Paul Hawkes is a relatively unusual detective in that he has spent most of his working life as a legal investigator and is now an accomplished veteran investigator. From a finance background, he initially established himself as a professional investigator within the UK investigation industry in August 1977, soon developing a speciality in crisis management, complex traces (finding missing people) worldwide, and covert surveillance services. During his prolific career, Paul Hawkes has progressively acquired a comprehensive range of well-placed contacts, industry knowledge, techniques and resources, having conducted numerous security assignments and projects spanning the globe.
During the 1980s and mid-1990s, Paul Hawkes became a ‘go-to’ asset investigator both within and outside the UK investigation industry, developing a specific specialisation in worldwide asset identification and location, as well as providing strategic investigative information, running assignments and projects worldwide. During this time, he acted near exclusively on behalf of legal and investigative firms and later of select private individuals and government, regularly working on high-profile cases in the international arena. He now has a reputation for his ability to understand clients’ requirements and discreetly get the job done. With so many decades of experience, Paul Hawkes lives and breathes forensic investigations and intelligence.
Paul Hawkes managed and ran a renowned but exclusive research agency working out of Liechtenstein during the 1980s and 1990s, later redeveloping Research Associates into one of the UK’s premier ‘full-service agencies’ after changes in the UK and worldwide legislation during the late 1990s. Both Paul Hawkes and Research Associates have been the subject of numerous low-key articles appearing in the international and UK press, including The Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph and The Independent.
In the public domain, Paul Hawkes’ involvement is well-documented in investigations into numerous high-profile matrimonial matters, strategic covert surveillance and fraud cases involving multi-million-pound losses, where retrieval of funds was high on the agenda. These include Polly Peck/Asil Nadir; the Brink’s-Mat Gold Robbery; identifying funds sequestrated by the UK Government during the 1980s NUM Miners Strike; and helping identify funds held by correspondent banks in London by Rafidain Bank of Iraq and Rasheed Bank of Iraq during the Gulf War. Paul Hawkes also initiated the original focused investigation into Harold Brown (Diana, Princess of Wales’ butler), which led directly to the police investigation and subsequent arrest of former royal butlers Harold Brown and Paul Burrell. He was also the lead investigator, working in both the UK and South Africa, in the infamous Bruce Grobbelaar libel case involving the Sun Newspaper (please note that all aforementioned cases appear in the public domain). Numerous prominent private clients remain forever anonymous and confidential; Paul Hawkes is renowned for his consistent discretion and sensitivity in all matters.
Currently the senior partner of Research Associates, a full-service agency offering ‘high spec’ investigative assistance to select clientele worldwide, Paul Hawkes is a longstanding full member in good standing of the Association of British Investigators (ABI) and regularly sits on the ABI’s board of examination, as well as occupying other branch positions. In 2010, Paul Hawkes was nominated for the Association of British Investigators’ prestigious ‘Investigator of The Year’ award; this honour was repeated in the ABI’s centenary year, 2013. Paul Hawkes has also been nominated as ‘Investigator of the Year 2014′ by the influential World Association of Detectives (WAD). Paul Hawkes is a full member of the Institute of Professional Investigators (IPI), a longstanding full member of the elite World Association Detectives (WAD) and a member of the British and European Polygraph Association (BEPA), The National Association of Investigative Specialists (NAIS), an Associate of the Internationale Kommission der Detektiv-Verbände, as well as a past member of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP).
Paul Hawkes holds a clear Criminal Conviction Certificate (Disclosure No 110100104588132). This certificate is renewed every three years as part of the ABI’s self-regulating criteria.
Paul Hawkes authored a series of articles originally written as ‘Insider’ for ‘Information Security Management’ magazine during 2001/2002. In addition, he has given numerous talks on the art and logic of investigation, including a recorded lecture entitled ‘Secret Lives’ for the Wellcome Foundation, within ‘The Identity Project’ presented within a major exhibition hosted by ‘The Wellcome Collection ‘in January 2010.
Paul Hawkes has a multifaceted understanding of counselling and anger management skills and was instrumental in helping establish the British Association of Anger Management (BAAM).
Paul Hawkes is a fully trained scuba diver/open water diver; Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) certified. He is also a certified co-leader in The ManKind Project (MKP), a progressive worldwide leadership-training organisation. Hawkes has co-led numerous intensive MKP training sessions throughout the UK, Europe, North America, and Africa. In 2004, he won The ManKind Project’s prestigious ‘Ron Hering Mission of Service Award’. In 2010 Paul Hawkes co-founded ‘Journeyman UK’ (Journeyman Mentoring Network Ltd), an affiliate chapter of the international ‘Boys To Men Mentoring Network’. Journeyman UK is a unique education charity and community-based mentoring network with a focus on “supporting boys and young men to become the adults they want to be”.
Paul Hawkes studied mixed martial arts for over four decades (Judo, Fanchento Kung Fu and Kickboxing).
Paul Hawkes is well known by his peers and clients alike as a trustworthy, straight-speaking, intuitive and impartial investigator with an innate ability to understand the fundamental overview of often-complex situations. Paul typically presents clients with perceptive, focused and pragmatic resolutions to the most challenging problems and has a reputation for “pulling the rabbit out of the hat.”