The Team
As an independent, owner managed business we have the flexibility to deploy the right team to each recruitment process to ensure that the client and the candidates receive the highest level of service. We are passionate about our business and know that the only way to succeed is by exceptional client and candidate care.
Sarah established EquityFD in 2000, with EquityFC, EquityInterim and EquityChair in the following years.
She started life in Manchester (her support for Manchester United continues through thick and thin!) and then moved to London to study Law at University. With little thought as to whether a career as a City lawyer with what is now CMS actually suited her, she qualified as a solicitor and spent 5 years realising that it didn’t!
There then followed a far more rewarding and fulfilling 6 year period at Michael Page in their City division, running a team placing senior finance professionals into banking and FS clients.
It was the combination of these two initial quite diverse career choices that gave Sarah both the knowledge and the inspiration to go out and set up her own business, which she did in 2000 with backing from Invex Capital. The core tenet of the business remains the same today; spending the time to develop a real network of candidates, understanding not just what they can do, but what they want to do, and partnering them with businesses whose aspirations for growth and value match theirs.
Sarah enjoys spending time trying to ensure that the network works for everyone in it. She is at the centre of marketing activities, leading on the many events we take part in or host, in particular our annual summit, The Contemporary FD, our regular roundtable series, the Scale Up CFO and our relationship with the BVCA and with our strategic partners, Smith and Williamson.
Outside of work, Sarah enjoys photography (as is evident with any trip to our offices!), travelling, skiing, football and all forms of performing arts.
office no: 020 7493 2703
mob no: 07958 281 515
Along with a colleague at 3i, Cindy was the first person to whom Sarah Hunt presented her new business, EquityFD in 2000. Cindy was that impressed with the focus of mindset as well as experience that she began to refer a number of 3i portfolio companies to EquityFD. It was the beginning of a very successful partnership.
When leaving 3i in 2009, joining EquityFD was the obvious place to go, and Cindy has been here ever since!
EquityChair was set up in 2010 to focus on the recruitment of Chairs and Non-Executive Directors, largely into PE or VC backed businesses. Over the years, the remit has changed and our client base can be cut into three main groups:
PE/VC backed businesses, across all sectors and geographies and across the whole deal life cycle;
Privately owned/owner managed/pre-private equity backed businesses;
Social investment funds and social investment backed businesses.
Outside of EquityChair, Cindy has begun to learn what it is actually like to work as a Non-Executive Director, sitting on the board of the Rio Cinema in Dalston (Cinema of the Year in 2019) and Creative Wick, a creative regeneration agency in Hackney.
Cindy grew up in Walsall, just north of Birmingham, moved to London to go to university and hasn’t left! After university, she joined Harrods before moving to Russell Reynolds Associates’ Technology team. Then followed a wonderful 10 years at 3i placing Non-Executive Directors and Chairs across the 3i portfolio – all sectors, many locations both in the UK and Europe.
office no: 020 7493 2703
mob no: 07747 614 563
Louise is Client and Candidate Relationship Manager at EquityFD and has been with the company since 2003. Her role is focused on generating the results of our unique diagnostic tool – The Equity IQ, which allows all parties involved in the recruitment process to gain a deeper understanding of the specific credentials required to make that successful hire!
She also oversees all client and candidate survey feedback to maintain the company’s service levels, along with all invoicing and accounts-related matters.
Louise graduated with a degree in English Language and Literature from Lancaster University and is also a qualified Integrative Psychotherapist. She has a keen interest in holistic practices and is currently training in sports massage therapy.
[email protected]
[email protected]
office no: 020 7493 2703
mob no: 07947 451 482
Sophie joined the team in 2015 and provides a variety of support functions across all of the Equity family ,maintaining contact with our network to ensure our candidates and clients receive an exceptional level of service.
Sophie holds a degree in Dance, a Postgraduate in Education and a diploma in Yoga.
Previously, she worked as a professional dancer and choreographer for nearly 10 years in the West End and with various touring companies. Alongside this, she gained a range of experience providing support to key individuals across all aspects of administration within public and private sector organisations.
Sophie still holds a keen interest in the arts and enjoys teaching yoga and dance in her spare time.
Tim Hames started his career as an academic. He read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oriel College, Oxford University (1983-1986) and then completed a D.Phil in politics there (1987-1990). He was a Prize Research Fellow in American Studies at Nuffield College and then a Lecturer in Politics for several Oxford colleges specialising in American and British Government.
This relative respectability did not last. In 1996 he started work as a journalist at The Times. Over the next dozen years or so he served as chief leader writer, Comment Editor, a columnist and as the Assistant Editor overseeing the whole newspaper on many occasions. Major incidents which he had to manage included September 11th, 2001 and its consequences and the 2003 Iraq War.
After a brief interlude he switched tack again and became intrigued by private equity and venture capital. He was, initially, Head of Communications and Public Affairs at the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA) and then from 2013-2019 acted as the Director General of that organisation. During his time at the helm there, membership increased by almost 50% and the number of events held multiplied four-fold. Best of all he got to know Sarah Hunt and Equity FD.
Like many people, Tim has repurposed life in the light of the pandemic and its possible aftermath. He is now an independent writer, consultant and senior adviser. His main pastime is (well, was) travel. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Travel and Tourism. In that spirit, he today lives in Clacton-on-Sea.