Jonathan Franks, a long-standing Principal at Hillier Hopkins, has been elected President of TGS, a global network of independent firms. Known for his leadership in marketing and ethics, Jonathan’s new role will enhance Hillier Hopkins’ access to international expertise.
If you are a client in the London office, you will probably already know Jonathan Franks. He has been a Principal there since the merger of his firm into Hillier Hopkins in 2008. An auditor and general practice principal, Jonathan served on our Board of Management for 15 years. He heads our marketing team and was responsible for our rebranding with the “Hi” logo in 2015 (he stresses, it was not his design). He is also our Ethics Principal, with oversight for maintaining our ethical standards across all disciplines.
As if this were not enough, he was invited by TGS to replace its founding President, Marc Desjardins, who was retiring, and after some thought and discussion with the Principals, Jonathan agreed to accept the role and was elected in March. He commented, “This was very unexpected, and it took me a while to decide. It’s a very active, executive role, rather than just a chairman of the board arrangement. This is a requirement of French law, as TGS is a French company. How ironic, then, that a French global network should be led by a British President so soon after Brexit. It speaks clearly to the fact that businesses cannot be constrained by political geographic boundaries.” Jonathan retains all his former roles and although some of his clients will mainly be looked after by Katie Harvard-Taylor, who has been his right hand for more than a decade, he remains involved and available to them all.
For Hillier Hopkins and our clients, Jonathan’s new role means direct access to the TGS network, and ensures that it will continue to align with our reasons for joining it: friendly expertise across the world.
Find out more about TGS and our membership.
If you have questions about TGS or international business, feel free to speak to your usual contact or me on the details below.
Alternatively you can reach out to Jonathan and his team on global.business@hhllp.co.uk.
