LHi Group launches EMERIS, a new Space & Aerospace Talent Solutions brand
On 5 October, we officially welcomed EMERIS to LHi Group, our new specialist Talent Solutions brand for the Space & Aerospace industry.
We’re incredibly excited to finally have EMERIS out in the world, especially knowing just how much experience, knowledge and infrastructure it already has to draw on.
There are more than two decades of LHi experience behind it, with teams across the Group having worked within Space & Aerospace and the specialist markets around it through brands including Lawrence Harvey and Piper Maddox.
That means relationships already built, networks already established and market knowledge developed over more than a decade in the sector.
Now, that experience comes together under one brand: EMERIS.
Why LHi Group is launching EMERIS in Space & Aerospace
So why Space & Aerospace, and why now?
The industry has seen significant investment in recent years, while businesses are competing for highly specialised talent in an already limited market.
For us, that combination made sense.
LHi has spent more than two decades building specialist businesses in technical, investment-led markets. Space & Aerospace brings together many of the things we know well: ambitious companies, emerging technology, complex talent requirements and huge potential for growth.
Ben Richardson, Co-CEO of LHi Group, summed it up during the launch:
“This is what LHi is all about, being innovative, working in brand new, cutting-edge markets, where it’s investment-led and there’s tons of opportunity to make a genuine impact in the industry.”
There was also a clear reason to build a dedicated brand around the sector. Space & Aerospace is highly specialised, and the roles, talent pools and challenges within it require a real understanding of the market.
EMERIS gives us the focus to build that expertise properly, while still drawing on the relationships, infrastructure and knowledge already established across LHi Group.
David Woodings to lead EMERIS from Los Angeles
Leading EMERIS is David Woodings, Senior Director, based in Los Angeles.
David brings more than 15 years of executive and professional search experience across the US and Europe, with a strong track record of building and scaling specialist businesses.
He has already done exactly that within LHi.
David previously built Piper Maddox in Los Angeles from the ground up, growing the team to around 25–30 people and helping establish it as one of the Group’s strongest-performing brands.
That experience, combined with a genuine passion for Space & Aerospace, made him the clear person to take EMERIS forward.
As Mike Bott, Co-CEO of LHi Group, put it during the launch:
“There is no doubt that we’ve got the right person in the right market, I couldn’t be more excited.”
For David, EMERIS is the opportunity to take real ownership of a business, become deeply embedded in one specialist market and build around the needs of the industry rather than bringing a standard talent model into it.
His ambition is to make EMERIS one of LHi’s fastest-growing and most exciting businesses, drawing on the experience and lessons gathered across the Group over the last two decades. That starts in the US, with plans to grow across LHi’s existing offices before expanding further into Europe over time.
Building EMERIS within LHi Group
EMERIS also represents something we’ve been building towards for years at LHi Group.
When Kim Pasteau, Director - Head of Marketing joined the business in 2013, LHi had one brand: Lawrence Harvey. When LHi Group was created in 2016, part of the reason was to give people and teams the opportunity to build specialist brands in new markets, while still having the infrastructure and support of the wider Group behind them.
David and Kim worked closely to build an identity that feels rooted in Space & Aerospace without looking like everything else already in the market. The celestial-inspired colour palette deliberately moves away from the black-and-white aesthetic common across the sector, while the E within the EMERIS logo incorporates the delta-v symbol.
The name carries that same connection. EMERIS draws inspiration from ephemeris, a term associated with tracking celestial bodies and satellites.
And, like every new area of growth at LHi, EMERIS creates opportunities for our people too.
Internal mobility has always been a big part of the Group. People have moved offices, changed markets, joined different brands and taken on opportunities they may never have expected when they first joined us.
As EMERIS grows, it gives people across LHi another opportunity to get involved early, help build something from the ground up and develop their careers in a completely new market.
That’s been part of LHi’s story for years: giving specialist teams the space to grow, while giving our people more places to take their careers.
Now, there’s one more.
Welcome to LHi Group, EMERIS.