Our Team

Kate joined Drax in 2018 to support the development of our consumer practice across both private equity and high growth companies. Her main focus is within the Retail and Branded Consumer Goods sectors, working across all cap sizes and with a Pan-European focus, supporting brands and funds both pre and post deal. She is also passionate about supporting Founder owned and primary investments as they navigate the world of private capital. She previously spent three years working for an executive search and advisory firm specialising in private equity, working on multiple international assignments.

Mark joined DRAX over a decade ago and leads assignments across all sectors within both PE backed and high growth companies. Mark has focuses on developing our presence within consumer and leisure. The recent assignments Mark has led have been wide ranging Board and Operational Board hires across the value chain from early stage, private equity & high growth through to large cap businesses. The work includes searches in travel and leisure, consumer goods, consumer services, food and drink and multi-channel retail.

Jamie joined the Consumer Practice in 2021 after working for a boutique headhunting firm specialising in senior management and C-Suite roles in the hospitality sector across the EMEA, GCC and USA. After completing a degree in Business and International Hospitality Management at Oxford Brookes University in 2014, Jamie spent five years working with a number of leading hospitality and lifestyle brands in London before pivoting to the world of Executive Search.

Harriet joined Drax in 2021 as an Associate Director within the consumer practice. Previously, she led the hospitality, travel and leisure sectors as well as supporting the broader consumer Partners’ on delivery at a global boutique search firm.  During her career, Harriet has developed an extensive network across the consumer industries and a strong track record in placing senior executives into both listed and private equity backed businesses on a global scale, with recent focuses on Asia and the US.

Max joined Drax in 2021 to support the delivery of assignments across the Consumer Practice. He has previous experience working within Executive Search at a global boutique search firm. Max worked across their broad functions and practices before specialising in Sports, Media and Entertainment, delivering C-Suite and Board level mandates across Europe, US and Asia.

Zoe joined Drax to support with delivery across the Consumer Practice. Zoe has worked for publicly listed, family and private/PE backed companies based in both the UK and EMEA, delivering on senior Executive search and C-suite projects, across several functional disciplines. Zoe holds ten years of experience in the global consumer, retail & lifestyle industry, working with a mix of luxury, fashion, consumer goods and hospitality clients.

Simona has recently joined DRAX as a Consultant for the Consumer practice. She focuses on supporting delivery of assignments across various Private Equity backed firms within the Consumer sector.

Simona graduated from the University of Warwick with a degree in Politics and International Studies. She spent the next couple of years working at a Leadership Consulting firm, supporting Consultants and Principals with project management and delivery.

Simona is bilingual - fluent in Lithuanian and outside of work, she takes pleasure in travelling, experiencing new cultures and cuisines.’

Sebastian joined Drax in 2014 as a researcher and supported the delivery of assignments for high growth businesses and those backed by private equity across a number of sectors. More recently he has supported the development of the consumer practice with board level appointments spearheading Drax’s engagement with Travel, Leisure and Hospitality businesses, something that he is personally passionate about.

Demi recently joined the Consumer Practice as an Operations Executive in April 2022, after working within the NHS for several years. During this time, most of her workload involved Operations, Procedure Improvements, Training and Data Analytics. Prior to this Demi studied Sociology and Social Sciences at Christ Church University.​

Alongside her experience within the public sector, she also lived and worked in Sydney back in 2018 as part of a working holiday visa, where she joined a Recruitment Company for 6 months.​

Outside of work, Demi loves socialising with friends, finding new board games to add to the ever-growing collection, and a more recent addition, discovering hidden independent coffee shops!

Ruby leads on searches within PE backed & high growth Technology & Tech-Enabled businesses. Recently Ruby has undertaken multiple searches on behalf of our clients to maximise the opportunity that digitisation presents to their businesses across a variety of different sectors from both the B2B and B2C environments. Ruby leads on diversity within leadership across the company and has been both an early adopter and instrumental in introducing Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In initiative to the UK.

Sundas joined Drax in 2022 to in the Technology & Tech-Enabled Practice. Sundas has a track record of delivering assignments in private and public sector in digital, data and technology related sub-sectors. 

Outside of work, Sundas spends time with her son building lego models, walk in the woods, solving word puzzles and when she gets a moment to herself, you might find her sneaking out for a spinning class. 

Patrick is a Director within the Technology & Tech-Enabled practice. He joined Drax in 2017 and has delivered assignments across a variety of private equity-backed organisations, encompassing pre and post-deal mandates. This has involved supporting a breadth of leadership teams and associated investment theses, whether internationalisation, alternative value creation stream. Geographically, Patrick has worked across the Nordics and Benelux regions as well as with UK businesses looking to expand into the US.

Anela joined Drax as a Consultant within the Financial Services team. She focuses on supporting delivery of assignments across various Private Equity backed firms within the Financial Services sector. Having studied law at university, her background primarily lies within legal recruitment.

Jennifer is part of our Admin Team here at Drax. She works across our CFO and Tech and Tech Enabled Practice. Jennifer graduated with a First-Class bachelor's degree in Psychology in 2020. Previously to DRAX, Jennifer worked as an Assistant Psychologist for one of the UK’s leading providers of mental health services, who work both privately and with the NHS. Outside of work Jennifer enjoys traveling and socialising with family & friends.

Bertie has joined Drax’s Tech and Tech enabled practice after spending over three years in a 360 recruitment consultant role for a boutique business support agency. Bertie has been very successful building great relationships and placing candidates predominantly in the financial sector. She thrives in a fast-paced environment and naturally excels in an interactive role.

George joined Drax in 2019 as a researcher within the Technology & Tech-Enabled Practice. He has successfully delivered assignments for a number of private equity and venture capital backed businesses across a number of technology related sub-sectors including: Software, IT Services, IoT & Telecommunications. He has also successfully supported a variety of businesses develop their executive leadership teams across both the UK & US markets.

Jack is a Director in our CFO Practice. Having joined Drax as a Research Analyst with an early focus on the Private Equity space, and during his time in the business, Jack has worked with a wide range of private equity firms and portfolio companies to support with senior finance hires. Jack leads on senior CFO mandates, both in the UK and Europe. He also manages Drax’s Interim Finance focus, and works with our clients across all sectors, pre and post-deal in both turnaround and growth situations.

Clare has executive search and headhunting experience at c-suite and board level and worked for search firms in Sydney and London. Since joining Drax, Clare has led on multiple CFO appointments. Prior to joining Drax, Clare was Head of Research for a boutique search firm, leading on Partner and Managing Director appointments across Europe and Asia, predominantly within Deal Advisory and Restructuring. Prior to this she was a Researcher at Odgers Berndtson, predominantly within the Government sector. Clare started her career in Sydney, at a headhunting firm, specialised on CFO appointments for ASX100 companies.

George joined Drax’s CFO practice after travelling and working abroad. Beforehand, George has previous experience as a Stock Broker and Business Development Executive; both jobs revolved around sales and client relationships as well as some market research too.

Prior to this, George was a student at St Cuthbert’s College, Durham studying Liberal Arts. While studying, George decided to pursue an entrepreneurial endeavour with some fellow students at Durham.

Outside of work George enjoys reading, sports (football, cricket, boxing), cinema and spending quality time with friends and family.

Josh is a recent Newcastle University graduate having studied History at bachelors and then completing a masters in Finance. Prior to joining Drax Josh worked in expert networking where he partnered with global management consultancy firms including Bain and McKinsey on primary research projects. At Drax Josh supports the CFO practice on assignments primarily in the manufacturing, construction and heavy industries sectors.

Lucy joined Drax’s CFO practice after spending two years at a specialist recruitment company, where she focused on CFOs in Private Equity, both mid- and large-cap. Lucy has worked on mandates across a range of sectors and built up a strong clientele of UK mid-cap PE portfolio businesses. Prior to this, Lucy graduated with a First-Class degree from Leeds University and a Master's degree in Gender and Politics from UCL. Lucy also leads on Drax’s approach to Diversity and Inclusion.

Mark leads Drax's CFO Practice, which is one of the market leading practices for Private Equity CFOs in the UK, and constitutes circa 30% of the firms recruitment fee revenue per annum. Mark has successfully delivered numerous CFO searches across a range of sectors for PE backed portfolio companies across Europe and is a trusted advisor to a number of Private Equity Houses. He is also responsible for building relationships within the CFO and broader community to support and coach their own personal career development.

Nico began his career working in product development for a small-scale food manufacturer undertaking data analysis and market research. As part of his role, Nico assisted in the introduction of the product into the consumer market and was involved in carrying out the sales and marketing. Nico has also worked for a large food and dairy company, and was involved in negotiating sales contracts for retailers around London.

Sandy is the CFO Practice’s Operations Executive. She joined DRAX’s CFO practice as a team administrator after graduating with a bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of St Andrews in June 2021. Before DRAX, Sandy worked part-time along her studies as a data assistant for a tech marketing company in the US.

Alex joined Drax as a Researcher 5 years ago and has supported the development of our Financial Services practice from its earliest stages. He has successfully delivered pre & post deal assignments for high growth PE backed businesses across various sub-sectors including; Insurance, Asset & Wealth management, Lending & Specialty Finance, Fintech and Professional Services.

Andrew joined Drax having spent 15 years working across Financial Services, in particular with challenger and new entrant banks, specialist lenders, consumer finance, fintechs, payments and servicers for Public and Private Equity clients. Andrew has appointed at Exec and Non-Executive Board and Senior Management across a wide range of functions. Andrew brings his experience of financial services to help strengthen our existing relationships and continue the growth of the Financial Services team.

Chris joined Drax to help grow the Financial Services practice across the value chain from early stage, private equity & high growth through to large cap businesses. After a number of entrepreneurial ventures, he spent 10 years working in executive search as a strategic advisor to public and private market fund management businesses, globally, with a particular focus on investment team moves and acquisitions. Prior to joining Drax, he spent the previous 2.5 years launching and growing startup business ventures in UK and USA to first event.

Emilia joined Drax in 2015 as a researcher & has successfully delivered assignments across a variety of private equity backed organisations. More recently she has focused on Financial Services assignments both pre & post deal, across insurance, fintech & wealth management.

Euan joined Drax in 2018 from another search firm where he spent the previous seven years working exclusively with private equity funds. He focuses on the Financial Services market which incorporates insurance, asset & wealth management, specialty finance & fintech. Euan works on building new private equity relationships as well constantly striving to improve those existing relations to ensure Drax remains a core value provider to Sponsors as well as Management teams.

Talia joined Drax's Financial Services team as a Consultant to support the delivery of assignments for a range of Private Equity backed firms. She began her career placing strategy consultants into large corporates and Private Equity at a boutique executive search firm, and prior to this graduated with a Psychology and Art History degree from the University of St Andrews.

With an international background across Europe, Australia, and Asia, Talia enjoys opportunities to travel and work globally.

Mat leads on search assignments including pre & post deal support for early stage venture backed businesses through to large cap organisations. Over the years, he has focused on building our Financial Services practice supporting private equity firms and management teams across insurance, asset & wealth management, lending & specialty finance, fintech and professional services.

Brenda joined Drax in May 2022 as an Operations Executive where she will be supporting the Financial Services practice with all operational functions. Following the completion of a Law Degree, and prior to joining Drax, Brenda gained experience in Logistics Operations. Outside of work, Brenda’s main hobbies include painting and pottery making. 

Benedict joined Drax in 2021 to support the development of the deal advisory practice with large cap private equity clients. He previously spent three years working with Bain & Company, a global management consultancy where he helped to launch a new service proposition to support clients with External Advisors on high-impact cases – in particular, large cap private equity clients seeking Advisor support on deal processes. Earlier in his career, Benedict worked for a private equity focused executive search and advisory firm.

James is responsible for DRAX’s engagement with Private Equity and proposition development. Having led the focus within Private Equity for over a decade, James has led and supported a number of significant Private Equity transactions from early stage high growth through to large cap businesses by bringing alongside the executive teams of Chair, CEO and CFO throughout Europe and the US. His experience and knowledge within Private Equity and associated advisors is extensive.

Upon finishing her Undergraduate degree at Durham University, Maddy attended Oxford University to complete a Master of Science in Latin American Studies. Following this, she began her career in executive search, supporting private equity clients at a large global expert network. Maddy joined Drax in 2022, where she works to drive impact and identify transaction opportunities within the Deal Advisory team.  

Maddy speaks French and Spanish fluently, and is passionate about Latin American politics and history.  Outside of work, she enjoys singing and performs frequently with renowned national choirs. You might also find her on stage in a London venue performing with a live band.

William is focused on the broad industrials sector, with a particular focus on working on pan-European assignments. His particular focus is pre-deal and board searches. He joined Drax after spending three years with Skillcapital where he worked on a wide variety of search assignments for private equity-backed businesses within the European industrial and services sector. Previously, William was an investment banker for 16 years, including ten years based in Paris. He worked for global banks Citigroup, BNP Paribas and Royal Bank of Canada, where he advised both corporate and private equity clients on numerous M&A transactions and capital raisings.

Leigha joins Drax 2022 working to supporting the Business Services Department. Throughout the years Leigha has supported many businesses through Business Development she is an incredibly creative person who has led and supported a number of projects to improve the activities of business within the Finance, Construction and Creative Arts Industry. Her experience and knowledge of Business Development, Design, and Customer Experience is immeasurable.

Outside of work Leigha is a keen lover of art, music and culture. Leigha is an advocate for health and wellbeing and spends her participating yoga, swimming and enjoying long nature walks.

Education: BA Hons Digital Photography

David leads searches in private equity & debt funds across EMEA and the US and is responsible for delivering searches in high growth & large cap businesses. He is also a member of the Drax Board focused on the client experience and developing our capabilities. David delivers Chair, Non Executive and CEO appointments and recently undertook a global search across health services that captured a short list of candidates from three continents.

Matthew works in the Business Services practice across the broad industrial sector, with a particular focus on the supply chain industry, placing board level appointments in PE backed and high growth businesses. He joined Drax in early 2021 from another search firm having spent the previous 18 years focused on Supply Chain and Operations  mandates across EMEA.

Adam joined Drax in 2021 to grow our coverage within infrastructure, real estate and sustainable technology markets. He recently spent three years at a high-growth search and leadership advisory firm, where he founded and grew their Cities Practice. Over the years, Adam has developed an extensive track record across a range of market themes and asset classes, which has primarily involved advising investors, private equity firms, government bodies and listed companies on Chair, Non-Executive Director and C-suite appointments.

Elliott joined Drax’s Business Services practice, to focus on leading the research and delivery of projects associated with the Healthcare and Life Sciences markets. Prior to Drax, Elliott came from a background working in contingent recruitment with his specialism focusing on building scientific teams of start-up and seed funded pharmaceutical, medical diagnostics and healthcare companies. In addition, he has assisted on a select number of mandates for senior positions of venture capital backed biotechnology companies.

After deciding that using his Masters Degree was significantly overrated, Kit made the transition into executive search. Since then, Kit has successfully delivered multiple assignments across a range of sectors within private equity and listed environments. Upon joining Drax in 2016, Kit has helped to develop the Business Services Practice with a specific focus on Board level appointments across Healthcare & Education, working across Social Care, NHS Outsourcing, Pharma Services, Clinical Healthcare, Private School Groups and Learning & Training providers.

Nancy recently joined Drax as a Consultant within the Business Services Team, where she supports in a research and project execution capacity. 

Prior to Drax, Nancy worked in the Expert Network Industry. She has a Masters in Translation Studies and has studied and worked in both France & Spain. 

Outside of the work environment, Nancy enjoys travelling, skiing and cooking.

Education: 

BA Modern Foreign Languages

MA Translation Studies

Daniel joined Drax in 2021 to drive the continued growth and success of the Technology & Technology Enabled practice. Daniel began his search career in 2006, partnering with PE backed and Corporate clients in the Global B2B and B2C Technology Sector, where he has delivered leadership mandates and consulting projects across 30 countries. In the 15 years prior to joining Drax he has worked for a publicly listed global executive search and advisory firm, and two small to mid-size international executive search consultancies.

Ryan has joined Drax to support the development of our Life Science practice across both private equity and high growth companies. Coming from a Life Science recruitment background with a particular focus on the medical device sector Ryan has the industry knowledge to build new private equity relationships as well constantly striving to improve Drax’s existing relations. The Life Science sector at Drax incorporates biotech, diagnostics, medical devices & CRO/CDMO’s.

Chris joined Drax in 2007 as a graduate in the role of researcher. Throughout his career at Drax he has delivered numerous board & operational board level searches across all sectors. His current focus is working with private equity backed businesses within the Business Services sector with a particular focus on white collar services and outsourcing.

Walker joined Drax in the Business Services division in 2022. He spent the previous 12 years in Technology & Transformation recruitment, operating in both the UK delivering across EMEA and in Darwin, Australia delivering throughout the Outback.

Marcus joined DRAX in 2020 from a large global search firm where he ran the CFO practice for the UK regions for 12 years, specialising in Large Cap appointments (PLC and PE). He has nearly 30 years senior search and leadership experience gained across complex global businesses both listed and private. Prior to this, Marcus had a career in M&A with KPMG and then Cable and Wireless. Marcus’ role at DRAX is to oversee the Drax Leadership Model and also to manage our business in the Midlands and North.

Susannah is a Client Success Consultant for Leadership Dynamics. Part of her role requires the delivery of powerful PACE and Leadership Dynamics insights to private equity houses and portfolio businesses pre and post-deal. She also spends time implementing a thorough internal upskilling agenda across the Lcap Group as the Leadership Dynamics product suite becomes embedded into working practices. The Graduate Onboarding Programme is also a critical part of said upskilling agenda, which Susannah leads.

Susannah read Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London and enjoyed being President of Royal Holloway Netball Club during her time at university.

Shyam is an Analyst for Leadership Dynamics, Drax’s in-house data and analytics team. He is currently supporting the Consumer & Leisure practice with leadership analysis and insights through harnessing the power of Leadership Dynamics’ product suite. This includes PACE, the behavioural assessment tool designed especially for leaders in private equity. ​

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Outside of work, Shyam enjoys staying in shape and meeting friends and family. He enjoys learning new languages and has lived and worked in Spain.

Dan joins Drax as its Projects Manager, overseeing company-wide programmes.  Coming from a military and public sector background with 10 years’ experience working with the highest levels of British Government, Dan understands the nuances required to get a message across in ways which are concise yet complete, to the point and yet balanced.  Dan has and continues to operate on both strategic and tactical footings within the organisation.  He has a genuine interest in people, while keeping his eye firmly on the broader goals of the team and organisation. 

Outside of work, Dan volunteers in and runs local community youth organisations and when he has some spare time enjoys getting out to nature, including sailing and mountaineering, having recently completed the Three Peaks.

Education: BA Hons History and International Relations, Birkbeck College, University of London

Sam is the Chief Product Officer for Leadership Dynamics, which underpins the work we undertake across the DRAX and Rowan. Leadership Dynamics leverages data on the Private Equity Marketplace in order to successfully predict the value of leaders in any given business environment. He is responsible for the suite of products we deliver into the marketplace, further innovation & integration & maximising the value our clients receive from the services we deliver as a firm.

John is a Consultant for Leadership Dynamics. By harnessing the power of the Leadership Dynamics product suite, he provides powerful insights for private equity houses and portfolio businesses pre-and-post deals to help enable them to create and crystallise maximum value.

He also supports investors and portfolio businesses with off-market deal origination, which is powered by our proprietary Transaction Propensity algorithm. John has a First Class BA and MA in Political Science from the University of Birmingham and won multiple MA scholarships following his award-winning undergraduate dissertation.

Alex joined Drax in 2020 as is currently a Consultant for Leadership Dynamics, Drax’s in-house data and analytics team. Alex is currently supporting the Technology & Tech-Enabled practice with leadership analysis and insights through harnessing the power of Leadership Dynamics’ product suite. This includes PACE, our behavioural assessment tool designed especially for leaders in private equity, and Leadership Dynamics, our proprietary analytics tool. 

Outside of work, Alex enjoys his weekends watching West Ham and playing rugby for his local club.

Rana is a full-stack marketer with over ten years of expertise in digital marketing, social media, and brand management.

Rana has a diverse range of creative abilities and expertise in all aspects of digital marketing, including strategising and executing new approaches to increase traffic and positively promote brands. Advertising, product development, and innovation are all things that Rana is passionate about.

Katya is Marketing Assistant at DRAX and supports the Marketing Director across marketing activities, including campaign planning, content creation, social media and website management. Prior to joining Drax, Katya worked in executive search, providing administrative support to several practice teams as well as supporting on a wide range of projects across the business including event planning; CSR initiatives; podcast editing and office/operational support. Her previous roles have been in the horseracing industry, as well as international wildlife conservation volunteering. Outside of work, she can be found horse riding, playing tennis or planning her next weekend getaway.

Mete joined DRAX Executive as part of the company's Graduate Scheme in 2022, joining the growing Leadership Dynamics team after completing a degree and master’s in Law at the University of Exeter.

Outside of work, Mete enjoys visiting family in Turkey, as well as being an avid football and basketball fan.