Our team

Alex is a key member of our leadership team. He supports our founders with day-to-day operations and leads impactful projects from hiring, people operations, marketing, business development and project management.

He’s also responsible for our delivery team, making sure we deliver to the highest standard, and with a sincere commitment to providing the most suitable and beneficial outcome for both our clients and candidates.

Alex helps us achieve our global business strategies by helping us deliver an outstanding service to our clients, while providing a truly collaborative and enabling work environment by making sure we have the right tools, processes and people.

Alex is a key member of our B2B team, focused on the delivery and execution of executive search assignments covering private equity owned and publicly listed organisations.

He holds a breadth of experience across multiple sectors but now primarily focuses on the small to mid-cap private equity market within business and information services.

He holds a BA in Geography from the University of Birmingham.

Alex is responsible for our Real Assets business.

Alex works across the infrastructure and built-environment sectors, working with private equity, publicly listed and privately held ownership structures globally.

Recent mandates include C-Suite, Investment, Development, Asset Management and Capital Markets leadership. The team specialises in infrastructure and real asset growth mandates in the B2B, Supply Chain, REIT, PE, Infrastructure, Manufacturing and Logistics sectors.

Annabelle oversees our International Consumer practice.

She makes sure our teams have everything they need to meet project milestones and keep assignments on track. She also helps us to follow, and adapt to, best practices and take a consistent approach across our business.

Annabelle also supports our International Partner, Nanda Veldink, allowing them to spend maximum time on strategic and client-focused activities.

As our Head of Finance, Catherine helps to drive our growth by making sure we have timely and accurate management and financial reporting information.

Working globally to support our UK and US teams, she helps ensure the financial integrity of our business by making sure we have the information we need to work and grow quickly and flexibly.

Catherine is a qualified accountant and has worked within executive search for over 15 years.

David is responsible for our B2B industry practice.

The practice works across multiple ownership structures including private equity and publicly listed and covers a broad range of situations and geographies.

Recent mandates include projects in the critical services, tech-enabled, construction, software, infrastructure, manufacturing and the testing, inspection and certification (TIC) sectors.

Domagoj returned to Essenta as a Consultant in the Financial Officers practice from The Up Group, where he focused on CFO mandates for PE and VC backed companies as well as listed multinational corporations operating across the digital and technology space. Domagoj started his career in the Global CFO Practice of Korn Ferry in their Vienna and London offices. Whilst there, he worked on behalf of a variety of organisations including large global corporations, European public companies, FTSE listed businesses and Private Equity backed organisations across multiple industries in the UK and abroad. His work has involved board level CFO appointments, divisional/ regional finance directors, as well as group financial controllers, tax, treasury, investor relations and other finance roles. He holds a Master of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Cologne in Germany. Besides his native Croatian, Domagoj is fluent in English and German.

Emily is a Principal within the Consumer and International team, with a particular passion for all things retail, fashion, and wellness.

Emily joined Essenta from Herbert Mines Associates where she served both private equity and listed clients spanning the consumer space, executing mandates for C-suite talent across a broad range of functions.

Previously she was with Egon Zehnder (first in London and then supporting the Dallas office), where she mostly focused on Retail, Apparel and Luxury searches. She partnered with incumbent and disruptive businesses to solve their senior leadership needs across general management, merchandising, commercial, marketing and digital/ecommerce functions. Emily spent her earlier career in financial services (with a focus on retail and consumer companies) and retail, as a merchant.

Emily earned a BA in Anthropology from Princeton University.

Ewan is a key account manager within our Consumer and International practice.

As a senior member of our delivery team, he supports the end-to-end delivery of our executive search assignments; diversity, equity and inclusion projects; and talent pipelining projects.

Ewan has multi-industry experience across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific, and specialises in digital and chief digital officer (C-suite) appointments.

Fred leads the delivery of our executive search assignments. His primary focus is on B2B and technology, but he also draws on a breadth of search experience to support and advise clients across different sectors and roles.

He works closely with clients to understand the ‘what’ and – crucially – the ‘why’ of their leadership hiring needs, before engaging with candidates who’ll be key to solving the business’s strategic objectives.

Fred has master’s and bachelor’s degrees in history and, prior to the birth of his twin sons, was a regular choral singer.

Hannah supports our CFO and Funds practice by managing project administration and workflows, and keeping on top of her team’s busy diaries.

She handles admin, scheduling and operational tasks for our partners and teams to help us run projects smoothly, and make sure our assignments are delivered to the highest standards.

Hannah has a MSc in Psychology from the University of Otago, which kickstarted her interest in people, HR and executive search.

Ivi manages the day-to-day administrative functions of Essenta’s CRM platform, focusing on aligning system practices with business objectives. Dedicated to enhancing efficiency and productivity, she addresses system issues and identifies process improvements. 

Notably, she successfully led the migration to our new CRM system platform, managing the process from data migration to user training and post-implementation support.

James founded Essenta Partners.

He leads our business, focusing on our global strategy, overseeing and supporting our key practice leaders and heads of functions, and approving all hiring decisions.

James has more than 26 years’ experience in helping organisations grow by finding them game-changing talent. He continually shares this expertise by taking a hands-on approach in developing our key client relationships.

He has a BSc in Business, is a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses UK programme, and is an active fundraiser for local charities.

Jess supports our Consumer practice by making sure our assignments are managed accurately, effectively and on time.

She has seven years’ experience supporting C-suite members in the executive search, retail and culture industries.

Before joining us, Jess was Executive Assistant to the Communications and Digital Directors at a world-leading museum where she also managed projects and organised events.

Jessica supports our B2B and Consumer practices by helping to manage project administration, project updates and by keeping on top of her team’s busy diaries to help make the team run as smoothly as possible.

Jessica is there to make sure all projects and administration work is carried out to the highest quality for our clients.

Jessie’s on hand to support everyone at Essenta from project administration to helping our London office run smoothly.

Jiarong is a passionate executive search specialist and a key part of Essenta's international team. As a Chinese national who has lived and worked in both Asia and Europe, Jiarong plays a crucial role in connecting the East and West. Her deep knowledge of the Asia Pacific market, combined with an understanding of global business, allows her to build high-performing senior leadership teams for multinational companies, wanting to grow across Asia or companies from the Far East seeking to expand globally.

Jiarong's work spans different regions and cultures, creating strong partnerships and delivering diverse, impactful talent solutions. Her ability to navigate complex and highly nuanced markets across APAC makes her a valuable asset for businesses looking to grow and succeed with modern leadership in today’s interconnected world.

I deliver key identification, research and market mapping activities relating to Private Equity CFO mandates across the UK and International markets. I commenced my career in Banking, where I completed a diverse rotational program and my Chartered Banking qualification. I relocated to Sydney and my subsequent experience has been in Private Equity executive search, supporting with CFO mandates across a multitude of sectors in both Australia and New Zealand. I’m currently based in Madrid and have previously co-hosted various Private Equity events during my career thus far.

Josh concentrates on the small to mid-cap private equity markets throughout the UK and Europe, supporting portfolio companies within consumer products and service / consumer-tech industries, partnering with investors, founders and owners with their Board and Executive appointments across all disciplines.

Alongside this, Josh has supported PE, VC and Family Offices during their deal processes, helping them identify and gain access to individuals best placed to advise them through their industry and situational expertise.

Katriona specialises in Board and executive level hires across consumer and technology. She has a functional specialism in marketing and commercial leadership.

Katriona brings over 15 years of executive search experience working with the world's most ambitious and innovative businesses, be they VC or PE backed, listed or private.

Katriona has a deep interest in consumer facing businesses that sit at the intersection of creativity and technology, and those that are moving through digital growth and /or transformation.

As a key consultant within our CFO and Funds practice, Laura leads the end-to-end delivery of senior executive appointments within private equity-backed businesses.

She focuses primarily on the private equity midmarket, where she has extensive experience across international sectors, particularly Europe and the US.

Laura began her career as a translator in the pharmaceutical sector and holds an MSc from UCL, having studied for her BA in France. She’s lived and worked in several European countries and currently lives between Portugal and the UK.

Liz has worked in executive search for over 20 years.

She supports our CEO, James Howells, in his day-to-day role by making sure our clients’ assignments stay on track, and that our team has everything they need to meet project milestones.

Matt is responsible for senior hires across business services, with a particular focus on the built environment and sustainability.

His work spans PE / VC and large corporates, having worked extensively with the likes of MITIE, Serco and CBRE on MD and country leadership roles.

Molly has joined Essenta on a year’s rotation, where she will be working across all four practices, starting within B2B. Prior to joining Essenta, Molly joined from the Consulting division with IBM, where she worked on Public Sector bids for the Home Office. She holds a Politics and Economics degree from Loughborough University, and her hobbies included playing Lacrosse and Netball.

Nanda is a key member of our leadership team, and helps us to innovate and continue to challenge ourselves as a progressive executive search firm.

A Dutch national, she’s lived and worked in eight countries and has an innate global view on executive talent. She drives our international practice, focusing on the consumer industry, and has a successful track record of sourcing across borders.

Nanda has worked in international consumer markets for 12+ years and works with clients looking for transformative and holistic solutions and who see talent as a strategic advantage. She’s used to working with geographically and culturally diverse teams and is driven by creating highly diverse senior leadership teams and identifying next-generation talent while partnering closely with her clients.

Natalya heads our Leadership Advisory practice, supporting our clients to build high performance executive teams.

Natalya is a leadership expert who specialises in helping management teams establish the alignment, trust and ways of working to drive growth. She has spent her career in management consulting, building leadership advisory practices at several boutique firms across the UK, Europe and the US.

She has over 15 years of experience working with a diverse range of clients including high growth, capital-backed and global enterprise companies.

Natasha plays a key role in driving research and supporting the execution of executive appointments across CPG, Luxury, Beauty & Lifestyle.

She graduated from UCL with a BSc in Economics, and before she joined us, she interned at Oxford Economics, building and back-testing a macroeconomic forecasting model.

Natasha is also a member of our internal diversity, equity and inclusion group, BOLD.

Nick is responsible for leading our CFO and Private Equity practice.

With over 20 years of executive search experience, he specialises in advising private equity funds, private equity-backed portfolio companies and listed businesses on their CFO and finance hiring needs.

He’s partnered with clients across a broad range of sectors, geographies and situations, including buy-in CFOs, carve-out, buy-and-build, growth, turnaround and internationalisation.

Prior to joining us, Nick led the CFO practice at Blackwood Group, worked with Russell Reynolds in London and began his executive search career with Heidrick & Struggles where he worked in London and Mexico City.

Paula partners with Private Equity & Venture Capital investors to deliver mid- and senior-level searches across their internal teams.

With an extensive network across the full investment lifecycle, she finds the best people to raise, invest and maximise return on capital, at the optimal time.

Passionate about increasing both cognitive and demographic diversity in the industry, Paula supports our clients’ strategic thinking on how to access, attract and retain new talent pools.

She’s also a guest speaker and contributor to Level 20 and Diversity VC.

Phil is Essenta’s Non-Executive Chairman, following an extensive background in corporate and private equity leadership, most recently leading the IPO of Diversey as its CEO. He has successfully exited a number of businesses, bringing a depth of knowledge in growth, transformation and value creation to the management of Essenta’s broader talent advisory offering.

His profound understanding of global markets and commitment to sustainable business practices have consistently elevated the companies he has led, driving them towards market leadership. Moreover, his philosophy that a company’s strength lies in its people, deeply reflects our core values.

Philippa specialises in technology as both a function and a sector and finds top technology talent for our consumer and B2B clients.

As a career search consultant, she has strong talent networks across Europe and the US. She draws on these to help our high-growth clients find technology, product and data leaders who can transform their organisations.

Sarah is a Principal within the Leadership Advisory practice where she leads our Assessment, Development and Succession Planning business.

Sarah is an Advisory expert who specialises in empowering clients to build and develop sustainable, high performing leadership teams. She has spent her career assessing, developing and coaching leaders and their teams to unlock potential. Sarah has experience working with a diverse range of privately and publicly owned clients from startup through large enterprise. She is accredited in the Discovery Process®, Hogan Suite and is a certified Executive Coach.

She has a background in high performance sport having spent 4 years playing Division 1 hockey whilst completing her BA Degree at Princeton University.

Sarah is also a volunteer with Riding for the Disabled Association and an interviewer for the Princeton Alumni Schools Committee.

Seb is responsible for our business to consumer industry practice.

As an essential member of our senior leadership team, he’s the driving force for our growth and development within the consumer and consumer technology industries.

Seb’s global experience has enabled him to work across different ownership structures, including private equity, venture capital, PLCs and privately owned businesses. He’s been instrumental in helping us expand internationally.

Sophie is a Senior Associate in our CFO and Funds practice. She focuses on research and execution of private equity backed CFO mandates and covers investment, investor relations and operating partner hiring within funds.

Sophie joined Essenta from Russell Reynolds Associates where she sat in the Private Capital team focusing on investment and portfolio company hiring. She has 5 years of experience in executive search and started her career in private and retail banking with Coutts and RBS.

Steph supports our Business Services and Leadership Advisory practices by making sure our assignments are managed accurately, effectively and on time.

Stephen leads on delivery efforts across North America. Covering assignments and partnering with Investor-backed, listed and Privately held businesses.

Stephen has a B.S. Degree from Dickinson College in International Business Management with a minor in Chinese where he also played Lacrosse all 4 years.

Tarek specialises in CFO, senior finance and senior commercial executive search, working with a range of growth, capital-backed and listed clients globally.

Having recently relocated from London to New York, he’s also forging our relationships with our North American clients to support our expansion stateside.

Tarek is also a member of our BOLD team – our diversity, equity and inclusion group – leading the discussion around social mobility, which is something he’s personally passionate about.

Tom is a Senior Associate within our CFO & Funds team, providing research and delivery support, identifying C-suite executives for small to mid-cap Private Equity backed clients.

Prior to joining Essenta, Tom has over 8 years’ experience working in Executive Search with a particular focus in the Private Equity and Portfolio space.