PageGroup has appointed Paul Harrison as Chair Designate, the recruitment group announced in a regulatory news service filing on 24 September 2026. He will become Chair following the company's 2027 annual general meeting, after a handover period whose exact timing the company said would be confirmed later.
Harrison is not new to the board. He joined PageGroup as an independent non executive director with effect from 1 July 2025, which means he arrives in the chair with more than 18 months of board exposure to the business behind him. He succeeds Angela Seymour Jackson, who continues as Chair through the transition.
A finance chair for a cyclical business
His executive career has been spent almost entirely in finance leadership. He was Chief Financial Officer of the Sage Group from 2000 to 2013, a 13 year tenure covering the software group's international expansion. He subsequently served as Chief Financial Officer of Just Eat, as Chief Operating Officer and an executive director of Ascential, and as Chief Financial Officer of WANdisco. He is currently Chief Financial Officer of AutoStore.
His non executive record is equally finance weighted. He is Senior Independent Director and chair of the audit committee at Hays, the recruitment group that is PageGroup's closest listed peer, and he chairs the audit and risk committee at Darktrace. He is a chartered accountant, having begun his career at RMT and PwC.
Governance mechanics
On formal appointment the chair fee is 239,500 pounds a year. Under the United Kingdom Corporate Governance Code, a director who becomes chair may not remain a member of the audit or remuneration committees, and PageGroup confirmed Harrison will step down from both. He will chair the nomination committee, which in practice makes the succession of the executive team one of his defining responsibilities.
The Hays role raises an obvious question about competing directorships in the same sector. It is a matter the board will have considered in appointing him, and the code's requirements on conflicts and on the time commitment of a chair are the framework within which it will be managed.
The business he inherits
Specialist recruitment is among the most cyclical listed sectors, because gross profit tracks hiring confidence almost immediately and cost base adjustments lag it. A chair whose entire executive career has been in the finance seat, including 13 years at a company that had to fund international expansion through more than one downturn, is a deliberate choice for a board navigating that cycle.
What to watch
How the handover period is structured and how long it runs, whether the nomination committee under a new chair revisits executive succession, and how the board manages a chair who simultaneously holds a senior independent director role at the company's nearest competitor.
Harrison becomes Chair following the 2027 annual general meeting.
