RBW Consulting welcomes James Wakefield as CEO

Life sciences specialist firm RBW Consulting, has announced the appointment its new CEO. James Wakefield’s arrival coincides with a continued geographic expansion across the US and UK.    

RBW Consulting is a life sciences recruitment and search consultancy, operating in the US, UK and Europe. Through four specialist practices, the firm helps life sciences businesses change the world, by giving them the people, insight and networks to innovate and scale.

Following the pandemic, life sciences has been an industry which is in keen demand – while the tightening talent market means it is struggling to recruit at a rate than can meet those new needs. As a result, RBW has itself come into major demand – enjoying stellar commercial performance, driven by continued geographic expansion across the US and UK.

As the firm looks to build on this momentum, it has installed James Wakefield as its new CEO. Currently the UK Chair and a member of the global representative committee for The Association of Professional Staffing Companies, throughout his career, he has successfully grown teams and businesses, both in the UK and overseas.

“I feel hugely privileged to have been trusted with the task of becoming RBW Consulting’s CEO”, said Wakefield. “RBW is an excellent business with a great culture a thriving sector. Since the company’s inception in 2007, they have stayed true to their founding mission – helping life science businesses change the world – while also achieving impressive growth. I am committed to continuing this ethos as we look to the future, and will do everything to ensure that we can all be proud of what we achieve together.”  

Commenting on the new appointment, RBW Co-founder Warren added, “With James we have found someone whose motivations are perfectly aligned with ours and those of everyone in the business. He brings fantastic experience and new, complementary skills to our company. Together, we represent a strong, experienced leadership team that has a unified vision of success – that’s an incredibly powerful combination and we couldn’t be more excited about the new chapter James will lead RBW Consulting into.”  

Wakefield’s joining the company coincides with an evolution of the leadership team at RBW Consulting. Co-founders Warren and Nick Rapley are to take a step back from their current CEO and President roles to focus more on their Board responsibilities, while Emma Thorp, previously Chief Growth Officer, has been appointed Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) for EU and North America. Chairman Tim Perman continues in his role.