The warrior queen departs Hays after a legendary near four-decade career

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I heard about Jane McNeill many months before I met her.

I joined Accountancy Personnel (or ‘AP’ as it was then known, before it became Hays) in London in February 1989, when the undisputed fee king of AP was Jonathan Farn. Farn was the manager of the largest AP office, which was referred to throughout the company as ‘Moorgate’ (as it was located at 63-65 Moorgate, London EC1). Farn was also AP’s biggest biller.

Six months later, Farn departed to set up his own agency in direct competition (‘Accountancy Plus’), and his throne became vacant.

But not for long.

The king was succeeded by the queen.

The queen was Jane McNeill (photo, right, with Dave Crawley and Keira Batiste, on her final day at Hays).

Almost immediately, the loss of Farn faded from memory as McNeill quickly became the company’s biggest biller in the country’s most competitive market. Everybody at AP (and I mean every single employee) knew who Jane McNeill was.

Each month a ‘league table’, comprising the most recent month and year-to-date results, of every consultant in the London area, was published and circulated among the London offices. There was no ambiguity about the ranking of your performance or any other consultant’s performance. It was inevitable that Jane McNeill’s name was at the top of the league table almost every month.

After many months of seeing ‘Filled Jane/Moorgate” dominate the daily job updates (that were circulated in hard copy by courier to each London office) I finally met the queen. It was at one of the infamous ‘Friday night drink-ups’ that were a regular end-of-month social event for elated or despondent London-based AP consultants, as we celebrated or commiserated our fees for the month.

I was surprised to find that McNeill was not only approachable and friendly, she also seemed to enjoy singing as she led the rowdy Moorgate office celebrations on the back of another big month. Later that evening, I have a hazy recollection of a fanboy conversation with the queen, squashed beside each other as last drinks approached and the singing got louder.

Having completed her studies (MA, Hons) at the University of Edinburgh in 1985, McNeill, like many Scottish graduates of the 1980s, travelled south in search of a career worthy of her talent. In late 1987, McNeill joined AP as a rookie recruiter. So began an extraordinary, nearly four-decade career as a record fee earner and inspiring leader at one of the world’s most profitable recruitment agencies during its golden decades.

On Friday, 31 May 2026, McNeill called time on her remarkable career after her final role, as managing director of recruitment for Hays Australia, was made redundant in the recent restructure of Hays ANZ by Hays APAC CEO, Matthew Dickason.

Jane McNeill’s accomplishments and career arc are shining examples of how elite individual billings and outstanding leadership can coexist to create career longevity with a single employer in the recruitment industry.

Former Hays global executive Jacky Carter also joined AP in 1987 and began a decades-long friendship with McNeill as their respective careers spanned countries and decades.

“As a colleague, she was a gun recruiter, one of the real legends who could seemingly spin a fee out of nowhere, produced by that sheer Scottish grit, tenacity and a passion for placing people that many tried to emulate,” Carter recalled.

McNeill’s ability to transition her qualities that delivered Mt Everest-like personal billings into a collaborative high-performance leadership style, largely broke the mould of top sales producers in the era of late twentieth-century London, where alpha males, consumed by self-interest, commonly ruled.

Carter, again, “Jane was one of that rare breed of gun recruiters who also have the right stuff for leadership. Her ability to nurture her people and encourage them to achieve beyond their expectations was legendary, her work ethic exceptional (we were in the 7 am starters club as long as I can remember), her sense of fun always just below the surface (but bursting forth in song, often!), and her loyalty to her team and colleagues was one of her stand-out qualities. Everyone knew she had their back, and they repaid her with a degree of commitment and dedication that produced high performing teams in all the roles she held.”

After rapidly being promoted to Director in London, the call of Australia eventually came.

After 13 years of the queen ruling London, McNeill arrived in Perth in the middle of summer in early 2001.

The extent of Jane’s willingness to put her ego aside for the sake of a career adventure in the world’s most remote capital city is hard to overstate. A quarter of a century ago, London was the epicentre of the Hays universe. Hays WA was, quite simply, the outer back blocks of nowhere.

It’s not an exaggeration to say it’s like a triple AFL premiership coach saying they wanted a new challenge, and coaching a Tasmanian club side seemed like the most appealling option.

After just over a decade leading Hays WA to new heights, it was inevitable that Hays’s biggest territory in ANZ could do with a shot of Jane McNeill.

Jane dutifully moved across the continent in 2012 to head up NSW & ACT. A few months later, Nigel Heap, who had spent just over a decade and a half successfully injecting a large dose of UK recruitment aggression into Hays ANZ, returned home to head up Hays UK & Ireland.

New local managing director, Nick Deligiannis, was the immediate beneficiary of McNeill running the engine room at Hays ANZ.

When I contacted the now-retired Deligiannis for a comment about McNeill’s departure, he responded within hours. This is part of what he said, “In (her career)…she produced time and time again countless months, quarters and years of top performances, always recognising that candidates and clients were gold and came first. For the many of us who have had the privilege to work closely with Jane, most importantly, she was a great team mate, colleague, leader and friend who positively impacted and left a lasting positive impression, shaping so many remarkable people’s lives she met along the way. A great mentor and role model for the ages, she is an inspiration and a true Hays legend.”

Lynne Beggs, who spent 22 years at Hays in the UK, Australia, Singapore, like me, had heard of Jane’s reputation long before meeting her.

I first knew of Jane McNeill when I moved to Australia in 2003 – she was in Perth and I was in Sydney but the legendary stories of her travelled far and wide. She was a regional director who still billed fees, which was unheard of, and not only that she led from the front on fees, client meetings and delivery. The stories of her London billing days were incredible and in no way exaggerated – she probably still holds the record for the highest fees billed in a month!

She became my boss in 2012 when she moved to Sydney to head up NSW & ACT. As a boss she was tough but fair, always asking for your ideas & opinions but the biggest thing for me was that she trusted us to do our jobs – she didn’t check up on us or questions our decisions, she just trusted us to deliver and we did. IT was the first time in my career – 15 years in at that point – where my monthly meetings were all about me and my team, not something I had experienced before. Jane wanted to support, help, listen, advise but never overstep. It was refreshing and something I learnt from.

My capabilities as a leader flourished under Jane, as did so many others.

An incredible leader, boss, recruiter and friend – Jane is one of the true greats in the industry and someone I am grateful to have worked with and for.

On McNeill’s last day, Hannah Faithfull, client engagement director for Hays ANZ, who started her recruitment career nearly a quarter of a decade after McNeill started hers, posted a tribute on LinkedIn to McNeill that included, “In an industry built entirely on people and relationships, you have always understood and shown that true success is about so much more than numbers. It is about trust, respect, and the lasting impact you leave on the people around you. You have been a mentor when you never had to be, always sharing your knowledge, encouraging others to back themselves, and lifting people up throughout your career.

You showed all of us what genuine leadership looks like — not the loudest voice in the room, nor the most ruthless, but the most authentic. People trusted you because you earned that trust every single day through integrity, consistency, kindness, and compassion. You never relied on shortcuts or ego to succeed. In an industry that moves so fast, you were always present for anyone who needed support, guidance, or belief in themselves.

What made you such a remarkable female leader was not only your incredible business mind, but the way you created space for other women to grow, lead, and succeed. You led with strength without ever losing your warmth, and you proved that empathy and high performance can absolutely go hand in hand.”

Has there ever been another person in the recruitment industry quite like Jane McNeill?

A phenomenal biller in two countries on opposite sides of the globe.

A respected, admired, and loved leader who inspired and developed many leaders in two countries.

An employee who has dedicated their entire professional career to one employer.

And a warrior for everything good about recruiters and the recruitment industry; a person who was never afraid to stand up for herself, her team, her employer, and her industry.

I’ll leave the last word to Lynne Beggs, who shared a story with me that encapsulates the extraordinary Jane McNeill.

I can remember being out with her one night when someone in a bar we were in, on finding out that we all worked in recruitment, started giving off about how bad recruiters were, we were only in it for the money, and didn’t have a clue what we were doing. Jane walked over to him and said I think I know you – you worked in that bank, doing that role, reporting to that person and I interviewed you about 7 years ago and put you forward to that job – to say that shut him up was an understatement. It was impressive! Jane never forgot a person or a placement!

Thank you, warrior queen.

We are forever in your debt, Jane McNeill.

Thanks for your leadership, Nick and Jacky

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