group, before spending six years with the Recruitment & Employment Confederation – the largest trade body for the recruitment industry with over 4,000 companies that form its membership – where he was latterly Head of Marketing. He spent time in similar roles at SEC and Aquis Search, before opting to join LACE this year.
Speaking on his new challenge at LACE, Howard said, “For me this is a very exciting time to be joining a rapidly growing business. I am delighted to be joining the team, a team which has grown organically and is now looking at taking the next step, of which I hope the marketing efforts of the business will help to be a key driver of.”
Effective marketing strategy is an essential ingredient for success to new entrants to the consulting market. Smaller firms often struggling to win a market share from the established names of the consulting industry without such a plan in place. A study from Hinge Marketing demonstrated this – concluding that high growth consulting firms are specialised in and invest in marketing.
Exemplifying this approach, self-styled ‘challenger consultancy’ Elixirr has worked consistently to boost its marketing work. The resulting explosive growth and industry accolades enjoyed by the consultancy have shown the potential of such an approach, and made it one that many similarly sized firms have been keen to adopt.
