Catherine Wallis

Chief Operating Officer, Group wide or multi sector

I’m COO at The ONE Group and have spent almost 30 years working in recruitment. My role spans operations, people, performance, customer experience and strategic projects, with a focus on helping the business stay commercially strong, genuinely human and curious about the changing world of work.

I care deeply about recruitment, but only when it is done properly. Too many recruitment experiences can feel transactional, underwhelming and at arm’s length. What drives me is the opportunity to help build something different — a future-fit consultancy that earns its place with clients by understanding where their business is going, not just the vacancy they need to fill today.

I believe less is often more. One committed recruitment partner, with the right insight, network and curiosity, can add far more value than a crowded process that becomes frustrating for everyone involved. My focus is on helping The ONE Group keep things human, ask better questions and deliver recruitment that feels purposeful, valuable and genuinely connected to our clients’ own ambitions.

Alongside my role at The ONE Group, I have built Leadership Perspectives: Female Voices — a peer community of C-suite women who share honest reflections, experiences and insights through quarterly lunches and a podcast series (find us on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/3h3K2ziJQc9c7lWO34Lkzi?si=1TGrRGsJQIeBTrtwdjfGkQ)

I also spend time connecting business with schools through being an ambassador for Form the Future CIC, because I believe the recruitment industry has a responsibility to invest in the future talent pipeline.

At The Weekend You Will Find Me

Decorating, gardening and reading (why are the cliches of getting older so accurate??!) I love anything involving a courtroom, loved my jury service experience so much that I am applying to become a Magistrate…. watch this space. There is an annual pilgrimage to Nashville with my husband and regular trips around the UK in our Campervan. I have three adult children who refuse to leave home, a daily dislike of having to decide what everyone is having for dinner, and a strong appreciation for good food, friends and a glass of wine.

Catherine Wallis

Get in touch

Hiring across A&F, HR, or Commercial Office? Looking for your next role in the region? Either way,
we’d be glad to hear from you.

Hire with TOG
Looking for a role
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THE ONE GROUP

Where we're from,
and how we got here

Twenty years of specialist recruitment in the East – and a lot of small decisions that added up.

TOG started in Peterborough in 2004 with a small team and a simple idea: that recruitment is a people business, done best by specialists who stay in their sector long enough to know it properly.

More than two decades on, we've grown into four offices across the East of England and Home Counties. We recruit for finance leaders, HR directors, engineering managers, tech founders, scientists, and the commercial teams that keep businesses running day to day. Between us, we've built up over 258 years of collective recruitment experience across our specialist divisions, and a network of more than 150,000 candidates we've placed, coached, or come to know across two decades in the region.

The founding principle hasn't changed. Recruitment as it should be.

OUR STORY

Key events timeline

2004

Doors open in Peterborough.

Our first office launches with a team of six on Lynch Wood. Cambridge follows the same year, giving us two offices before our first anniversary.

2015

Northampton makes it three.

Our third office opens with a team of five, quickly growing to eleven consultants covering the wider Midlands region.

2017

Peterborough moves across the road.

The team has outgrown the founding office. We move into Arena House on Lynch Wood, big enough for a growing consultant base and the back-office team that supports the whole group.

2018

Cambridge moves too.

Our second office relocates to Cambourne Business Park, giving the growing Cambridge team the space it now needs.

2023

Four offices, three counties, one very good year.

The Hertfordshire & Essex office opens in Potters Bar, extending our footprint into the Home Counties.

In the same year, we're named Business of the Year in Northamptonshire, and Employer of the Year in both Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire at the regional SME Business Awards. Three counties, three panels.

TODAY

Still growing.

Four offices, more than 258 years of collective recruitment experience across our specialist divisions, and a network of over 150,000 candidates.

Same founding principle.

SPECIALISTS BY DESIGN

What we do

We're specialists, not generalists. Every consultant at TOG focuses on one sector and stays in it. Not because it's the only way to do recruitment, but because it's how you build the depth to spot the difference between a strong CV and a strong hire.

It's also why so many of our clients come back to us years, even decades, after a first placement.

01
Accountancy & Finance
→
 02
Human Resources
→
 03
Commercial Office
Administration, customer service, project management and more
→
 04
Technology
→
 05
Engineering & Manufacturing
→
 06
Scientific
→
 07
Sales, Marketing & Creative
→
 08
Executive Search
Across all of the above
→

Beyond the recruitment itself, we produce annual salary guides, regional market reports, and the practical resources our clients and candidates turn to when they want a clearer view of what's happening in their sector.

THE WAY WE WORK

How we work

Four principles show up in every conversation and every process.
01

Be curious.

We stay interested in the market we work in, and in the people who work in it.

02

Keep it human.

We remember your kids' names and know how you take your coffee. That's just how we work here.

03

Make a difference.

We're here to help people build careers they love and businesses they're proud of.

04

Enjoy the ride.

Recruitment is a career, but it should be fun too. If it isn't, we've done something wrong.

WHAT COMES NEXT?

Recruitment
as it should be.

Hire with TOG → Looking for a role →
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