Will Dawkins, based in London, leads the UK Board Services Practice. He brings to his role 30 years of international business expertise and more than five years of experience recruiting board directors for a wide variety of industries.
Before joining Spencer Stuart, Will was managing partner of the boards practice at another international executive search firm, where he focused on the appointments of chairmen, non-executive directors and chief executives in a range of industries, including finance, technology, the media and consumer goods. He also led a series of regular workshops for the development of new non-executive directors and launched a board appraisal service.
Prior to entering executive search, he worked for 23 years in a variety of posts for The Financial Times, including 12 years as a foreign correspondent, with four-year postings in Tokyo, as bureau chief covering Japanese business, politics and industry; Paris, reporting on industry and technology; and Brussels, covering European Union trade, competition and industry policy. As foreign editor, he was responsible for the news agenda and deployment of 150 foreign correspondents. As deputy managing editor, he led the training and development of journalists. In his most recent Financial Times role as publishing editor, Will led the introduction of a new publishing system.
Will earned a master’s degree in English literature from Trinity College, Cambridge. He then worked briefly in advertising with Haymarket Publishing, the magazine and events group, before training as a journalist with the former Westminster Press. He speaks French and some Japanese.