Spinnaker was the brainchild of current Chairman Phil Parry, who graduated from Plymouth University in 1991 with a degree in Maritime Business and Law. Whilst working as a Maritime Lawyer, he found himself placing graduates within the sector as there were no specialist maritime recruitment agencies. With this in mind, he decided to set up Spinnaker with his long-term friend and current CEO Steve Cox, and as they say, the rest is history.
Here we take a look at the key events in the Spinnaker calendar over the last 26 years.
1997 Spinnaker Global was founded (now known as Spinnaker).
1998 The company moved into its first office in Leigh on Sea, Essex, UK. The company is still based in this seaside town.
2005 Launch of the Maritime HR Association (or the Tanker HR Forum as it was known then) with 8 founding Tanker companies. Its purpose was to provide independent salary and bonus information for shore-based shipping jobs. The membership now boasts 105 members and provides data for 35 locations!
2006 The company grew to a point where new offices were required, and Spinnaker moved to their 2nd office in Leigh on Sea.
2006 The first Maritime HR Conference takes place in London.
2008 Spinnaker MD, Teresa Peacock joined the company and in her 15 years within the business has made a big impact on the industry. She is consistently voted one of the top women in shipping by all about shipping and is an active member of WISTA.
2011 Launch of the OSCAR campaign, the inspiration of Phil Parry, whose son received life-saving care at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and to date has raised £2.7 million for the charity.
2013 Move to a 3rd office in Leigh on Sea to accommodate growing staff numbers.
2014 The first OSCAR Dragon Boat Race takes place and with the exception of the covid years has taken place every year since.
2015 ShippingJobs.com (now spinnaker-global.com) wins award for Best Website.
2016 Launch of the Leadership Development programme for industry professionals.
2017 Launch of Seafarer Employers’ Association which provides wage cost benchmarking for crew.
2019 Spinnaker wins Diversity in Maritime award from Maritime UK.
2021 Spinnaker are awarded Best Executive Search Partner by the Global Ports Council.
2023 The biggest ever Maritime HR Conference takes place in London which marks the 15th time this event has taken place.
Look out for more birthday content over the coming days.
