Draft:Simon Hearn

Hearn was born in Dorchester, Dorset. He was raised on a farm in Dorset and attended The Old Malthouse Preparatory School near Swanage from 1966 to 1971, followed by Milton Abbey School from 1971 to 1976.

Hearn joined Hayley BDC, a mergers and acquisitions and executive search firm, in March 1990, where he worked in the insurance sector for approximately two years. In 1992, he moved to Russell Reynolds Associates, where he remained for 16 years and served as a partner for the final ten years, including six years as co-head of global financial services in London.^[3]

In 2008, he left Russell Reynolds Associates to establish Per Ardua Associates Ltd^[4], a recruitment firm focused on financial services sectors including insurance, banking, investment management and executive leadership roles.^{[5] [6]}

Hearn has provided commentary on trends in recruitment and the insurance sector. Hearn wrote an article for Post Magazine in 2017 titled “The Art of War,” which discussed leadership characteristics in the insurance sector.^[7] In 2014, he discussed with The Telegraph how increased use of in-house recruitment and online platforms such as LinkedIn affects traditional executive search.^[8]. He spoke to the Financial Post in 2016 about technology-driven changes and stronger in-house HR teams reshaping recruitment, increasing competition at the executive level, and influencing search firm practices.^[9] In 2017, he spoke with Hunt Scanlon Media on recruitment developments post-Brexit.^[10]

Hearn served in the British Army from 1979 to 1990.^[11]

He undertook basic military training at Catterick between 1976 and 1977 and attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1977. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards on 10 December 1977.

He joined B Squadron of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards in Sennelager, Germany, in 1979 and was later deployed to Northern Ireland in 1980. He subsequently served as a gunnery instructor with the Royal Armoured Corps Gunnery School and at the British Army Training Unit in Alberta, Canada.

He completed the Junior Command and Staff Course at Warminster in 1984 and later served as Adjutant of his regiment. His final appointment was as Assistant Military Secretary to the Adjutant General at the Ministry of Defence. He resigned his commission in March 1990. ^[12]

Hearn resides in Cornwall with his wife, Hetta. They have four children and seven grandchildren.^[13]

He has embarked on various charitable expeditions across the globe, the latest being a trek across South Georgia in the Sub-Antarctic.^[14] He has also volunteered as a Samaritan in Wiltshire for over 20 years.^[15]