Higginson leaves GSK

Richard Higginson has been appointed head of reward at financial services firm Towry Law.

He was previously director of international benefits at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a post he held from 1999 until the end of last year.

Higginson described the move as a career change, having only previously worked for FTSE multinationals. Towry Law operates in the UK and has just 500 staff, compared with GSK, which employs more than 100,000 people in 116 countries.

Higginson said the change would give him the opportunity to take on a more influential role. "What attracted me was being number one in the reward [function] and owning [its] strategy. At [GSK] there were three people between me and the board."

His career highlights at GSK include co-creating its total reward masterclass, which "has really raised the bar internationally at GSK", and integrating all employees' reward packages following the merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham in 2000.