Systech poaches bosses from Stapleton and Knowles

The firm has taken on Dan Murphy, a former staffer at Stapleton International, to head up its US business while Middle Eastern boss at James R Knowles Gordon Moffat is set to join the firm in January of next year.

Systech international head Stephen Rayment said the firm’s strategy for expanding its global reach was to attract senior staff rather than acquire firms. He said: “We have a good international business but we want to supplement it by recruiting key directors from major competitors. We could have bought (James R) Knowles with cash but we think it’s better to recruit people rather than buy businesses.”

Systech launched a failed bid for Knowles late last year after founder and chairman Roger Knowles announced his departure from the firm and the sale of his 60% stake.

Murphy started in his post, based in Atlanta, this week and is planning to position the firm in the oil and gas and nuclear markets in the US. “We are working mainly for our Japanese client base right now but we see those niche markets as good ones to be in,” Rayment added.

Moffat resigned last Thursday from his post at Knowles, which was bought in the summer by US group Hill International. Rayment said he hoped to grow the firm’s Dubai office from 20 to around 50 staff in the next two years. “We are looking forward to Gordon joining.”

Rayment added that the firm was also looking to hire a new boss for its Far Eastern business, which is run out of Singapore.