Braemar Names Beckwith HR Director

Braemar, expert advisors in shipping investment, chartering, and risk management, today announced the appointment of John Beckwith as Group Director of Human Resources.

The hire of Beckwith strengthens Braemar’s leadership team, enhances and enables Braemar’s ability to grow organically and via Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), and it represents a further investment in the professional development of its shipbroking and corporate finance teams.

Beckwith has been the HR/people subject-matter expert on multiple mergers, demergers, and acquisitions throughout his career, including an IPO process. While Beckwith’s M&A experience is significant – and includes the Clarksons-RS Platou merger – his experience at several broking businesses is equally notable. Beckwith is well-versed in financial services regulation and corporate governance. He has also hired and developed many commercial front office teams and market professionals. As such, Beckwith will be an influential component for enabling and sustaining Braemar’s growth.

Tris Simmonds, Braemar’s COO, commented, “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 optimized 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.”

John Beckwith, Braemar’s Group Director of Human Resources, commented, “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.”

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