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Brendan McGurgan, Director and Co Founder
Brendan brings 25 years’ experience of scaling businesses. Most recently, Brendan spent 16 years as a global business leader with CDE, 12 of those as Group MD, steering the company through the global financial crisis to considerable strategic growth success with offices now in 6 continents employing almost 700 people across the world (from 15) and 25X revenue growth.
He currently acts as a Non-Executive Director to CDE Asia (part of the CDE Group), a company he co-promoted in 2006. In 2019, he co-led the successful private equity funding round which secured investment from IIFL, India’s leading integrated financial services group to support the company’s future growth ambitions throughout the Asia region.
In 2016, he was awarded the Institute of Directors UK Young Director of the Year and Overall Director of the Year. An avid sportsman and advocate of self-leadership through good well-being practices, Brendan is also a Wim Hof Method instructor.
Claire Colvin, Director and Co Founder
Claire is an experienced Leader, specialising in building the right people-centred systems to accelerate scaling. CIPD qualified with a Masters in HRM, she draws on over 23 years’ experience in high growth SMEs, global organisations and major UK PLCs, enabling her to identify the right solutions to build world class teams.
Former Talent Director on the Board of a rapidly growing global organisation, Claire built the right people centred structures and systems to enable the company to significantly scale. Prior to that, she spent 15 years with an award winning, technology SME, growing the team organically in a highly competitive environment and achieving 30% growth year on year. Passionate about building high performing teams through trust, self- awareness and diversity, Claire specialises in organisational development, including the design and delivery of professional development programmes.
A mother of two (or three if you count Ozzie the Labradoodle), Claire is a member of The Bob Chats and in her free time braces the cold with the open water swimming group. She also enjoys going on adventures and getting out walking in nature to re-charge.
Eoghan McErlean, Head of Connections/Head of SYSTEMology®
Eoghan is a master at sourcing great talent around the world and has extensive experience in the world of talent development and HR. For over a decade he has been enabling businesses to achieve their scaling aspirations through people, both at a local and a global level.
His previous role, leading the resourcing department in a rapidly expanding global company, saw him attracting, appointing and overseeing the onboarding of over 200 exceptionally talented individuals each year spanning 6 continents, to deliver optimum business performance.
Eoghan has recently become a certified Systemologist® under the mentorship of David Jenyns, the creator of the Systemology® methodology. Eoghan now also specialises in helping business owners and leadership teams of SMEs to solve one of their biggest business challenges – defining and documenting their core processes to enable them to transition into a Scaleup.
Systemology® has tapped into Eoghan’s passion for identifying the drivers that motivate businesses and people and combining these elements to create powerful results.
Eoghan has a Degree in Human Resource Management and is a member of CIPD (level 5). In his personal life, he values spending time with his family and believes that a happy family is the foundation for positive business life.
Niamh Donnelly, Head of Engagement and Operations
Meet Niamh Donnelly, the dynamic Head of Engagement & Operations at our company. Niamh's journey began with a strong academic foundation, obtaining a BSc in Management & Information Systems from Queen's University Belfast, followed by an MSc in Marketing from Ulster University.
Niamh launched her impressive career in bustling London, where she honed her skills at powerhouse companies like Amazon and Almac. Her dedication to her craft earned her the prestigious PRINCE2 certification in project management.
When she isn't masterfully steering operations across the business, Niamh is a loving mother of two, with a passion for running and maintaining an active lifestyle. Niamh's energy and drive make her an invaluable member of the Simple Scaling team and an inspiring leader.