About Us

Persona HR is an Established and Professional Recruitment Consultancy, Leading the Way in Specialist Recruitment to the Security and Events Industry.

Krista Brown
Managing Director – AECI

With over 23 years experience in the Recruitment Industry & over 21 years in the Security Industry, Krista is at the forefront of the Company solely responsible for the creation of Persona HR & now running & coordinating the Head Office & all Operations & Logistics within the 350+ staffed Company. A qualified Close Protection Officer, Krista has looked after many celebrities, including Jade Goody, Mis-Teeq & Justin Timberlake & has run many high-profile major events with up to 200 staff regularly under her supervision. Passionate about charity work & youth regeneration, Krista strives to deliver this within her company ethos & on the back of this has had Persona HR Ltd recognised as one of Britain’s Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers 2011. She has also been the proud receiver of Employer of the Year London for the last 3 years & personally received the very honoured accolade of Entrepreneur of the Year – London Business Awards 2010. A mentor to a Management Team of 12, an A1 NVQ/QCF Assessor & qualified with a BA Foundation Degree in Personnel Management, NVQ Level III in Spectator Safety at Events & Customer Service, Providing Security Services Level II & First Aid. Krista has recently completed Team Leading Level III and is about to undertake a 2^nd degree in Crowd Management.

Abbey Oke
Financial Director – CIMA

Having worked for us for almost a year now, Abbey works full time at Head Office & is solely responsible for the smooth running of all the Financial & Legal elements  to the business. CIMA qualified, with a HND in Business & Finance and a BA Honours in Economics, he came to us from a PLC company background. Working for a Company that had modern and real life ethics and values is important to Abbey, he is a family man and Persona is very much a family orientated business.  Not only responsible for Accounting and Financial matters, he works with Krista Brown in the business development and is currently working towards Persona becoming a recognised training centre/provider and new youth generation projects.

Emma Delaney
Office Manager / PA

Emma started at Persona HR 2 years ago and has worked her way up from part time Administrator to full time Office Manager / PA to the Directors. Supervising a team of 5 Branch Staff & up to 500 candidates at any one time, Emma’s role is busy and varied every day! Having left school with 5 GCSE’s she has now gone on to further education & is currently in the process of completing her Level III Senior Apprenticeship in Business & Administration and intends to undertake her Level IV in the same within the next year.  Emma has recently completed Team Leading Level III.

Gary Beard
Consultant / Operations Manager

Gary has been with the Company almost 3 years working in a variety of roles including part time Consultant at Head Office, Assistant Venue Manager on Client site and as an experienced Fire Marshall working permanently for a Client at a high profile theatre.  He also works as an Operations Manager and has worked on over 100 seasonal events running the teams himself,  Assisted the Office team by backing up the Security desk; booking control, candidate interviews, staff and client liaison alike, he also conducts Company Inductions. Gary has achieved many qualifications since joining the company including NVQ Level II/III in Customer Service and Spectator Safety at Events, NVQ Level II providing Security Services, First Aid, Fire Marshall and Door Supervisor Training.  He has now become SIA Door Supervisor Licensed, recently completed Team Leading Level III and is striving to achieve his A1 assessor accreditation.

Victor Taiwo
Consultant / Apprentice Mentor and Liaison

Vic is our part time consultant and has been with us for 8 months working 2 days a week in Head Office, whilst combining his work life with University life. Currently an undergraduate studying Human Resources at Southbank University, he works within our Company as a paid Vocational Placement and is responsible for the Candidate Screening and Application Processing and Assists with Interviewing of Candidates, Admin, Candidate Inductions and Learning Provider Liaison. Vic also works as an Events Steward part time on Events, not only to support his student income but also to work as a member of the team, supporting the Apprentices we have within our company. Vic is the Youth Mentor and Apprentice Liaison for Persona – working specifically with the 16-18 age group. His role is supported by Krista Brown, the Managing Director and his goals are to manage and eventually run his own consultancy, working specifically with youth and youth regeneration.

Barry Sale
Senior Operations Manager / Employee Mentor

Barry has worked for Persona for 3 years coming into the industry from a Bar and Licensing background. Starting as an Event Steward, Barry quickly became Door Supervisor trained and licensed and worked on over 100 varied sites and events within a 14 month period to build up his experience to such a high standard. A very popular and professional member of the team, Barry was quickly promoted within the Company, firstly as an Operation Supervisor, then Manager and now onto his current role of Senior Operations Manager, in which he has been for over a year now. Barry runs many high profile Events and Sites for many clients, including the overseeing and running or The Troxy contract for over a year. Always keen to further his skills Barry has completed all training possible up to NVQ Level III Standards in which he is qualified in Spectator Safety at Events, providing Security Services and Customer Service. Barry has also obtained his 1st Aid and Fire Marshall Certification and now plans to train as an A1 Assessor and is also keen to undertake the Crowd Management degree next year.

Ty Almond
Senior Operations Manager / Employee Mentor

Ty has been in the Security Industry for 16 years, mostly alongside Krista, and having worked in all areas of the industry including Retail Guarding, Major Sporting Events, Festivals and his specialist area of expertise being the Pubs and Clubs trade. An SIA licensed Door Supervisor, he has worked at Persona since we opened in 2008 and has been in his current role for the last 2 years as a Senior Operations Manager, running events of up to 100 staff and 35000 crowd capacity.  Ty also leads the 8 Response Teams we have within the Company and works regularly with for Clients in that capacity. Ty has achieved and is qualified in three NVQ Level III Qualifications – Spectator Safety at Events, Customer Service and Providing Security Services, and is also a qualified PIT Guard, First Aider and Fire Marshall.  His goals next year are to achieve SIA Trainer Status and to become an A1 NVQ/QCF Assessor. Ty has recently completed Team Leading Level III.

Junior Opara
Operations Supervisor

Junior has worked within the Security and Events Industry for his whole working life, 9 years to date. Working from scratch into a career that started as an Event Steward, the last 9 years have given Junior a wealth of experience and his current role within the company is one of Operations Supervisor, working closely with our Senior Management and also all Client Management on sites. Junior is an excelled Academic having achieved an array of qualifications in the last few years. His industry qualifications include SIA Door Supervisor, NVQ Level III in Customer Service and Spectator Safety at Events, an NVQ Level II in Providing Security Services, First Aid and Fire Marshall.  Junior will also soon undertake the training to become our SIA Trainer so we are able to deliver Training in-house too. Junior has also recently completed Team Leading Level III. To this end, Junior has won a Learner of the Year Award 2011 at Greenwich Community College. Junior has Specialist Areas of Front of House, PIT Guarding, Response Team and Corporate Guarding, being very popular with Staff and Customers alike.

Mary O’Garra
Operations Supervisor / Business Development Manager

Coming from a Civil Service background, Mary has been with us 2 years now and is one of our most dynamic Managers on board. Her infectious sense of humour is a hit with the Clients and Team alike, as is her hands-on response. Quick thinking and extremely good under pressure or facing a challenging situation, Mary specialises in Corporate Guarding, Bar/Pub/Club Management, Response and Search Team work. Mary works not only as an Operations Manager for Persona, running Events and Sites with 100 staff, but also combines her working week with running our new Sales Department, developing new business relationships and maintaining our current ones. Her industry qualifications consist of SIA Door Supervisor License, NVQ Level II in Providing Security Services and Level II Customer Service. She also has her 1st Aid and both NVQ Level II/III in Spectator Safety at Events. Mary has also recently completed Team Leading Level III, is also planning to undertake her Close Protection Training in the near future and is also just completing her NVQ Level III in Customer Service.

Mitch Brown
Operations Supervisor / Employee Mentor

Mitch has worked in this industry for over 11 years now, the last 2 being with Persona. A solid manager, he works as an Operations Supervisor, running Client Sites, such as our Comedy Club Contracts as well as managing teams of up to 80 at events. Mitch’s background and Specialist Areas are Pub and Club circuits, Festival Teams and Festival Management and West End Theatres. Mitch also works closely with many celebrities. Qualified with an SIA Door Supervisor license, his Fire Marshall and First Aid certificates and NVQ Level III in Customer Service and Spectator Safety at Events. He also holds a CSCS Card and is PIT Qualified and Experienced. Mitch mentors the younger supervisors, trains and assesses them whilst at work.

Del Green
Operations Supervisor / Employee Mentor

Having worked within the Events industry for the last 10 years and having been a licensed SIA Guard for the last 7, Del has acquired a vast realm of experience.  He is a passionate Youth Regenerator working with, creating and running several local borough events for youths annually, including having been part of the Notting Hill Committee for many years now. Del ran local doors for a while but now works as an Operations Supervisor, alongside his Youth commitments, assisting our Management Team on big events, running Bars and leading Response Teams. Del has worked closely with many celebrities and works regularly on Dressing Room areas, running Backstage and PIT Teams for our Clients. Very popular among the Sporting Arenas, Del is very often found running terraces and leading Response Teams for many high profile football clubs. His industry qualifications include SIA Door Supervisor License, Health and Safety in the Workplace, CSCS Card and NVQ Level II Customer Service, while currently completing his NVQ Level II in Providing Security Service and Spectator Safety at Events.

Johanna Royes-Gaynor
Assistant Operations Supervisor

Johanna has been in the Security Industry for over 11 years and is our Retail Supervisor, with over 8 years experience within the Retail and Corporate sector and having helped to run such events as Jubilee Mall in Canary Wharf, Celebrity Book Signings and leading teams of up to 10 staff at a time. She now works as an Assistant to the Operational Management Team, helping co-ordinate staff and responsible for her own areas within an Event environment. Teacher trained, Johanna is also a Sports Leader and her industry qualifications are equally impressive with her having a SIA Door Supervisor License, her 1st Aid qualification, her NVQ Level II in Spectator Safety at Events and Customer Service and she is also a recognised and qualified Store Detective. This year Johanna is aiming for her NVQ Level III in all industry recognised qualifications.

Nathan Graham
Assistant Operations Supervisor / Employee Mentor

A young dad, with a family to support, Nathan came into this industry 18 months ago as an Apprentice. He was one of the 1st Apprentices ever to undertake the Apprenticeship in providing Security Services in London – under a flagship scheme that Persona were running. In the last 18 months Nathan has held a permanent job at one of our more prestigious clients, The Troxy, assisting his manager to run and co-ordinate a very successful Street Team Patrol in a sometimes volatile area. Nathan has work diligently to improve himself and his industry knowledge and is now regularly an assistant to the Senior Management on many high profile events. He is a very popular member of the Team with both Clients and Staff alike. In the last 18 months Nathan has achieved his NVQ Level II in Customer Service and Spectator Safety at Events, BTEC in Security Guarding, Key Skills at Merit Grades, he is SIA Trained and has fully completed his Apprenticeship. Nathan has recently completed Team Leading Level III and is now working as a mentor to the new apprentices as we enroll them. In the next year Nathan aims to achieve his NVQ Level III and to also get Door Supervisor trained and licensed.

Alan Walsh and Rob Walsh
Assistant Operation Supervisors / Employee Mentors

Persona’s ‘real life brother team’. Alan and Rob both joined the Company and Industry almost 2 years ago, starting as Event Stewards on an Apprenticeship in Security at Events – Persona’s flagship scheme. After a year and a half of nonstop working and experience building, they are now working as Assistants to the Management team here helping co-ordinate staff and clients, leading check-ins and have covered football stadium terraces as Supervisors as well. Both lads are also permanent fixtures in many of our clients venues and are very experienced in festival co-ordination too. They are now using their invaluable experience to teach and mentor new Apprentices as they join Persona. Both brothers have achieved excellent standards of qualifications in the last 18 months, including BTEC Security Guarding, NVQ Level II Providing Security Services, First Aid, SIA Training, NVQ Level III Spectator Safety at Events, all Key Skills, full completion of their Apprenticeship and have recently completed Team Leading Level III. They are also both currently undertaking their NVQ Level II in Customer Service. Their goals for 2012 include obtaining their SIA Door Supervision badges and gaining more experience so they can climb upwards to become Operations Managers for the Company.

Our management team has a combination of over 40 years hands on experience, providing our clients with the back office services, and where necessary, the on-site support and management to ensure the smooth running of your events and venues.

There are no set rates as we tailor make individual packages for individual clients needs, ensuring our rates suit your needs and your budget.

24 Hour control room – Live Access to Senior Management at any time.

Our aim is to provide YOU with any staffing requirements that you may have within the Security, Events and Stewarding industry. Our service is fully integrated with needs of all of our clients and statutory bodies such as S.I.A, Police and all other Emergency services.

Offering a flexible approach and an individual service for every client, We are able to meet head on any challenges thrown up by every event and booking. In-house solutions are not always viable or effective, they can be restricted by employment contracts, including the time lag in recruiting staff and the costs involved. The flexibility we offer is a major advantage when dealing with an urgent situation.

We can cater for any job, Providing any amount of staff at any one time, Each member of staff having specifically recruited for specific events or jobs. We recognize that in any good outsourcing contract there should be constant dialogue between the customer and ourselves so we listen, consult and respond to your needs.

If we send you the wrong candidates then quite simply, we are not doing our job properly.

Persona HR has a fantastic reputation in both the recruitment and security and events industry’s, having been built on the provision of providing the best possible quality service at all possible times. To that end we put great emphasis on the staff we recruit, ensuring they are qualified, screened and experienced, including a stipulation that ALL Persona HR staff are C.R.B checked and trained and certificated to a minimum of N.V.Q level II standard. All staff we recruit to the industry work within a mentoring scheme in the first 6 weeks of their employment with Persona HR. All our staff are fully inducted upon job acceptance.

Experience has shown that an investment in a professional dedicated human resources consultancy yields a significant return in the form of highly qualified, motivated and productive employees, who will thrive in the specific environment.