Vivek Batra, Managing Partner – Alphaskill

Vivek Batra is a managing partner at Alphaskill and has built the firm’s UK Practice. He looks back upon a long international career in the consumer, retail and eCommerce sector, where he held various CEO/COO and NED roles in private equity portfolio companies in Germany and Benelux.

He started his career at MEXX and worked for Sara Lee across various countries in North and Central Europe. He has lived and worked in Holland, France, Germany and the UK.

Marla Capozzi, Partner – McKinsey & Company

Marla Capozzi is a partner in the Boston office and a leader of McKinsey & Company’s CEO Alpha Special Initiative. She designs and leads transformational experiences for senior executives to shape the future of their businesses and cultures with a distinctive approach combining applied futurism, strategy, innovation, emerging technologies, and inspirational leadership.

For the past 23 years, Marla has served global clients on topics of ranging from growth, innovation, and digital strategy as well as designing and establishing incubators and corporate venture arms. She remains a leader of the firm’s global strategy and innovation practice and continues to focus her work on future vision setting and where-to-play and how-to-play strategic choices to achieve these aspirations at scale. She has developed innovative strategies for companies across sectors and geographies including public and social sector institutions as well as private equity.

Marla has been an adjunct professor of strategy and innovation at Babson College, Graduate School of Business and a frequent lecturer and speaker. She has conducted extensive research on senior executive leadership and capability building, strategy and innovation and has published leading articles in Fortune/CNN, Harvard Business Review, The McKinsey Quarterly, MIT Sloan Management Review, Strategic Finance and Banking Strategies. Marla serves as an advising member for Innovating 50, a part of the World 50 organization. She also served on McKinsey Regional Technology Council, a leadership team focused on digitizing McKinsey.

She was the first woman to chair the board of trustees at Babson College, the number one school for entrepreneurship, where she also earned an MBA with honors. She just stepped down as chair and remains a trustee emerita. An active member of the Boston community, she served as an appointed member of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s Council for Innovation to drive innovation in government. And for seven years, was on the board of Project Bread, The Walk For Hunger. She is active in the Boston venture community as a frequent MassChallenge start-up judge and mentor and angle investor.

Prior to joining McKinsey, Marla led product development at the Lotus/IBM Innovation Centre in Cambridge where many of the first online collaboration, education and knowledge management software products were launched.

Jenny Collins, Chief Talent Officer – Mayfair Equity Partners

Jenny Collins serves as the chief talent officer at Mayfair Equity Partners. Overseeing the people function for Mayfair Equity Partners, Jenny is responsible for their innovative integrated staffing model and the development of culture. Her work includes performance & engagement initiatives, people development strategies and the creation of streamlined and effective processes to achieve value at scale.

Previously, Jenny spent 14 years at Google where she oversaw the expansion of AI Research, managing recruitment across the EMEA region and opening new sites from Amsterdam to Accra. Jenny has worked for a range of large and small organisations and run her own consultancy, developing people plans and recruiting executive roles for start-ups, scale-ups and global businesses.

Anca Condrea, Director – The Up Group

Anca Condrea serves a Director at The Up Group and brings a range of expertise of working with investor-backed businesses across all stages across the growth curve, on a pan-European basis. Anca has built the senior leadership teams and boards of disruptive consumer brands and marketplaces, including Rapha, Charlotte Tilbury, Depop, Vestiaire Collective, Ace & Tate, and Hunter.

Previously, Anca led the European consumer and retail practice of a boutique global executive search firm, with a focus on customer-centricity and digital transformation for a range of private equity-backed and corporate clients.

Prior to her experience in executive search, Anca was a strategy consultant at Marakon and she held advisory and leadership roles in intellectual property law and innovation management, both in private practice and for one of the world’s largest suppliers of packaging solutions.

Cordelia Dolan, Global Head of Talent – Investindustrial

Cordelia Dolan serves as Investindstrial’s global head of talent, based out of London, she brings over a decade of experience in talent management and acquisition. In her role Cordelia co-ordinates Investindustrial’s network of senior leaders and works with portfolio company management teams around organizational design, team development and c-suite hiring.

Previously she spent four years at talent director for Inflexion Private Equity and prior to that, six years with Skillcapital, a global executive search and advisory firm dedicated to private equity. In this role she built strong relationships with a broad group of CEOs, CFOs and board members from both public and private companies across Europe and the US. Cordelia started out in her career as an analyst at Mactavish, a research firm focused on the Insurance industry, and spent time with The Press Association in their communications team.

Carolyn Gazzard, Head of Learning & Development – Montagu Private Equity

Carolyn Gazzard joined Montagu Private Equity in 2020 and serves as head of learning & development. In her role, Carolyn is responsible for learning, leadership development, talent development, performance management, diversity and inclusion, and supports the development of teams.

Prior to joining Montagu, Carolyn spent her career creating structures to build capability, develop talent, ensure succession, enable change, and create cultures in which people can thrive. As a business psychologist, she has worked in people development leadership roles across a range of industries, from retail to financial services, consultancy, and oil and gas.

Toni Gillespie, Chief of Talent – Stirling Square Capital Partners

Toni Gillespie joined Stirling Square in 2021 and serves as chief of talent. Previously, she held senior roles in human resources at AMP Capital, Bridgepoint, Credit Suisse and UBS.

Claire Hogg, Vice President – General Atlantic

Claire Hogg is a vice president and part of General Atlantic’s human capital group. She provides strategic support and advice to the firm’s portfolio companies in EMEA with a focus on talent and human capital. Before joining General Atlantic in 2021, Claire was a director at The Up Group, a leading European digital executive search, networking, and advisory firm. Prior to that, she was a consultant at Bright Young Things, focusing on executive hires in the consumer and technology sectors.

Nicole Jones, Talent Director, Portfolio Support Group – Advent International

Nicole Jones joined Advent in 2020 as talent director within the portfolio support group. She supports the creation and development of strong management teams and boards across Advent’s portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Advent she was the HR director, investments, customer & distribution and international at M&G plc and held chief of staff roles at M&G and Prudential PLC. She also ran Prudential’s Indian operations as well as the communications function for M&G. Previously she spent five years at Egon Zehnder, leading mandates in search and assessment.

Earlier in her career she was the head of investor relations at a PE-backed outsourcing business after corporate finance and business development roles in the company through to IPO. She started her career in investment banking at Deutsche Bank in London.

Malcolm Kemp, Managing Director – ZRG Partners

Malcolm Kemp is managing director and leader of the EMEA human capital practice for ZRG, one of the fastest-growing mid-sized talent advisory search firms in the industry. Malcolm has unique functional experience, having led HR and talent for two technology unicorns (Betfair and Klarna) and built the global  human capital practice for Renaissance Leadership, a boutique search firm.

As managing director, Malcolm is responsible for driving overall growth, profitability, and client engagement within the human capital practice in EMEA. He engages thoughtfully with new clients to build long-term relationships that deliver the full range of benefits from the ZRG platform. Malcolm also provides insights and thought leadership across the human capital function and is a regular speaker and contributor at talent forums.

Gail McManus, CEO and Founder – PER, Private Equity Recruitment

Gail McManus is the CEO and founder of PER, the leading specialist recruiter for private equity investors, investor relations and operations professionals in Europe and the Middle East. As a former private equity investor, Gail understands what matters to her clients, and has built PER with a strong sense of purpose and respect for the insightful, entrepreneurial and talented people in this industry. Gail believes that it is a privilege to be able to support and influence private equity people in their career choices. She is passionate about advancing diversity, equity and inclusion and it is a source of pride that PER holds a special vantage point from which to spot trends, influence thinking and share best practice.

Melissa Moraes-Edwards, Head of People Experience – Hg

Melissa Moraes-Edwards is the head of people experience at Hg, responsible for learning, talent development, knowledge management, engagement and culture. She focuses on creating the conditions and opportunities that unlock potential and drive individual, team and organizational performance. She is also an executive coach.

A financial services native, Melissa has held senior leadership development, learning, and talent roles at Goldman Sachs, Barclays Capital and HSBC in London and New York. She started her career as a business analyst at Citigroup Private Bank in New York and pivoted to HR after discovering her passion for people development and organizational change.

Nicola Morgan, Managing Director & Co-Founder, Leadership Advisors – March Consultants

Nicola Morgan serves as managing director & co-founder of March Leadership Advisors, bringing over 23 years’ experience of advising C-suite individuals who are navigating complex business environments and delivering talent solutions in multi-national companies. She is an internationally recognized expert in futureproofing and accelerating organizational capability to deliver better, more sustainable performance.

Prior to founding MLA, Nicola worked in several senior positions across all HR capabilities for 16 years at UBS A.G. before assuming the roles of head of HR EMEA and corporate centre, responsible for the development and implementation of a transformative people strategy for 35,000 employees across all business divisions globally.

Logan Naidu, Founder and Group CEO – Kernel Global

Logan Naidu is the founder and group CEO of Kernel Global, one of the FT’s Fastest Growing European Companies 2023 and founder of award-winning recruitment business Dartmouth Partners,. He was recently announced as one of the few finalists in EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year 2023.

Logan’s entrepreneurial passion started young, founding his first successful company at the age of 26. Keen to disrupt the recruitment industry, Dartmouth Partners was founded in 2012 with the unique “Classroom to Boardroom”, aimed at uncovering future leaders early in their career and partnering with forward-thinking companies to hire top talent. Over the last 10 years, Dartmouth has consistently been recognised as one of the UK’s fastest growing professional service companies (ranked 249th in Europe’s 1000 fastest growing companies in 2023, placed 33rd in The Sunday Times UK’s top 100 fastest growing companies in 2022, and as the #1 fastest growing company in the sector by the Fast50).

In 2018, Logan led Dartmouth through its private equity investment with Literacy Capital, acquiring leading financial governance and regulations recruiter Pure Search in 2019, and expanding the business globally into Europe, Asia and the US. Kernel was born from this multi-brand, multi-niche approach, with the aspiration to deliver the best recruitment experience in industry and help people and businesses achieve their full potential. In 2023 Logan partnered with Three Hills Capital Partners to secure the group a significant second round of investment.

Andrew Oliver, EVP, Executive Search – WilsonHCG

Andrew Oliver is EVP, executive search at WilsonHCG. He is the co-founder of Profile Asia, an executive search company that WilsonHCG acquired in 2020. He combines leading the broader business and the financial services practice across multiple countries. In his role, Andrew drives client relationships and manages executive search delivery across global markets.

With more than 25 years of executive search experience and leading teams, Andrew develops financial strategies for the long-term success of the organization. Prior to moving to Hong Kong in 1998, Andrew was based in London, working first for PWC and then for a boutique search firm managing financial services and legal teams.

Hannah Parker, Vice President, HR and Talent Management – Bain Capital

Hannah Parker joined Bain Capital in 2019 and serves as vice president of HR and talent management for Bain Capital, Private Equity in Europe. She is responsible for driving our people agenda and overseeing all people operations across the region.

Prior to joining Bain Capital Hannah was the head of HR for Cardano Risk Management and prior to that was a senior manager in the professional development function of McKinsey & Company in London.

Tara Ricks, Executive Chair – The Barton Partnership

​Tara Ricks serves as Executive Chair at The Barton Partnership. She is a vastly experienced recruitment sector professional and works as a hands-on strategic partner to aspirational recruitment businesses, providing solutions-focused support, tailored to their specific needs and strategic plans.

Tara is a proven business leader with a background that spans across development and execution of growth strategies, international expansion, leadership and development and M&A. She was listed in ‘Global Power 100 Women In Staffing’.

Tim Robb, Consultant, Board & Consumer Practice – Eric Salmon & Partners

Tim Robb is a consultant in the global board and governance advisory practice at Eric Salmon & Partners. He works across sectors with a focus on the consumer vertical. Tim has been in executive search for over a decade and specializes in building board and management teams for private equity portfolio companies across Europe.

Dorte Wigg, HR Director – IK Partners

Dorte Wigg joined IK Partners in 2009 and is the human resources (“HR”) director, responsible for overseeing all aspects of the employee lifecycle. Based in London, she manages the firm’s HR functions across Europe, ensuring that the support and development structures in place allow everyone at the Firm to maximize their potential. Dorte works closely with the leadership team to align HR strategy with the wider business objectives. Prior to joining IK, Dorte worked for Berry Bros & Rudd in London.