APSCo Disrupt: Futureproofing your recruitment business

Chris Blackburn

Director of Skills Growth, Impellam Group

For over two decades, Chris has gained extensive experience in the recruitment industry, with a strong focus on Learning & Development. In the past five years, he has played a key role in supporting aviation apprentices affected by industry pressures, successfully redeploying over 100 engineering apprentices into new careers.

Recently, Chris’s focus has shifted to Early Careers talent, providing employability opportunities for those seeking new career paths.

He is passionate about promoting social mobility, raising awareness of STEM careers among younger generations, and actively participating in charitable and volunteer initiatives.

With expertise in early career interventions, talent management programs, and the use of apprenticeship levy-funded career pathways, Chris is committed to building sustainable talent pipelines and supporting the communities his organisation serves.

Steve Carter

Co-Founder & Director, Carter Squared

Steve has had a 35-year career building and managing global recruitment firms at CEO level and serving on their global board.

Starting his career in Australia, Steve has forged a global career on constantly seeking change and improvement in the recruitment industry, challenging the norms , learning from other sectors and getting the best out of people by empowering and enabling them.

Having been at the Exec/Board level of global recruitment businesses, Steve launched his consulting practice in 2015, working alongside recruitment industry Directors and owners who are committed to building businesses that are not restricted by the conventional thinking in the sector.

After meeting Paralympian Liz Johnson through his consulting work, they co-founded The Ability People, an organization committed to creating ‘parity of opportunity’ in the world of work for disabled people and in 2019 was awarded a fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts for his work in social change.

Carly Rochester

Co-Founder & Director, ME Passport

An experienced social care leader with over 25 years of experience, Carly has led teams of 400+ staff and is deeply committed to making a difference in people's lives. As the Co-founder and Director of ME Passport, she has helped create a digital compliance passport that improves recruitment processes within the Health and Social Care Sector.

At ME Passport, her expertise and collaborative efforts have led to the development of an innovative solution that allows the workforce to build, own, and share their compliance data with ease.

Driven by a passion for positive change, Carly is constantly seeking ways to enhance services within the industry. By leveraging technology and creative problem-solving, she is making a meaningful impact on individuals and families supported by the sector.

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Ann Swain

CEO, APSCo

Ann is founder and Global CEO of APSCo, an international trade body representing the professional recruitment sector with operations in the UK, Germany, Australia and across South East Asia.
 
She has over thirty years’ recruitment experience including time as UK Sales Director of multinational staffing firms and Managing Director of recruitment training company Learning Curve before establishing APSCo in 1999.

In 2009, she was honoured to receive a fellowship from the NSPCC and in 2018, received the prestigious Leadership Award from the Trade Association Forum. Ann currently features in the SIA ‘Global Power 50’ list of the most influential women in international recruitment. She is also one of the select recruitment sector leaders to have made the Staffing Industry Analysts Hall of Fame, which celebrates individuals in the recruitment field whose accomplishments, dedication and drive are making a difference to work today, and to what work will look like in the future.

Ann is an acknowledged thought leader and her articles feature regularly in the national and recruitment media. An award-winning business leader and inspirational keynote speaker, she is also the co-author of the best-selling ‘Professional Recruiter’s Handbook’.