John Viney

John Viney, who died on November 7 aged 61, was one of London's best-known and most idiosyncratic headhunters; at Heidrick & Struggles, and latterly as founding head of Zygos, he was responsible for the recruitment of many of the most powerful figures in British boardrooms.

It was during a 17-year tenure as chairman and chief executive of Heidrick & Struggles International – the European arm of a search firm originally founded in Chicago – that Viney built a guru-like reputation as a headhunter who applied intensive research and interview techniques to match potential directors' personalities to client companies' vacancies.

During the 1990s, when the tide of opinion and codification in corporate governance was moving steadily away from "old boy networks" and in the direction of external recruitment for top jobs and greater diversity in the make-up of boards, Viney's wide-ranging, offbeat view and high-energy style enabled him to build a highly successful practice.

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