Validium Appointment Spearheads UK Growth

News - 21st February 2005

Validium Appointment Spearheads UK Growth

Validium, the integrated EAP and HR consultancy, has embarked on an expansion strategy with the appointment of Dr Wolfgang Seidl to the Board of Directors, the fourth senior appointment within the company in just over three months.

Previously an EAP Director with Accor Services, Wolfgang has a track record of working at senior level within the private sector and in primary and secondary care. He has also held positions at Sheffield Hallam University and The Open University, teaching subjects such as Assessment and Referral Skills for counsellors, as well as Brain and Behaviour. Wolfgang is also a BACP accredited counsellor and a member of several national and international psychotherapeutic and research organisations.

In his new role at Validium, Wolfgang will join fellow Board Directors Mike Shaw and Anne Payne in being responsible for continuing to grow the business and ensuring that the highest standards of quality in the industry continue to be maintained within Validium.

The appointment represents an important step for Validium's expansion, which since its launch in 1998, has become one of the fastest growing major independent EAP's in the UK by providing its services to many of the UK's leading companies across a range of industry sectors.

"Wolfgang is undoubtedly one of the industry's leading practioners in his field in Europe. His appointment represents a great achievement for Validium and demonstrates the stature and recognition that the company has achieved in a relatively short space of time when we can attract a candidate of Wolfgang's standing to take up a position within the organisation," said Mike Shaw, Managing Director, Validium.

Having graduated as a Doctor of Medicine from the Karl-Franzens University in Austria, Wolfgang completed a Master of Arts in Psychiatry, Philosophy and Society in the UK, and a Diploma in Counselling, before embarking on his career as university lecturer and clinical practitioner.

Throughout his career Wolfgang has delivered many papers including, most recently, on the business case for Employee Assistance Programmes based on a collaboration with a Harvard-based researcher. He is (also) a prolific speaker, which has involved engagements at the Employee Assistance Professionals Association Annual Conference in the United States and also the European Work/Life and Diversity Conferences in Brussels and Amsterdam. Wolfgang has also given presentations at the 1st World Congress of Psychotherapy at the United Nations Conference Centre in Vienna.

Wolfgang takes up his new role following three key appointments at Validium towards the end of last year. Karen Foster, previously with ICAS for four years where she specialised in the insurance sector, joined Validium as a Consultant; a role also secured by Fozia Khan, who moved from Accor Services and, like Karen, is now responsible for Validium's main EAP clients in both the public and private sectors. Also Rachel Clark, who recently joined the company's Glasgow operation, following 27 years experience of the public sector, and is responsible for expanding Validium's portfolio of clients based in Scotland and Northern England.

Sharon McEwan,
BRIGHT PR,
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