Human Resources

Chris joined the business in 2011 as part of the Macildowie Training Programme and progressed through our Part-Qualified, Qualified and Senior Financial Recruitment desks. As part of a business growth strategy he recruited for Blue Chip clients in Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes, quickly growing and developing his desk.

After a successful period of growth in those markets, Chris established our Milton Keynes division, before returning to Leicester to run the Financial recruitment team. Following his success in those roles, Chris became Regional Managing Director for the North East Midlands and South Yorkshire.

He also specialises in Senior Executive Finance Recruitment across the wider East Midlands.

Chris' Client Testimonials

ALEX HILL

Commercial Finance Manager at Weetabix

"Chris Huffen was excellent. He listened understood what I was looking for but challenges me in the right way about what my next step needed to be. Really appreciated all his support."

SHETUL MASHRU

Group Marketing Accountant / Analyst (Manager) at Travis Perkins / Wickes

“I thoroughly recommend Chris for your recruitment needs, because he makes the recruitment process more structured and simplified than others, thereby ensuring a smooth journey from candidate registration to employment offer(s).

His competency and professionalism is the reason as to why I have already recommended Chris to my colleagues and friends looking to progress in their career.”

VICCI TAYLOR

Recruiter (Credit Risk, Finance and Marketing) at Barclaycard

“I have worked with Chris since joining Barclaycard in November 2011. Chris' understanding of Barclaycards requirements and culture is second to none and has provided some outstanding candidates. He always has Barclaycards best interest at heart and can see that his view is quality rather than quantity. I look forward to working with Chris in the future and would highly recommend Chris as an exceptional recruiter.”

Darius joined Macildowie in 2010. Having built an enviable reputation as an HR recruiter of choice across Northamptonshire, and leading our HR and Sales and Marketing Divisions, Darius was appointed as Regional Managing Director for the South East Midlands. He also specialises in Senior Executive HR Recruitment across the East Midlands.

Darius has pioneered various networking and Thought Leadership events for our customers and believes that working in a true partnership based on transparency and trust is the key to a long term sustainable relationship.

I’m a recruitment outsourcing expert.

Having worked for three of the country’s most successful recruitment outsourcing firms, in different guises and across vastly different accounts – from Operations Manager of the largest MSP in Europe, to the lone running of an SME-sized RPO – I’ve experienced a lot in my nearly 10 years in recruitment.

I believe the future for permanent recruitment for every company SME-sized and above, should be a partnership focused RPO. Most businesses state that their people are their biggest asset, and an RPO is the best recruitment method to protect those assets when they’re in the process of entering your business. In tandem with Macildowie’s Retention Service, our RPO is also the best way to help protect those assets when they’re already in your business too.

I believe all RPOs should focus on three key things for their clients: cost, time and talent.

In a post-Covid-19 society, these things will matter even more - with budgets being tighter, smaller teams doing more, and the importance of “the best, not the first” candidate being paramount - and therefore the benefit of an RPO relationship to businesses will be even greater.

Macildowie’s RPO has those three elements at its heart, but it can go further than that, and in what we believe, a unique way.

Macildowie’s RPO is small and flexible and as such its service can genuinely be tailored to exactly what your business needs from a recruitment function (something that larger outsourcers with significant overheads are unable to do). We’re also able to offer two exceptional value-adding services which – from what I understand no other competitor is currently doing – in our Retention Services and People Hub facility. All of which is underpinned by years of quality Macildowie service.

My aim is for Macildowie RPO to be a trusted and valued partner for our clients, delivering on the three key objectives of cost, time and talent – and doing it in a unique way that we can be proud of.

Emily joined us in December 2023 after working for a recruitment agency in Manchester where she only focused on the client side, so is excited to be working on both sides of the recruitment process at Macildowie. Emily has joined the Nottingham-based HR team.

After living the dream in France for 5 years Kate made the move into recruitment after moving to London. Here, she cut her teeth in a busy and competitive environment but in 2018 made the move out of the costly city to head to the Midlands in pursuit of a new dream! Joining Macildowie and initially covering Junior HR in Leicestershire she has now progressed to Managing Consultant level responsible for the recruitment for temp, contract and permanent HR roles £35,000p.a. and above in Leicestershire, Coventry/Warwickshire, Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes, She also has a fab team in Emily and Richenda who cover the more junior role in those regions, and works alongside Sarah-May who has joined the team to cover London.

Lewis joined the Public Sector team at Macildowie in September 2023 after spending some time travelling across South East Asia. His background is as an Internal Recruiter for a Technology company and he has experience recruiting in challenging markets with a niche hiring criteria.

Margarita is the Divisional Director for the Public Sector and Not for Profit Division which she established in 2018. She has been covering Public Sector and NFP since 2004 and has had national role since 2006, so she has strong knowledge and understanding and initiatives that affect the sector. The Division is responsible for permanent, fixed term and interim recruitment as well as consultancy solutions across Finance, Procurement & Commissioning, Project, Programme Management & Transformation, Marcoms, Regen & Economic Development, Policy and Performance, Planning as well as Executive appointments. The Division covers Local & Central Government, NHS, Education, Social Housing and Charities across the whole of the UK.

The Division has recently secured a place on the Crown Commercial Services RM6160 Public Sector Framework that covers the NHS and the Wider Public Sector. We also work in partnership with CIPFA and help sponsor events and seminars for the wider CIPFA members across the Midlands and nationwide. In addition Margarita and the team is able to offer psychometric assessments during restructures as well as new recruitment processes and deliver tailored client and candidate LinkedIn and CPD events.

Margot joined Macildowie in March 2024 in the HR team.

Having entered the recruitment industry in 2020 as an Education Recruitment Consultant, Margot supported both Primary and Secondary schools across Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire with their recruitment needs in a 360 role.

Margot’s love for recruitment stems from her passion for communicating with people, taking every opportunity to forge meaningful connections.

Naomi joined Macildowie having previously spent 5 years working as a pharmaceutical representative. She is part of the HR & Marketing Team and is responsible for HR roles up to £50,000  across Lincolnshire and Peterborough. Naomi recruits for both permanent and interim roles, helping professionals take the next important steps within their HR careers.

Rachel joined us on the September 2022 graduate scheme after studying Psychology at Nottingham Trent University, specialising in mental health. Rachel has joined the Nottingham-based Human Resources recruitment team covering the areas of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, and Staffordshire. Rachel prides herself on being an extroverted and keen employee who works hard to ensure her candidates and clients receive premium customer service.

Richard is the Managing Director of Macildowie’s Executive Search and Outplacement Support capabilities and as such has full oversight for the operations for both practices. Richard is responsible for sourcing Director and C-Suite level candidates for private sector companies on a retained basis. Margarita Fedoseyeva is responsible for executive search for private and NFP organisations. From an outplacement perspective, Richard manages workshops focussed on improving employability.

Richard also runs Macildowie’s MD/CEO Mastermind Forum and our NED Network. Both are peer-to-peer mentoring and networking groups which meet ona quarterly basis. Please connect with Rich if you would like further details.

Prior to working at Macildowie, Rich has recruited into both the private and public sectors in the UK, Australia and New Zealand in a specialised recruitment career that spans 20 years.

Sarah joined Macildowie in July 2022 after working in the travel industry for 15 years. She is a part of the HR team, recruiting for temp roles and paying up to £70,000. She prides herself on the customer service and people skills she has gained throughout her career and is looking forward to starting a new and exciting profession in recruitment.

Simon joined Macildowie in February 2022 after 19 years with a blue-chip recruiter as the Associate Director for the Public Sector business.

Simon leads the team that specialises in the provision of consultancy services across their core disciplines of Finance, Procurement & Commissioning, Project & Programme Management, HR and Marketing.

He personally recruits permanent roles within Local Government whilst continuing to build their brand across the UK with the aim to make the Macildowie name synonymous with a consistently, high-quality delivery of services within Local and Central Government, NHS, Education, Charities and Housing.