Global advisors in shipping investment, chartering, and risk management, Braemar has announced the appointment of John Beckwith as Group Director of Human Resources. In his new role, he will lead HR strategies which will be adopted and followed by all the fourteen offices across the world. 

The hiring move will strengthen Braemar’s leadership team, enabling the fifty-year-old company to grow organically and via Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), of which Beckwith is an expert.

Beckwith has been the people/HR subject-matter expert on multiple mergers, demergers, and acquisitions throughout his career, including an IPO process. He is a two-decade veteran in the HR Industry and is noted for his experience at several broking businesses.

Beckwith is well-versed in financial services regulation & corporate governance an has also hired and developed many commercial front office & marketing teams. Before Braemar, he was the Head of HR at ED&F Man Capital Markets, based in London, UK. He also counts OEC Connection, Clarkson-Platou and MF Global as his previous employers.

Tris Simmonds, Braemar’s COO said, “Following the divestment of our non-core assets, the launch of our new brand, and our promise to double the underlying operating profit by 2024, we have optimised our business structure and we’re well positioned for expansion and consolidated growth. To expand in line with those ambitions will require us to make shrewd recruitment decisions. John’s specialisms in M&A and Restructuring and his ability to effectively navigate high change environments will be critical to our ability to capitalize on the expansion opportunities that we have in progress.”

Beckwith is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).

“I’m excited to be joining Braemar and helping them to enhance the quality, depth, and speed of service that they provide. Investment in people across our global office network will be key for us to grow and achieve our ambitions as a business. There are major opportunities available to us if we can successfully resource the right places, and we will be executing strategically and opportunistically as we expand organically and through M&A," said John Beckwith, Braemar’s Group Director of Human Resources.