Andrew Banks

Andrew Banks, born in London and having pursued his education in the UK in Biological Sciences, decided to emigrate in 1972 to an optimistic Australia, to escape the ‘grey skies and economic malaise of that era’. He started his career as an actor and earned a living for almost two years on TV and in Theatre including the then famous The Old Tote Theatre Company (subsequently inherited by NIDA, where Andrew is now Chairman of the Foundation).

He then completed six successful years with a Global Multi-Discipline Design and Construction Group as a Human Resources Professional working in the UK, Norway and the USA, ending his career as the HR Director for Europe and Africa supporting 8,000 employees. In 1980 he returned to Australia to join the Executive Recruitment Industry in its early years of development.

Together with Geoff Morgan, Andrew, founded Morgan & Banks in early 1985, seeing an opportunity to change the way the then ‘cottage industry’ worked and grew the company to become the dominant recruitment force in Australia and Asia, with a whopping 17% market share! The company went public in 1995 and sales grew to over $700m, before it was acquired by TMP/Monster.com in 1999, a US listed company on the NASDAQ.

Andrew spent the last three years of his time with TMP in New York as Global Director where he was responsible for approximately 40 acquisitions, and 4,500 staff operating in 32 countries around the world.

Andrew has co-authored four books with Geoff Morgan on recruiting, and works in their investment company, Morgan & Banks Investments. He is also a major shareholder and director of Talent2 International (TWO), a publicly traded company on the ASX, which focuses on HR Outsourcing and Executive Search and Selection, with a team of over 1,000 professionals operating in seventeen countries.

In 2004, Geoff and Andrew were the recipients of the Ernst & Young Master Entrepreneur of the Year Award given for sustained success in business. He is married to Andrea and has two children, Sophia and Nicholas, who are living and working in the USA.