Gulf Connexions, a leading regional recruitment consultancy headquartered in Bahrain, has strengthened its management team by the recent promotion of Hawraa Al Halwachi to chief operating officer.

Al Halwachi was appointed to the top position last month to focus on enhancing the group's specialist recruitment services to meet growing demand from regional and international blue-chip clients, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

She will help strengthen the consultancy team and spearhead further investment in IT and research capabilities to enhance the group's candidate resourcing capabilities across all group offices.

In addition, Bayden Tierney, a specialist consultant in insurance and banking, is widening his role to include responsibilities for business development across the Middle East and internationally.

Tierney, an Australian national, brings a strong international business career drawing from his UK and Middle East experience with emphasis on insurance and banking for many international blue-chip clients.

Gulf Connexions has witnessed unprecedented growth and expansion since the company was established in Bahrain in 2006.

It also has recruitment offices in Dubai, Hong Kong and London and affiliate partner offices in Riyadh, Jeddah and Al Khobar in Saudi Arabia.

The multinational Gulf Connexions team has the necessary experience and cultural sensibilities to provide prospective candidates with professional career path development to match client requirements.

International best practices are implicit in all the group's recruitment services combining expert local knowledge, market intelligence and confidential candidate search.

Al Halwachi, a Bahraini national educated in the UK, first joined Gulf Connexions in 2006 and has risen through the ranks to become a senior consultant and an executive member of the management committee reporting to the holding company.

“Gulf Connexions has built its reputation on delivering strong candidates to our clients and we continue to invest in our primary engines of candidate search by strong industry knowledge with the acquisition of talent by screening, candidate knowledge and interview. We pride ourselves on the range and depth of our available candidates in order to meet the rigorous demands of our clients” said Al Halwachi.

With his strong international background, Gulf Connexions business development director Mr Tierney is looking both regionally and globally.

“As well as our Bahrain headquarters, we are investing heavily in our regional offices in the UAE and Saudi Arabia to meet client demand,” said Tierney.

“This investment includes further resourcing into our Riyadh office in Olaya as well as Jeddah and Al Khobar.

“Our London office is also widening its capabilities with new appointments to provide enhanced candidate search, screening and interview capabilities across the key sectors of banking, finance, insurance, IT, energy and legal.”

According to Gulf Connexions chief executive Geoffrey Milne, the group has entered a new dynamic phase in its recruitment consultancy reflecting the fast moving nature of the international recruitment sector.

“These key appointments bring experience and vitality to our growth strategy. We are delighted by Hawraa's appointment to her role as we look to widen our focus in taking the group to the next phase of development.

“She has been one of the principal architects in building Gulf Connexions with a strong reputation and formidable track record of achievement.

“Bayden will play an increasingly important business development role as he develops new client relations in the region including Saudi Arabian operations to meet the demands of the market as well as the UK and the Far East.

“Energy and the extraction industries sector are also being expanded as Gulf Connexions embraces the global demands of its multinational clients.

“Both Hawraa and Bayden have developed superb relationships with our clients and developed a professional team of specialist recruiters supported by a formidable organisational structure. Our multicultural team will help spearhead the next phase of the group's development into one of the region's leading recruitment consultancies for our increasing client base,” said Milne.

Each dedicated office provides a wealth of local and international expertise with specialist industry knowledge from banking and finance to energy recruitment.

State-of-the-art database and customer relations management systems provide an increasing blue-chip client base with qualified candidates for career-path development. - TradeArabia News Service