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MCG& Founder Justin McGuire to lead expansion in APAC

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Founder and CEO of MCG&, Justin Mcguire is set to lead the group’s expansion in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. Founded in 2010, MCG& now consists of four companies across four countries; MCG&Co, which is a specialist recruitment business in the communications, digital and technology sectors globally, Kemistry, which focuses on HR, finance and operations, Hopscotch, a women’s career platform, and the newly launched Ampersand, which is a marketing and talent consultancy providing L&D, search, strategic advisory and M&A services in Dubai, London, Hong Kong and now Singapore.

Due to this growth and further expansion plans in the APAC region including a Shanghai office, McGuire is now leaving Dubai for Singapore.

The Dubai operations, which serve as the headquarters for the group, will continue to be led by Nick Clements, group COO and founder and CEO of Ampersand, Chris Quy, managing director of Ampersand and Rahman Risilia, EMEA managing director for MCG&Co and Kemistry.

“In 18 months, we have built the Asia business to become a significant player in the region. We already have two offices open (Hong Kong and Singapore) with a third set to open in 2019 when we will have team on the ground in Shanghai, and more planned to follow,” he says.

While McGuire’s decision to move makes strategic business sense, it’s not necessarily an easy one. “I arrived in Dubai nine years ago as a single guy who lost his job in the financial crisis and I am leaving Dubai nine years later with a beautiful young family, a successful group of companies and a hunger and passion to continue growing the business. The decision to leave Dubai was not an easy one for many emotional reasons, but having such a solid senior management team in place has made it possible. Strategically, for us, this is a logical decision to make.”

As the company focuses on growth in the APAC region, the MENA region has its own developments with six new hires in the Dubai office in the last six months with recruitment in the tech domain growing strongly. And although growth in the traditional agency-client base has been slow, McGuire expects it to pick up through 2018. “We’re big believers in the region and Dubai will always be our HQ and feel like my home,” he says.

MCG Associates announces new offices

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MCG Associates has announced the launch of its new offices in London and Hong Kong to serve the media, marketing, digital and PR sectors globally. Following the launch of its new offices, MCG has appointed Zena Alana as the Associate Director of the London office, which will focus on the media, design and tech sectors with an aim to work positions in London, Manchester, Berlin and Amsterdam using London as its base. The consultancy has also appointed Adam Michael Toctan as the Managing Director of its Hong Kong office, which will work with agencies across APAC to serve the advertising, designing and branding industries.

“I’m so proud to be taking MCG Group global,” says Justin McGuire, Chief Executive Officer, MCG Group. “A talent organisation set-up in the UAE initially to serve the media industry, we’ve now spread our wings with the intention of becoming number one in every territory we move into. We already have plans to look at the USA and Australia in 2017 – so watch this space.”