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What Trends Will Shape HR in 2023?

As we enter 2023, it is time to highlight and prioritise some of the issues and opportunities facing CHROs and their HR leadership teams. We invited ChapmanCG’s global consulting team to provide their insights on what will matter most to HR this year:  

Future of Work

The ‘new ways of working’ is a constant in our conversations with HR leaders. No one has the answer and there is a lot of experimenting and sharing of ideas across all networks. Like culture, each organisation’s solution or pathway forward is unique and it is great to observe HR professionals sharing learnings with one another. The new ways of working challenges preconceived ideas and structures of the past, it is forcing the inclusivity dialogue more than ever, but most importantly it is allowing businesses to access talent they may not have considered or conceived they could attract in the past.

Hiro Azuma, Director based in Japan


HR practitioners everywhere are quickly learning to juggle new performance practices, organisational transformations, well-being programs, flexibility frameworks and new ways of working. The future of work is an oxymoron of perpetual inconsistencies. We will continue our conversations about the ‘never normal’ as supposed to the ‘new normal’. A reality where change is constantly triggered by the un-predictive world around us. As HR professionals we must learn to predict and anticipate these momentous changes and translate these into HR practices to continue to attract, engage, and retain talent in the most relevant way. 

Prachi Desai, Director based in India


An interesting global trend is more flexibility in role location when it comes to CoE-based roles. In the past, it has been rare to see these positions located outside of global or regional headquarters. We are seeing more flexibility and preparedness to move the location to where the right and affordable talent sits, which we believe is driven by a mix of talent availability and cost as companies are more comfortable with the post-pandemic notion that we can work effectively from anywhere. This trend is mostly limited to CoE roles and rarely applies to Talent Development, DE&I, and HR Transformation lead roles where proximity and visibility are essential to efficiently drive the transformation and talent agenda forward.

Stanislav Medvedev, Director based in Germany


Organisation Design and Change 

Economic uncertainty, looming recessions, geopolitical tensions, and ongoing organisational transformations are all continuing to disrupt and challenge. Organisation design will continue to be a key focus for CHROs in 2023, as many companies are witnessing slower growth and will have to â€™right-size’. Over the past year, we have noticed that leaders who are willing to depart from traditional, legacy hiring or interviewing tactics are better equipped to find the ‘best-fit talent’ for their needs.

As this is a topic I find fascinating I recently wrote an article on competency-based hiring and its implications on talent attraction, retention, and diversity.

Christopher Kouns, Director based in the US


Workforce strategy and organisation design is a specialist skill set that we have observed increasing in demand.  Many businesses have created a new role for this niche area, bringing previously outsourced workforce planning strategy, in-house.  In Australia, we have been engaged in multiple searches with workforce strategy and organisation design, now as an addition to a broader strategic CoE. We have also seen the elevation of a workforce planning role within a structure to a more senior influential level, as supposed to where it sat operationally in the past.

Kate Vuleta, Senior Director based in Australia


Many CHROs have reshaped their structures, and 2023 will be a year of further change to organise the HR function to achieve its goals of agility, customer centricity and operational efficiency. HR operations have been rebranded as ‘employee experience’, encompassing more areas in tech and analytics. Several CHROs we spoke to talked about buying in more digital capability, analytical mindsets, empathetic leadership, commercial drive, and pragmatism into their teams. There is also a major drive to break down ‘silos’ within the function, striving toward a seamless approach. 

Caspar Bungay, Director based in the UK


Total Rewards 

One of the ‘hottest’ areas for hiring in HR leadership will continue to be total rewards. This is due in part to a continuing acute talent shortage. Added to this is the fact that there are greater demands on this specialisation than ever before. For example, in the past conventional wisdom was that for the largest, most sophisticated global organisations, the total rewards head would have a deep background in global compensation, including executive compensation. This still stands true today. However, the greatest ‘pain point’ for many CEOs and CHROs today is employee benefits. Benefits, which encompass ‘hot topics’ like well-being and flexible working in addition to the traditionally more complex domains such as medical insurance, can be seen as a more pivotal component of total rewards from a risk perspective. One CHRO recently described benefits to us as a ‘potential minefield’ while briefing us on a total rewards leadership search requiring as much or more benefits expertise versus compensation.

Another growing trend for the total rewards specialisation is its tighter link with talent management, particularly regarding a company’s ability to effectively drive performance management. The talent management specialisation has traditionally â€™owned’ performance management. However, given the extent to which pay drives behaviours, rewards professionals now have equal or in some cases more ownership of the performance space. This has necessitated the two specialisations needing to have a much tighter partnership than in the past. In fact, we are aware of a couple of organisations that are now exploring the potential of a combined talent and reward function. We expect that the above trends will continue, and we anticipate that this will also potentially mean we can look forward to an interesting evolution of the total rewards space in future.

Anna Taylor, Senior Director based in New Zealand


Talent Acquisition and Onboarding 

Regardless of the wider, global macroeconomic trends, recruiting and the war for talent and future skills is an everyday reality in rapid-growth markets everywhere. Talent leaders are investing heavily in their talent acquisition tech and AI platforms to enable fairer, faster, and more engaging hiring decisions. With many employees now working in a hybrid or fully remote environment, a renewed focus is being placed on building better onboarding experiences for engagement and retention.  

In my article on the importance of onboarding, I speak to senior HR leaders in APAC about the critical factors to consider when onboarding remotely.

Fleur Daniell, Director based in Singapore


Political and economic uncertainty has triggered slower growth for external hiring across some global markets. As such, internal mobility or building rather than buying critically needed skills will be given a greater focus; not only to fill internal vacancies with massive cost benefits but for retention purposes also – sealing an employee’s commitment to an organisation. These assignments often offer flexibility and variety to employees, particularly when cross-functional and based remotely, and can help to future-proof the organisation. Many HR and talent leaders will continue to prioritise internal transfers and promotion in 2023, by further investing in new technologies to architect and map critical skills within their organisation. 

Read more about my thoughts on internal mobility in this article.

Andrea Merrigan, Director based in Germany


Re-Skilling and Skills Development

As the workplace continues to change faster than ever before, the key skills learned in an academic setting are becoming outdated just as fast. A growing number of employers are no longer asking for college degrees for certain roles. Upskilling and re-skilling are more than the latest people and capability buzzwords and nice-to-have benefits. They are now crucial for business success and building a sustainable and constantly future-ready workforce. Companies with an eye towards the future forecast their skill set gaps and align them with their succession plans. They are coming to understand that internal upskilling and re-skilling programs can be very effective.

Addressing skills gaps within organisations especially when related to succession planning provides several benefits. It allows the building of more diverse teams. It can be more cost-effective and quicker to train existing talent rather than bringing in external hires who will need to be onboarded. Companies that do not provide the opportunity for internal promotion risk the loss of key employees in the current candidate-driven market.  Add on the loss of vital knowledge and experience, potentially to a competitor, and the business case for both upskilling and re-skilling is compelling.

Alejandro Castillo, Director based in the US


Inclusive Leadership, Diversity, Equality and Belonging 

Inclusive leaders empower people, and empowerment is one of the most critical factors to an employee’s success. Having an inclusive leadership culture, which values people’s involvement and empowerment, gives everyone a sense of belonging which matters more than ever since the outbreak of the global pandemic. When people are included, their worth is recognised and respected. Employees are at their best when they are their authentic selves. As quoted in Forbes; “self-awareness is one of the most powerful traits of successful leaders”. Now as we embark on new ways of working, it is important to remember that it is the everyday actions of the leaders that build an inclusive culture for the employees. 

Whilst diversity is still an important topic, and we do not want to downplay this, for many progressive organisations it is systemic in their DNA, advanced by the board agenda, workforce education, and the adaptation of better hiring practices enabled by tech. Inclusive leadership will continue to drive the diversity, equality, and belonging agenda. It is also refreshing to see a shift in attitudes across many parts of Asia.

Elaine Khoo, Director based in Singapore


Culture and Employee Experience 

Witnessing the most fluid and dynamic job markets we have seen in years, ‘purpose’ is becoming increasingly key across the workforce and to HR professionals themselves, who are seeking roles where they feel valued and where they can make an impact. EVP, engaging culture and inspirational leadership will become critical to ensure retention. All HR leaders across all functions have a role to play in ensuring the EVP holistically centres employees as people and as customers.

Kalkin Kao, Senior Director based in China


HR Tech-Stack Innovation

HR tech-stack innovation is a growing priority on the CHRO agenda, as companies automate while balancing the critical high-touch people experience journey. HR and people operations, employee experience, HRIS, and people analytics skills are in demand as a result. As HR functions become more efficient and leaner, an ability to embrace innovative technologies, and optimise through these disciplines is becoming a ‘must’ for HR leadership looking to build and leverage a contemporary, business-friendly, best practice platform for their function. 

Read more about our thoughts on HR tech in this article.

Dee Karsan, Director based in Japan and Ringo Lau, Senior Director based in Hong Kong


Sustainability and Social Responsibility

Perhaps heightened by the ongoing woes of the pandemic, political instability, and climate-change-related disasters, this year corporate social responsibility comes to the forefront of the minds of employers, employees, and consumers. We will see a greater need for HR professionals to support corporate vision and values around a company’s sustainability journey. It will also have an impact on talent attraction, retention, engagement, and the employer value proposition. This is particularly true for Gen Z and Millennials, the largest cohorts of the working population. We are hearing a common theme from our conversations with HR leaders who are seeing that sustainability is increasingly being incorporated into their mission and corporate values, as CHROs are making greater contributions to their organisation’s sustainability report. 

In my recent article on sustainability as HR’s next frontier, I discuss this topic with global HR leaders who reinforce the importance for a company to have a clear position on sustainability in order to attract and retain the best talent.

Nicola Hasling, Senior Director based in the US


Mental Health and Well-Being 

We hope you have enjoyed reading the perspectives of our global team on the HR topics that will impact the direction of the world’s leading companies this year. Please get in touch on LinkedIn to let us know your thoughts, what are your HR priorities in 2023?

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Key Contributors:

Ringo Lau
Ringo Lau

Senior Director

Consulting Team
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Ringo Lau
Consulting Team

Ringo Lau

Senior Director

Ringo is a Senior Director with ChapmanCG based in Hong Kong. His role involves in-depth research and analysis to seek out high-calibre HR talent across the Asia Pacific region, with a particular focus on Hong Kong and North Asia. He also assists the group in the design and delivery of strategic internal projects involving process and operation development.

Before joining ChapmanCG, Ringo did several internships as a business analyst and photographer. He holds a Master’s Degree in Management and Organisational Analysis from the Warwick Business School, as well as a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing.

Outside of work, Ringo enjoys travelling, outdoor activities and photography. Prior to his move to study abroad, he was one of Hong Kong’s top competitors in athletics.

Licence Number: EA License 69316 (HK)
Nicola Hasling
Nicola Hasling

Senior Director

Consulting Team
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Nicola Hasling
Consulting Team

Nicola Hasling

Senior Director

Nicola Hasling is a Senior Director with ChapmanCG and is based in Northern Virginia, in the United States. She is responsible for senior level HR searches across all disciplines of HR in the energy, industrial, pharmaceutical, financial and professional services, and consumer goods sectors for major blue chip and private equity backed organizations.

Prior to joining ChapmanCG, Nicola was with Heidrick & Struggles International where she was a core member of the firm’s CHRO, CEO and Board of Directors, Private Equity, and Energy and Natural Resources practices. Originally from the United Kingdom, Nicola has over 20 years of experience in executive search, primarily in the US and has also conducted international searches in Europe and Asia. In her earlier career, Nicola worked in human resources management roles, corporate sales and for the diplomatic service in London and Prague.

She holds an MBA from Henley Management College, England. After spending time in Houston, Texas, she is now located close to Washington, D.C., which allows her the opportunity to spend time with her horse and compete in eventing and continue to try to improve her tennis skills.

Anna Taylor
Anna Taylor

Senior Director

Consulting Team
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Anna Taylor
Consulting Team

Anna Taylor

Senior Director

Anna is a Senior Director with ChapmanCG, responsible for senior HR searches in the United States. She has been with ChapmanCG since 2015 in various roles around the world.

Originally from New Zealand, Anna has over 15 years of US and international search experience. In her current position, she leads regional and global HR searches across a variety of industries and HR specializations. She is most often called upon to lead heavily nuanced VP, SVP, EVP, and CHRO searches which require a creative approach and hard-to-find HR skillsets. A super-user of ChapmanCG’s technologies, processes and methodologies, Anna acts as a mentor to the global consulting team on best search practices.

Prior to joining ChapmanCG, Anna worked for a boutique technology search firm specialized in assisting both public and private organizations scale and build an international footprint throughout Europe and the Middle East.

Anna has an MSc in Psychology from Canterbury University. She enjoys travel, yoga, and the odd half marathon in her spare time—although she can be easily convinced to postpone a training session for good wine with friends instead.

Andrea Merrigan
Andrea Merrigan

Director

Consulting Team
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Andrea Merrigan
Consulting Team

Andrea Merrigan

Director

Andrea Merrigan is a Director with ChapmanCG based in Germany.

Andrea works as part of our EMEA team to deliver regional and global searches for ChapmanCG’s major clients across a range of industries and HR specialisations. Prior to her current role, Andrea worked for ChapmanCG in Singapore.

Before joining ChapmanCG, Andrea was an HR recruitment specialist with Profile Search & Selection in Singapore and a Talent & OD Professional, working both in consulting and in-house.

Andrea is originally from the Republic of Ireland and has spent over seven years living and studying in New York, Hawai’i, China, Japan, and Singapore. Outside of work Andrea loves to travel, dance and spend time with family.

Fleur Daniell
Fleur Daniell

Director

Consulting Team
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Fleur Daniell
Consulting Team

Fleur Daniell

Director

Fleur is a Director with ChapmanCG based in Hong Kong. With over 15 years of experience across the APAC and London markets, she works with the APAC team to identify high-potential HR talent and lead senior HR leadership searches across the region and globally, with particular emphasis on Singapore and Hong Kong markets.

Before joining ChapmanCG, Fleur worked for a Fortune 100 Commercial Real Estate company, specialising in the Singapore and South East Asia Professional Services sector, emphasising the Human Capital Management Consultancies, Commercial Real Estate and Legal industries.

Passionate about facilitating career development, Fleur is an advocate of the Human Resources function and its’ ability to attract, manage and develop high-calibre talent.

Originally from the UK, Fleur has worked in New York, London, Hong Kong and Singapore. In her spare time, Fleur loves participating in x3-day ultra-marathons in places such as Nepal and Lijiang. In Hong Kong, you’ll find her hiking along the MacLehose Trail, playing tennis and taking a keen interest in horse racing.

EA Registration Number: R1764804 Licence Number: 08S3543
Prachi Desai
Prachi Desai

Director

Consulting Team
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Prachi Desai
Consulting Team

Prachi Desai

Director

Prachi Desai is a Director at ChapmanCG based in India. As part of the Asia Pacific team, Prachi works to deliver best-in-class HR leadership talent for organisations in India and Southeast Asia.

With an MBA in Human Resources, Prachi started her recruitment career as a Talent Acquisition Manager at an Indian Insurance company in Mumbai. For two years she was responsible for mid to senior level recruitment across all functions. She then relocated to Japan and worked as a Principal Consultant based in Tokyo specialising in senior talent across FMCG, Retail and Hospitality sectors for over 6 years, before moving back to India.

Prachi enjoys spending time with her daughter, loves to explore different cuisines, enjoys reading fiction and travelling.

Kalkin Cao
Kalkin Cao

Senior Director

Consulting Team
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Kalkin Cao
Consulting Team

Kalkin Cao

Senior Director

Kalkin is a Senior Director with ChapmanCG based in Shanghai and responsible for leading ChapmanCG’s domestic business in mainland China. He partners with CHROs and CEOs from Multinationals, startups, and Chinese Enterprises to recruit exceptional HR leaders and high-potential talent across every industry sector.

With over a decade of expertise in HR search and consulting, Kalkin brings in-depth market insights and observations during the rapid evolution of the Human Resources profession in China.

Kalkin is passionate about helping both HR leaders and emerging HR talent to unlock their true potential and fulfil their career ambitions by opening career opportunities aligned to their values.

Born and raised in Shanghai, Kalkin is a citizen of the world and enjoys travelling, as well as spending quality time with his family and friends.

Dee Karsan
Dee Karsan

Director

Consulting Team
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Dee Karsan
Consulting Team

Dee Karsan

Director

Dee Karsan is a Director with the ChapmanCG team based in Japan. He has over six years of recruitment experience across Asia Pacific and Japan.

Prior to joining Chapman CG, Dee worked as a Senior Consultant focussing on senior-level HR searches including HR Head/Directors, HR Business Partners and Heads in specialised functional COE areas. He has worked across all industries with particular success in Healthcare, Manufacturing, and Technology.

Originally from London, Dee relocated to Japan in 2015. When he is not recruiting, he enjoys playing a variety of sports and has a strong passion for food, exploring different cuisines as well as cooking and is also a keen pool player.

Stanislav Medvedev
Stanislav Medvedev

Director

Consulting Team
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Stanislav Medvedev
Consulting Team

Stanislav Medvedev

Director

Stanislav Medvedev is a Director with ChapmanCG based in Berlin and is responsible for search mandates across Germany and Europe while keeping close contact with our local networks. Stanislav, who speaks German, English and Russian, has fifteen years experience with serving clients in Germany, UK and Eastern Europe.

In his last role with Egon Zehnder, Stanislav led global operations in the services sector. Building on his experience across industries he successfully executed client projects in various sectors across functions including Human Resources.

Stanislav started his career with McKinsey where he worked on client projects across industries and set up and developed the Moscow research team. This was followed by nine years with Munich Re where he worked as sales manager for global clients in property reinsurance.

Stanislav studied Business Administration and Economics in Germany, Russia and South Africa.

In his free time, he enjoys travelling, snowboarding and hiking.

Hiro Azuma
Hiro Azuma

Director

Consulting Team
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Hiro Azuma
Consulting Team

Hiro Azuma

Director

Hiro Azuma is a Director at ChapmanCG Japan. He has worked in recruitment for nearly ten years sourcing senior professionals for key positions across all business sectors in Japan and across Asia Pacific.

Before joining ChapmanCG, Hiro built his network across a broad range of industries in both contingent and retained searches. He is passionate in helping companies across Japan and Asia Pacific build for future success by hiring the right talent to their business and cultural objectives.

Hiro was born in Japan, but grew up in the US and has spent his professional career in Japan.  Away from his desk, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family.

Christopher Kouns
Christopher Kouns

Director

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Christopher Kouns
Consulting Team

Christopher Kouns

Director

Christopher (Chris) Kouns is a Director with ChapmanCG, based in Atlanta, GA. Chris leads searches across North and South America and represents US and Americas based talent internationally via ChapmanCG’s consultant network. Since joining the firm, Chris has enjoyed success identifying HR leadership talent on behalf of complex and highly matrixed public companies, private equity, and pre-IPO organizations. Chris is known for working quickly and creatively, producing positive outcomes for ChapmanCG’s clients in talent-short locations and where hard-to-find ‘unicorn’ profiles are required.

Prior to joining ChapmanCG, Chris was a Senior Executive Search Consultant with a leading search firm. In that role, he appointed Director and Vice President level leaders in Fortune 500, mid-size, and start-up environments. Earlier in his career, Chris spent 20 years as a collegiate soccer coach. He led his Capital University (OH) team to the NCAA Final Four, was a finalist for the NCAA National Women’s Soccer Coach of the Year, and is the author of two books for World Class Coaching Publications.

Chris holds a BA from Mars Hill University and completed master’s coursework at UPENN. He enjoys travelling and is a founding member and season ticket holder for Atlanta United.

Alejandro Castillo
Alejandro Castillo

Director

Consulting Team
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Alejandro Castillo
Consulting Team

Alejandro Castillo

Director

Alejandro Castillo is a Director at ChapmanCG, based in Atlanta. He advises clients across geographies and sectors on hiring and developing progressive human resources officers. He recruits CHROs and their direct reports, including other critical HR leadership functions. Alejandro has placed executives across Fortune 500, pre-IPO, venture-backed, and private equity-backed organizations.

As a search consultant at Russell Reynolds Associates prior to ChapmanCG, he worked closely with senior leadership to recruit top talent, assess management teams and enable transformation across sectors. Before RRA, Alejandro was a Managing Director of Thematiks, a digital platform providing business leaders with exclusive analysis and commentary across a variety of industries and issues. As the founder and managing director, he held a range of responsibilities – from developing the original brand strategy to engineering the entire sales structure. Prior to Thematiks, he held sales and operations leadership roles at World 50, Inc.

Alejandro holds a BBA in marketing management from Kennesaw State University. He is also an active member of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (GHCC).

Kate Vuleta
Kate Vuleta

Managing Director

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Kate Vuleta
Consulting Team

Kate Vuleta

Managing Director

As a Managing Director with ChapmanCG, Kate is responsible for HR Search in Australia. With over a decade of excellence in HR recruitment, Kate has a well established executive network across the region, and was recently awarded the prestigious “Recruitment Consultant of the Year” at the SARA (SEEK) 2021 Annual Recruitment awards.

Prior to joining ChapmanCG, Kate worked as an Executive HR recruitment specialist, covering the full range of HR disciplines in Australia and APAC, from senior specialist to executive leadership roles, as well as leading multi-disciplinary recruitment teams.

Kate has a passion for learning and development, and ongoing professional development, a specialisation that translates to her consulting and advisory work. Kate also has a reputation as a source of knowledge relating to HR best practice and current trends.

Residing in Brisbane, Queensland, outside of work Kate can usually be found on a yoga mat, actively supporting her son’s sporting commitments, or dining out with friends.

Caspar Bungay
Caspar Bungay

Director

Consulting Team
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Caspar Bungay
Consulting Team

Caspar Bungay

Director

Caspar is a Director at ChapmanCG based in London. He works with the EMEA team to identify high-potential HR talent and lead senior HR searches across the region.

Before joining ChapmanCG, Caspar worked for a London based executive search firm specialising in HR. He joined as a researcher and progressed into a consultancy role, partnering with clients on senior-level executive assignments across Europe and led commercial HR projects in the field of E-learning and Events Management.

He holds a First Class Bachelors degree in Business Management with Organisational Leadership from the University of Sussex.

Outside of work, Caspar can be found in the gym, playing or watching sport and delving into the latest documentaries. He is an avid Arsenal fan and enjoys travelling to new places.

Elaine Khoo
Elaine Khoo

Director

Consulting Team
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Elaine Khoo
Consulting Team

Elaine Khoo

Director

Elaine is a Director, based in Singapore. Originally from Singapore, she has lived in Australia, Macau, and Hong Kong. She relocated back home to Singapore in mid-2020, after spending over a decade in Hong Kong, where she specialised in recruiting for the HR discipline, predominantly for the professional services sector and financial institutions. At ChapmanCG, Elaine works closely with the Asia and global consulting team to identify high calibre and progressive HR talent and delivering search work across every sector within Southeast Asia and pan-Asia.

Elaine graduated from the University of South Australia with a BA in Communications. She is passionate about building long-term relationships within the HR and business communities. Outside of work, Elaine loves Muay Thai, Tennis and spending time with her husband and two young children.

EA Registration Number: R1439830 Licence Number: 08S3543