The Executives Online Team

Our directors have all held positions at board or director level in major international organisations. They have unrivalled experience in matching suitable interim management, project management, and change management candidates, of the highest quality, to your business needs.

Executives Online – Head Office

Norrie Johnston, BSc, CEng, MIChemE, CMC – Executive Chairman

Norrie is founder and Executive Chairman of Executives Online Ltd. He has provided interim management services since 1997. He is a sales and marketing orientated director, with wide hands-on experience in the successful management of dot.com, telecom, technology, and technical services businesses in home and international markets.

In his earlier career Norrie held marketing and sales directorships in the engineering sector, involving residential periods in the USA and Pakistan.

Anne Beitel, BA, MBA Harvard – Managing Director

Anne brings more than 10 years' experience marketing in high-growth environments to her role as Managing Director for Executives Online. With an MBA from Harvard and a top-flight track record in product and services marketing 'both sides of the pond', Anne developed her marketing and management expertise in previous roles as Director of New Product Marketing for ON Technology Corporation, Vice President of Marketing for Dr Solomon's Software Inc., and European Marketing Director of specialist staffing company Aquent.

Anne also has considerable experience as a freelance marketing executive, successfully completing a range of interim and project assignments for technology and professional services companies in both the UK and US.

James O’Brien – Development Director

James is a highly experienced managing director and operational director and an international franchise specialist. He joined Executives Online from Choice Hotels where he was Franchise Sales Director. James was previously Managing Director of Business Education International, a Management Training franchisor and prior to that was with the Pitman Training Group (which operated one hundred franchise locations) where he rose from the position of Project Manager, Franchise Development, through to Franchise/Operations Director before becoming Managing Director. James O’ Brien’s career achievements include opening and selling Master Franchises in UK, New Zealand, Ireland, Kuwait and several other Middle East countries; selling and opening fifty UK and Ireland training franchises and managing the brand conversion of a franchise network of 50 franchises. He also won the highly commended award for Franchisor of the Year in 2000 and 2001.

Jonathan Corner, MA – Head of Permanent Recruitment

Jonathan joined Executives Online from his role as Associate Director of Hudson Global Resources, part of one of the world’s largest professional staffing, executive search and talent management solution providers. Here, Jonathan grew his team’s temporary/interim businesses by 20% and drove the agency’s senior recruitment presence in the home counties. Prior to this success he was senior consultant for a leading recruitment consultancy specialising in Finance, Banking, Sales and Marketing, Tax, Legal and Technology recruitment and completed several large-scale projects for the likes of Mars Confectionery, O2, Centrica and Nortel Networks. As Head of the Executives Online permanent recruitment team, Jonathan understands the importance of offering the personal service of a traditional recruitment agency combined with harnessing the immense potential of online recruitment to find the best person for the job in the shortest possible time.

Michael Faull – Recruitment Consultant

Prior to joining Executives Online, Michael was Business Manager and Branch Manager for some of the major names in recruitment, such as Capita Resourcing. Michael was responsible for bringing on board and managing an enviable array of clients with household names – Google, Microsoft and the BBC included. Michael’s role as with Executives Online includes business and account development, working with new and existing clients to create and sustain lasting customer relationships, and delivering both interim and permanent recruitment services.

Catherine Hope-MacLellan, BA, MSc – Consultant

Catherine was most recently HR Director for UK and International at financial services giant Capital One, the US-based financial services company that revolutionised the US credit card market and is now repeating that success in the UK. She holds a Masters of Science in Organisational Behaviour (Honours with Distinction) from Cornell University, New York, and a Bachelors Degree in Finance and French (Honours with Distinction) from SMU, Dallas, Texas. With prior roles at Accenture, management consultancy Solutionbank, and recruiter Best People, Catherine brings a wealth of client- and agency-side experience to the challenge of serving Executives Online clients.

Melissa Humphries – Head of IT

Melissa joined Executives Online from the Adecco Group UK where she acquired a wealth of experience over many years, her most recent role being Strategic Project Manager. Whilst there Melissa successfully created and built strong Helpdesk/support facilities for the group companies and later moved into IT Service Management where she became the main link between the business and IT department. Melissa has extensive experience working with CRM systems, designing and building web based applications and capturing/interpreting key business requirements to enhance IT systems.

Michael Laws, BSc – Recruitment Consultant

Michael is an experienced executive recruiter and manager with 10 years' experience sourcing top talent for his clients. Before joining Executives Online, Michael worked for the world’s largest executive search firm specialising in the consumer and marketing services industries. Michael has previously set up a clientside marketing practice for specialist recruitment company Major Players as well as spending five years at Witan Jardine Financial Recruitment. His sector experience spans Marketing Services and E-Commerce, Media, Consumer Industries and Finance. Michael holds a BSc in Astrophysics from the University of Leeds.

Executives Online – Regional Offices

Derek Ward – Managing Director: Executives Online North

In the five years prior to joining Executives Online, Derek delivered a number of interim and consultancy projects, including his position as Interim MD for Swift Fire & Security Group, a regional security installation and service company, and his non-executive directorship of Ellis Fairbank plc, a £9 million recruitment (executive search and selection) company which achieved a successful MBO.

Derek’s others roles have included Sales Director, Divisional Director, Corporate Sales Director and Group Sales Director, primarily in the mobile telecommunications and security sectors.

John Gemmill – Managing Director: Executives Online Scotland

John has a degree in Psychology (Hons) from the University of Glasgow and an MBA from Strathclyde Graduate Business School. He is also an alumni of the Advanced Management Programme of the Wharton School for Executive Education. Born in Scotland to Scottish parents, he is a seasoned human resources practitioner, with wide experience within the UK and internationally in major companies including Unilever, Inchcape and Scottish Power. He has also worked as a management consultant, focusing on Leadership Development, Senior Team Effectiveness & Strategic Human Resources Management; his clients ranged from large Scottish companies to major international businesses with operations in Scotland. Overall, John's experience has given him invaluable insight into executive recruitment issues and trends in Scotland and to the business and people challenges within a wide range of sectors including financial services, energy, telecoms, engineering, electronics, FMCG, airlines, logistics and wines, spirits and beers. His primary goal is to enable employers within the country to rapidly find the senior management talent they need. He is also keen to get information on relevant opportunities out to Executives Online registered senior executives as often as possible and for them to view Executives Online Scotland as a positive resource as they manage their work and careers.

Andrew Nicholas – Managing Director: Executives Online Midlands

Prior to joining Executives Online, Andrew was the Director and General Manager of a £100m group of companies within Cummins Inc. Andrew brings a wealth of experience from the manufacturing and distribution sectors, having worked for companies such as 3M, GEC, Perkins, Lucas, TRW, and Cummins in the automotive, power generation equipment, FMCG, and aerospace industries. Much of Andrew's career has spanned roles with international responsibilities with positions held in production, purchasing, sales, busines development, corporate planning, marketing, and general management. Andrew holds a B.Eng from Manchester University and an MBA from Cranfield University.

Paul Barron – Director: Executives Online North

With a substantial track record of finding, recruiting and developing people as a business manager and director, Paul brings extensive experience within the financial services and automotive retail sectors. As MD of a £35m asset finance business, Paul led the business turnaround, significantly improving revenues and margins in a mature and competitive market. He also represented the industry as a member of the Finance & Leasing Association's management committee. Previously Paul delivered results for various major organisations including GE, The AA and Lloyds Bank's asset finance division in sales, management and director roles, more recently operating as an interim manager immediately prior to joining Executives Online with the aim of further developing the business in his native North East.

Richard Daly – Director: Executives Online East of England

Richard is an established team leader, communicator, and motivator and has held interim and corporate roles at Danone, HP Foods, Heinz, Haagen-Dazs, Grand Met Foods and GE. He was Interim UK Sales Director for Danone and prior to that was Trade Marketing Controller at HJ Heinz Ltd Integration and Sales Director for HP Foods Ltd. Highlights of his time at Heinz and HP include achieving the best ever Chinese New Year on the Amoy brand and the strongest ever BBQ sauce season for HP brands.

Tony Stubbs – Director: Executives Online South West and Wales

Tony has a strong track record of recruiting exceptional people and is adept at building and leading teams to outstanding performance. He is an experienced Finance Director, with a 25-year record of achievement in blue chip companies such as Laura Ashley, General Accident, Lehman Bros., GKN, Cendant and Unilever. Tony's experience also encompasses a role in sales management with General Accident and latterly he has specialised in high growth tech start-ups. Immediately prior to joining Executives Online, Tony was interim CFO for Ubiquisys, a technology start-up leading the development of the femto-cell market.