Private Equity Team
Amanda Smithson
020 7220 0273
Amanda co-leads the investment banking and private equity practices. Before Blackwood she worked at Morgan Stanley for thirteen years. She spent ten years in Mergers & Acquisitions in London and New York before becoming COO of the Investment Banking Division. She read English and then Law at Jesus College, Cambridge.
Susie Cummings
020 7220 0257
Susie leads the board practice. She has worked in search since 1984 and has conducted searches in most geographies at all levels in both the financial services and corporate sectors.
Emily Taylor
020 7220 0275
Emily co-leads the investment banking and private equity practices. She also works more broadly in retail financial services and insurance. Before Blackwood she worked at the Rose Partnership. She read Classics at Bristol University.
Deborah Felix
020 7220 0286
Deborah works on assignments in the real estate, investment banking, and private equity practices. Before Blackwood she worked at Russell Reynolds Associates. Prior to that she was a strategy consultant at Mercer Management Consulting. She read Land Economy and Management Studies at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.
Joanne Clayton
020 7220 0297
Joanne works on assignments in the investment banking and private equity practices. Before Blackwood she worked at research and recruitment consultancy FreshMinds. She read Modern History at St. Andrews University and then spent a year studying History and Political Science in the US.
Richard Marshall
020 7220 0260
Richard works on assignments in the investment banking and private equity practices. Before Blackwood he worked at Astbury Marsden focusing on the TMT sector, placing strategy consultants into FTSE 100 corporate strategy functions. He read Geography with International Relations at Plymouth University.
Rosie Ruck Keene
020 7220 0274
Rosie works on assignments in the investment banking and private equity practices. Before Blackwood she worked at CTPartners in the Financial Services Team. She read English Literature and History of Art at Trinity College, Dublin.
Chris Unwin
020 7220 0280
Chris works on assignments in the CFO practice. Before Blackwood he worked at a Planning Consultancy firm. He read French and German at Keble College, Oxford.
Ed Ashurst
020 7220 0293
Ed works on assignments across all practice areas. He read History at Nottingham University.
Holly Bennett
020 7220 0261
Holly works on assignments across all practice areas. Before Blackwood she worked at a business networking organisation running events across the North East/West. She read Geography at Bristol University.
Gerard Miles
020 7220 0269
Gerard works on assignments across all practice areas. He read Theology at St. Benet’s, Oxford and then spent two years studying Law at Nottingham Law School.