Robert Kenward, the events industry’s senior recruitment specialist, has joined forces with Disrupt Talent to launch Disrupt Search, a new joint venture bringing executive search into the company’s specialist recruitment offering for the events sector.
Kenward will lead the new division as managing director of Disrupt Search, making his consultative approach to executive search available to more organisations while complementing Disrupt Talent’s existing permanent recruitment and staffing services. The joint venture gives event businesses access to a complete talent solution spanning temporary event staffing, specialist permanent recruitment and executive search for senior leadership appointments.
Kenward brings 25 years of experience working across events and recruitment, and has built a reputation for taking a consultative approach to leadership challenges rather than simply filling vacancies. In his own words: “Leadership appointments shouldn’t be treated like any other recruitment exercise because they shape the future of a business. Together, we can make specialist executive search available to many more organisations, helping businesses make better leadership decisions and ultimately building stronger organisations across the sector.”
Nicky Grogan, chief executive officer of Disrupt Talent, said the partnership was a deliberate choice to bring in established expertise rather than build from scratch. “Robert’s expertise, reputation and consultative approach perfectly complement what we’ve built at Disrupt,” she said. “Together, we’re creating a specialist recruitment group that can support clients at every level, from staffing event teams to appointing senior leaders.”
Disrupt Talent has focused exclusively on the events and exhibitions sector since 2023, building expertise across organisers, venues, agencies, contractors and suppliers. The launch of Disrupt Search completes the group’s three recruitment pillars, covering staffing, permanent recruitment and executive search, as the business continues its UK growth and prepares for international expansion into Europe, the Middle East and North America.