Our people

Heyrick Bond Gunning is S-RM’s Chief Executive Officer. His focus is setting the strategic direction for the business, working with key clients to understand their needs and sponsoring key projects within S-RM including the ED&I programme, new technology platforms and the S-RM training academy. He has played a pivotal role in S-RM’s growth since joining in 2007, leading the management buy-out of the company from Salamanca Group in 2015. S-RM now has nine international offices and employs over 400 people, serving clients in 140+ countries.

Prior to joining S-RM, Heyrick was Managing Director at Kroll, an independent risk advisory firm, and Head of Client Engagement for MergerMarket (Acuris). He set up DHL’s operations in Iraq at the end of the Gulf War, helping to deliver $75M in revenue in their first year. He started his career with five years in the British Army.

Heyrick has a BA in Geography and Archaeology from the University of Manchester, is an alumni of INSEAD, and a published author.

Martin Devenish MBE joined the business in 2014. Martin works with our clients to ensure critical decisions are well informed. Prior to S-RM, Martin spent 22 years at Goldman Sachs in London and New York. During his career, Martin assumed a number of leadership roles and became a Partner in 2002. From 2005 to 2011 he was Head of Equities for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) and for the following two years an Advisory Director to Goldman Sachs with a focus on growth and frontier markets in CEEMEA.

Martin was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours list of 2017 for services to education in both the UK and Overseas.

Jamie Smith joined the business in 2011. Before S-RM, Jamie worked for five years as a South Asia specialist for Kroll Associates in Mumbai. When he first joined S-RM, Jamie was responsible for building its Corporate Intelligence capability, helping clients manage their counterparty risk during due diligence transactions and leading clients through a series of complex disputes and investigations.

More recently, Jamie’s role has focused on S-RM’s Cyber Security practice. He has built deep expertise in helping clients respond to and recover from cyber security incidents as well as helping clients prevent incidents by developing robust cyber security programmes. Jamie has an LLB in Law and French from the University of Bristol.

Kelly joined the company in 2022.

Before joining S-RM, Kelly was Finance Director at Slater & Gordon, a PE-backed Legal Services business where her role involved both domestic and International M&A, alongside financial planning and analysis. Prior to that, she held the role of Finance Director at DWF, the first UK LLP to float on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. In the earlier part of her career, Kelly progressed in a variety of technical and commercial accounting roles at companies such as ExxonMobil, Kellogg’s, and PE-backed Shred-It.

Kelly holds a Joint Honours degree in French and Spanish, a post-graduate Diploma in Translating, and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.

John has over 20 years of corporate sales and sales leadership experience, working with high performing teams globally.

As Chief Revenue Officer he is responsible for all aspect of S-RM’s sales and marketing, from partnerships and channels, resellers and direct clients, and maintaining and improving the customer journey across all services.

Prior to joining S-RM John most recently worked as Associate Managing Director and EMEA Head of Sales at Kroll and Head of Sales at NCC Group. His earlier career includes senior roles at Cisco, Gartner and global collaboration firm Viju.

In his role as CTIO Andy heads up S-RM’s Technology, Digital, Information Security and Data teams, developing innovative technological solutions and driving improvement across our digital estate. He also leads the digital strategies for S-RM’s Intelligence and Cyber Security practices, working with these teams across their software, IT and cybersecurity systems.

Previously Chief Technology Officer at cyber consulting and ultra-secure hosting specialist Cyberfort Group, Andy brings with him over 20 years of leadership in the cyber and technology space.

Before his previous role at Cyberfort Group, he led technology and cyber security for LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group, spearheading strategic initiatives to help grow and shape European businesses. In addition to holding numerous global consulting roles throughout his career, Andy has also served as Chief Technology Officer for Zurich Insurance.

Danielle is Head of Legal at S-RM. Danielle brings with her over 15 years’ experience in the risk advisory and investigations industry, having previously been Associate General Counsel, EMEA, at Kroll between 2006 and 2021.

Prior to joining Kroll, Danielle was Group Legal Counsel, EMEA & Asia Pacific, at DST Global Solutions. Danielle trained as a solicitor at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner and qualified into the Corporate Finance team in 2001.

Niels Aalen joined the company in 2018.

Before S-RM, Niels was COO of a hedge fund specialising in quantitative global macro and structured credit investment strategies, based in Amsterdam and New York. Prior to that, he worked for a global macro hedge fund in London. In the earlier part of his career, Niels worked in stockbroking and investment banking, including a decade at Goldman Sachs in London.

Niels has a MA in Modern History from Trinity College, Dublin, and an MSc (Econ) from the London School of Economics.

Stephen Ashwell was named as the AXA XL Global Chief Underwriting Officer for Specialty Risks in 2019.

The Specialty product range includes War Terrorism and Political Violence, Kidnap and Ransom, Product Recall, Political Risks, Title, Media and Entertainment, Contingency, Fine Art and Specie, Accident and Health and Structured Risks Solutions.

From 2013 to 2019 he led the Crisis Management and Special Risks team at AXA XL which is now part of the broader Specialty underwriting unit.

AXA XL have a special relationship with S-RM, who provide a wide variety of added-value third party risk consultancy services to both AXA XL and their clients alike.

Stephen’s career in the insurance sector started as a broker with Willis, he subsequently changed to underwriting when he moved to Bermuda in the early 80s.

Before joining AXA XL he spent 20 years in Underwriting at Hiscox.

Libby joined the S-RM Board in December of 2020.

Libby is AXA XL’s Global Chief Underwriting Officer. Before joining AXA XL, she served in the following companies in an Underwriting capacity – Zurich, General Re, and Beazley. She is a licensed attorney in the US and has practiced law. She has her BA in Political Science and her JD in law. She has her Certified Information Privacy Professional and Certified Information Privacy Management designations.

Kevin has over 25 years’ experience in business development & account management executive positions with ~15 years working in risk management and the cyber security industry. He has exposure to both private and government sectors, predominantly providing proactive information security, risk management and governance consultancy, alongside reactive incident response provisions to large corporate organisations.

In Kevin’s earlier career, he spent time working in Russia & the CIS, the Middle East and Caribbean. He has a strong track record in partnering with senior information security leaders to create large transformation and risk management programmes. He also provides close client liaison and project management where needed and really thrives when working with clients on larger long-term strategic projects.

Mike leads S-RM’s Cyber Advisory practice in the UK and specialises in the delivery of strategic governance and cyber risk management services, overseeing engagements with clients from a diverse range of sectors to make their organizations more resilient to cyber security risks.

Mike joined S-RM’s Risk Consulting Team in 2015 as a corporate security operations manager focusing on the provision of terrorism and political violence response services. He subsequently led the development of S-RM’s crisis preparedness functions for corporate clients from a range of sectors and developed specialisms in the design and delivery of emergency management training. In 2018 Mike was seconded to Cape Town as S-RM’s Head of South Africa, taking responsibility for the company’s staff and business activities in sub-Saharan Africa. He returned to the UK to head S-RM’s Cyber Advisory function in 2020.

Before joining S-RM, Mike spent five years in the British Army, leaving at the rank of captain. Mike holds an honours degree in History and Politics from the University of Exeter and is SANS GSEC certified.

Ian is the head of S-RM’s Corporate Intelligence division in EMEA. He leads a large team providing expert coverage of markets in Europe, Russia and the CIS, the Middle East and North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. He has spent most of the last 15 years in intelligence-related roles and has extensive industry experience across several practice areas; these include pre-transactional due diligence, multi-jurisdictional investigations, and supporting clients’ financial crime compliance and third-party due diligence programmes.  

Ian joined S-RM in 2014. Between 2017 and 2020, he established and grew S-RM’s first Asia office in Hong Kong, before returning to the UK as Director of Operations for the Corporate Intelligence division.  

Prior to joining S-RM, Ian held front-office investment banking roles at JP Morgan and Jefferies. He has worked in deal teams on M&A and capital markets transactions in several sectors, including energy, financial services, insurance, healthcare, biotech, retail and consumer services. He spent five years as an officer in the British Army, where he specialised in operational intelligence. Ian speaks fluent French and conversational Arabic and Pashto. He read History at the University of Cambridge. 

Based in New York, Sam lead’s S-RM’s Corporate Intelligence practice in the Americas. He has over 13 years of industry experience leading professional services teams; supporting clients in complex crises; and conducting and managing investigations. Sam specializes in multi-jurisdictional investigations, proxy fights, asset tracing, litigation support, and complex transactional investigative due diligence. He works closely with counsel, compliance units, and deal teams to advise clients on investigative strategy, how to best approach challenging jurisdictions, and answer specific questions.

Sam specializes in the US and Latin America, but has worked on global engagements touching Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Sam spent eight years at Kroll where he led the North American research practice and co-led the monitorship of a bank fined for violating US sanctions law. Prior to joining S-RM, Sam worked for a Big Four accounting firm and later managed investigations at a boutique litigation support firm focusing on cross-border cases in Latin America.

Morgan Stark joined the business in 2019.

He leads the delivery of intelligence and diligence work throughout the Asia Pacific region. Before S-RM, Morgan led the Stroz Friedberg due diligence and strategic research practice in Hong Kong, where he worked from 2012.

Morgan has a BA from the University of York, and an MA and PhD in Russian Philosophy from University College London. He speaks Russian, Mandarin, and Cantonese.

Diana is head of S-RM’s South Africa office and the Director of Operations for our Corporate Intelligence business. She has extensive experience providing clients with intelligence to support decisions relating to market entry, regulatory compliance and business operations in the sub-Saharan Africa region. She joined S-RM in 2014, and during that time has held a number of positions, including as the head of the sub-Saharan Africa Corporate Intelligence team and as an Associate Director co-ordinating the company’s strategy programme.

Prior to S-RM, Diana worked at The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab researching development policies and conducting impact analysis in Southern Africa, and at the University of Cape Town where she led the School of Economics’ undergraduate writing program. She is originally from Uganda, fluent in Swahili and holds a holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Economics.

Marcus is the Head of Disputes & Investigations at S-RM, overseeing the firm’s intelligence work in support of litigation and international arbitration as well as internal corporate investigations.

Marcus specialises in finding creative solutions to intelligence problems, and his clients include some of the world’s most prestigious law firms, multinational corporations, and private clients. He leads a team with advanced capabilities in open source and digital investigations, human intelligence gathering and digital forensics. Client say that “The team who work with him are clearly highly motivated under his leadership.”

Marcus has been ranked by Chambers and Partners and recognised as an Asset Recovery Expert by Who’s Who Legal since 2021. Clients say that “Marcus is regarded as one of the most trusted operators in the market.” They describe him as “entirely unflappable, ferociously intelligent, and able to grasp the nuances of complex and sophisticated matters.” A leading law firm partner says that “Marcus is masterful when leading investigations and commands the confidence of clients finding themselves in the most challenging situations.” 

Marcus has worked in investigations for over a decade, prior to which he spent time working in India both as a speechwriter and aide to a Minister in the Indian government and for McKinsey in Mumbai. He read Sanskrit at Balliol College, Oxford, and has an MA in Modern Indian politics from King’s College London. 

Natalie is Head of ESG at S-RM. She collaborates closely with deal and new ventures teams, executives, investment professionals, compliance principals, and legal counsel. She advises a range of clients, including FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 companies. Her previous roles at S-RM have included leading the sub-Saharan African regional desk and most recently overseeing work throughout the Africa and the Middle East regions. Natalie joined S-RM in 2016. Before S-RM, Natalie was head of political risk at G4S Risk Management. She has also worked for two UK members of parliament, with a focus on foreign affairs. Natalie has an MPhil in International Relations and a BA in Geography, both from the University of Cambridge.

Gala started her career working for the then nascent Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), initially as a political advisor to the KRG’s Nordic representative in Stockholm and subsequently as an advisor to the Minister of Sports and Youth in Erbil. She later moved to London to join IHS Global Insight (now IHS Markit) as a Middle East and North Africa (MENA) analyst, and subsequently managed the company’s MENA regional desk. She spent five years with Control Risks, leaving that company as a Director in the Global Risk Analysis department, where she managed consulting engagements, subscription products and the company’s MENA analysts. Before joining S-RM in 2020, Gala worked as a freelance political risk and due diligence consultant covering MENA and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Gala has a BA in Social and Political Sciences from Cambridge University, an MSc in Theory and History of International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science and is a graduate of the United World College of the Atlantic. Gala speaks Kurdish, Swedish and basic Persian.

Martijn Hoogesteger is Head of Cyber Security for the Netherlands. He is responsible for growing S-RM’s cyber presence in the EU and leads the team of cyber professionals based in the Netherlands.

Prior to joining S-RM, Martijn was at Northwave, a Dutch cyber security firm, where he helped build out their Incident Response and Offensive Security teams. He also takes part in the Dutch TV show ‘Hunted’, where he is a Digital Investigator, tracking down fugitive contestants using digital techniques.

Martijn holds an MSc in Computer Science from the University of Twente, with a specialisation in Cyber Security.

Penelope is a Senior Associate in S-RM’s London office. As a fluent German, Russian, and French-speaker, she leads the company’s work in German-speaking Europe and regularly manages projects across the Former Soviet Union and francophone Europe. She has worked on a range of asset tracing and network mapping investigations and complex pre-transactional and compliance due diligence projects for clients in the financial services, legal, technology, natural resources, life sciences, and hospitality sectors.

Penelope holds an MA in Modern & Medieval Languages (German and Russian) from the University of Cambridge, and a Masters degree in Russian and Post-Soviet Politics from the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at University College London. She has also completed the Graduate Diploma in Law. Penelope grew up in Switzerland and Austria and worked in Vienna, Moscow, and Paris before joining S-RM.

James Tytler is a cyber security associate in S-RM’s incident response team. In addition to responding to a wide range of cyber security incidents, he also supports clients with cyber threat intelligence services.

Before joining S-RM’s cyber security team, James worked at a London-based corporate intelligence firm, where he specialised in Middle Eastern subjects.

James has a BA in Arabic and Persian from the University of Cambridge, and an MA in International Security from Sciences Po Paris. He speaks fluent French.

Jill Ferron is an Associate Director within S-RM’s Cyber Business Unit, leading the Offensive Security practice area. Jill is responsible for overseeing the growth of the practice, developing services and products, and managing the delivery of Offensive Security work to the highest standard for our clients.

Jill joined S-RM in 2019 as a Senior Associate within the Cyber team, where she focussed on delivering complex and bespoke Offensive Security engagements and developing the team’s capabilities. She also worked within the Incident Response team where she helped clients respond and recover from cyber incidents. In February 2021, Jill took up the leadership position of the Offensive Security team and has since been driving the expansion of the team and its capabilities.

Prior to joining S-RM, Jill worked as a penetration tester and a web developer. She holds a MSc in General Engineering as well as the OSCP and OSWE.

Paul is S-RM’s Head of Cyber Security, Americas. Paul has over 20 years of experience spanning both the private and government sectors in roles across leadership, military intelligence and counterterrorism, and cyber security leadership & engagement delivery. Before joining S-RM, he was the Managing Director of Incident Response for a global consulting firm. In this role, he used his experience to help clients who were experiencing complex ransomware attacks.

After a career in the U.S. Army, where he was a subject matter specialist in various facets of the Intelligence and Special Operations fields, Paul joined PwC. At PwC, he was an engagement manager and focused on cyber security strategic transformation projects. He has significant experience advising Fortune 100 clients through proactive security transformation efforts and post-breach remediation activities. He has a strong track record of partnering with senior security leaders to mature their cyber security programs on their strategic journeys.

Paul holds an MBA from Norwich University. He was in the first graduating class of the Norwich University Strategic Studies and Defence Analysis program. He is also the co-author of “Security Supervision and Management: Theory and Practice of Asset Protection.”

Joani Green joins S-RM’s cyber leadership team as Global Technical Director for the Cyber Incident Response practice. She brings deep expertise and experience in penetration testing, purple teaming, cyber defence, major incident management, incident readiness and digital forensics.

Prior to joining S-RM Joani was the Global Head of Incident Response for a research-led cyber security consultancy. In this role she was responsible for enabling the company’s Incident Response strategy and implementing continuous improvement to the practice. Joani also supported the Incident Response team in delivering investigations ranging from ransomware and advanced nation-state threat actors, to insider threat and fraud investigations for multi-national organisations.

Joani is a keen proponent for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in cyber security and is involved in several minority focussed mentoring and training initiatives.

Ted is a Director in S-RM’s Cyber Security business. Prior to joining the cyber team in 2021, he oversaw business development for S-RM’s Corporate Intelligence business after running CI’s US operations for 3 years, when he was based in our New York office. He joined S-RM in 2012.

Before S-RM, Ted worked in communications and advertising. He speaks Russian, and has a BA in Modern Languages from the University of Cambridge.

Ted is based in S-RM’s London office.

Sherry Chang is a director in S-RM’s Corporate Intelligence team based in New York. She has more than ten years of experience in the intelligence and investigations industry and joined S-RM in 2021 from K2 Intelligence.

As a Senior Director at K2 Intelligence, she managed and conducted complex investigations, enhanced and investigative due diligence projects, third-party and vendor risk management, as well as deal advisory and reputational defense services for both public and private clients. She has a BS in Biological Sciences from the University of California, Irvine and is a Certified Fraud Examiner.

Amy leads the growing Digital Forensics practice at S-RM and has a wealth of experience leading complex digital forensics cases including high-profile investigations into corporate and white-collar crime across multiple industries and jurisdictions.

Amy advises executive boards and legal counsel on investigative strategy, and conducts internal investigations often involving intellectual property theft, fraud, embezzlement, sexual misconduct, bribery and corruption.

She provides expert advisory and investigation services to high-profile individuals and other private clients for litigation and bespoke investigations. This commonly relates to defamation and other reputation management, commercial and financial disputes, and criminal defence cases.

Amy acts as an expert witness in civil and criminal court proceedings and has specialised expertise in mobile device forensics.

Prior to joining S-RM, Amy was a Manager at Stroz Friedberg (now Aon Cyber Solutions) in their Digital Forensics and Incident Response practice. Her certifications include GCFE, GCIH, and GASF. Amy holds a BA in Physics from the University of Oxford.

Gabrielle Reid is Associate Director for S-RM’s Strategic Intelligence practice. With over 10 years in the industry, Gabrielle works closely with our clients to develop tailored strategic intelligence and risk management solutions based on their locations, exposure and objectives, analysing changing (geo)political, security and regulatory landscapes to better inform decision-making. She has led on the development of S-RM’s methodology-led approach across our threat assessments, (geo)political risk analysis, scenario mapping and horizon scanning products, working hand-in-hand with our clients to help address their unique needs. Prior to joining S-RM, Gabrielle worked for a travel risk advisory firm, and assisted in the planning and coordination of non-medical evacuations.

Gabrielle holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences in Politics and Psychology, a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Honours) in Justice and Transformation (Conflict Resolution), and a Master’s Degree in International Relations, specialising in terrorism threats in East Africa.

Fabienne has spent over twelve years working on human rights, political, civil society and anti-bribery issues in the MENA region. She joined S-RM in 2018 and now manages a team of eight. She works with clients to understand and address the human rights and environmental impact of their operations. She also helps financial institutions and the public sector understand the provenance of private funds from the Middle East, with a particular focus on war economies.

Prior to joining S-RM, Fabienne was a MENA-focused researcher and case manager at two UK-headquartered global risk consultancies, delivering complex human rights due diligence, deal advisory, litigation support, regulatory compliance and asset providence assessments for high profile corporate, public sector and institutional clients. She joined the industry having worked as a TV producer and teacher in Syria between 2008 and 2011 and then as freelance journalist, focusing on labour rights in informal workforces in Jordan, in 2012. During this time, she also worked as a research assistant for a well-established UK-based Egyptian political scientist and with the Danish Refugee Council on project focused on statelessness in Libya.

Fabienne holds a BA in Arabic and Politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.

Dilan has a background in journalism having worked as a freelancer for various publications with a focus on Middle Eastern affairs. Dilan’s previous experience includes working as a Political Consultant for the Department of International Relations, reporting to the Minister and Head of the Department of Foreign Relations for the Kurdistan Regional Government where she was based in Erbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Prior to that, her experience includes working on the Iraq desk for a London-based security and political risk company and later as an account manager for a global company providing strategic communications for commercial and political clients before joining S-RM’s Citizenship and Visa team four years ago. Dilan holds a BA degree in Journalism and a MA in Middle Eastern Studies from King’s College London.

Kath Lau is an Associate Director based in S-RM’s Singapore office, specialising in complex transactional due diligence assignments with a focus on Greater China and Southeast Asia. She has been leading the operations of S-RM’s new Singapore office since its opening in February 2023.

Before joining S-RM’s Hong Kong office in 2018, Kath worked on human rights advocacy and investigation projects in China and India. Kath has a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Hong Kong and a Master of Law and Development from the University of Melbourne.

Lenoy is a Director in S-RM’s cyber security division. She has over 10 years’ experience spanning security risk management and strategic consulting. Since joining S-RM in 2018, Lenoy has supported clients working through complex cyber and physical security challenges, and has led projects spanning the financial services and insurance, energy, manufacturing and FMCG sectors, among others.

Prior to joining S-RM, she worked as a portfolio manager for a global asset management firm. She is a CFA Charterholder and has an MA in International Relations from King’s College London.

Septimus is a Director at S-RM. He specialises in gathering intelligence to support complex, multijurisdictional disputes globally. His clients include government agencies, global corporations, leading business figures and family offices. He regularly works in, and helps assemble, multidisciplinary teams comprising outside counsel, funders, expert witnesses, communications experts, digital forensics investigators and cyber practitioners.    

Since 2021, Septimus has been recognised by Chambers & Partners as one of the UK’s leading corporate investigators. Clients have praised him for his “incredible networks on the ground”, “ability to deliver game-changing intelligence” and “consistently high-quality, thoughtful service”.

Septimus has wide-ranging experience of gathering intelligence and evidence in the most challenging environments, using a combination of OSINT, human intelligence, eDiscovery and digital forensics. He works across EMEA, APAC and the Former Soviet Union. He has particular expertise in disputes involving parties from the Former Soviet Union and regularly supports clients in contentious situations relating to the region. Recently, he has advised numerous businesses affected by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, particularly in the insurance sector. Septimus’ work has been used to support litigation and arbitration relating to JV disputes, sanctions, fraud, asset recovery, ESG issues, contentious insurance claims and investor-state disputes. He has also managed internal investigations into employee misconduct, IP theft and insider threats.

His analysis of current affairs has been published by the Financial Times, Newsweek, the World Economic Forum, BNE IntelliNews and the Moscow Times. Septimus has also appeared on Bloomberg Daybreak: Europe to discuss the commercial impacts of the War in Ukraine. He has a BA in Russian Studies from University College London and speaks Russian.

Harriet is a Director in S-RM's Corporate Intelligence division, based in London. She joined S-RM in 2017 as head of the Europe regional desk and now oversees the Corporate Intelligence research teams in EMEA. Her teams sit between London and Cape Town and work on projects covering Europe, Russia and the CIS, the Middle East and North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Beyond team management, Harriet's responsibilities also include account management for key clients in EMEA. She regularly works with compliance and investigations teams within client organisations to ensure that S-RM's reports and product frameworks are tailored to their specific requirements. She manages casework and oversees delivery of a range of projects across EMEA, including pre-transactional research projects, compliance-driven due diligence assignments, and bespoke investigations.

Harriet joined S-RM from Alaco Limited, another London-based Corporate Intelligence firm, where she built experience working globally on in-depth due diligence cases and investigative projects, with particular experience in investigations focused on Italy, Spain, Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. She has a degree in Modern Languages (Spanish and Italian) from Durham University and has spent time living in Florence, Barcelona, and Cape Town.

Peter joined the business in 2016 and leads S-RM’s global crisis response capability, responding to a varied and complex client base, and specializing in 24/7-365 response to critical incidents and security risks; from natural and man-made disasters, terrorism, kidnap and evacuation, to providing resilience against cyber-attacks and security threats. Prior to joining S-RM, he was a highly experienced senior Detective at New Scotland Yard, with 30 years’ experience conducting major investigations within Specialist Operations including counterterrorism; homicide; serious & organized crime and sensitive intelligence.

As Deputy Head of the UK’s Hostage & Crisis Negotiation Unit (HCNU), he personally advised Government at national and international level on complex kidnap and hostage negotiation issues and has trained specialist law enforcement, military, and security services across the globe on best practice. He has extensive overseas operational experience including Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, the Indian sub-continent, and the Americas.

Roddy has been with the S-RM Cyber Security practice since October 2017. Roddy oversees key client relationships and strategic accounts across the legal services and insurance sectors as well as S-RM’s corporate customer base. Roddy has been responsible for the build out of the Cyber Security practice’s technical services as well as the formation and growth of the security consulting team.

He has responsibility for the delivery of key engagement across our insurance advisory and post-loss expert witness work and has played a pivotal role orchestrating the delivery of some of our most complex engagements for international clients. Previously, Roddy spent a number of years in investment banking and working with high growth technology businesses focused on capital markets and regulatory compliance.

Casey O’Brien joined the business in 2013. Casey is a Director focusing on cyber security. He began his career at S-RM as an analyst specialising in Russia and the former Soviet Union (FSU), leading on complex assignments in jurisdictions including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Moldova.

In 2016, Casey was seconded to S-RM’s office in Rio de Janeiro, where he oversaw the development of the company’s newly formed LatAm team. He returned to the UK in 2017 to manage the Russia and FSU team, leading the team through a period of significant growth. In May 2020, Casey refocused on cyber security and is now responsible for strategic and operational cyber-focused projects.

Casey holds a BA in Medieval and Modern Languages (Russian and French) from the University of Oxford.

Sumru is an Associate in S-RM’s Corporate Intelligence division. She has worked at S-RM for approximately four years and previously was a project manager for a Turkey-incorporated construction company. She has worked on a wide range of Middle East and Europe focused work, including pre-transactional work and investigations focused on the source of wealth of prominent businesspeople. Furthermore, Sumru has worked on a number of investigations focusing on multi-jurisdictional asset tracing and litigation support. She holds an MA in Intelligence and International Security from King’s College London and an MA in International Relations from the University of St Andrews.

Paul joined S-RM in 2017. He supervises all response cases, coordinating the 24/7 deployment of S-RM’s global response team, and reviewing all critical incidents reported by clients, ensuring each receives an expert and bespoke response.

He previously served as a senior Detective at New Scotland Yard. He has over thirty years of policing experience, and has undertaken as well as supervised major investigations within both the Specialist Operations and Specialist Crime Directorates, specialising in covert policing techniques and countering serious and organised crime groups. He has also chaired a number of specialist crime, international policing boards. His last engagement was as Deputy Head of the Hostage and Crisis Negotiation Unit. As the lead for international case work, he advised and supported Government on numerous, complex, hostage, kidnap and extortion cases, including all cases with a terrorism nexus.

He has extensive international operational experience including terrorism, kidnap, piracy, extortion and unlawful detention cases, and has trained law enforcement and other government agencies domestically and internationally. His work was recognised in the Queen’s New Year Honours List in 2014 for “services to international hostage negotiation”.

Maria Petnga-Wallace has over 15 years’ experience in diversity, equity, and inclusion within a variety of sectors including at the non-profit, Colorintech, global Adtech agency, Dentsu, and the law firm Hogan Lovells. Her previous roles have involved designing and embedding EDI strategic objectives for inclusive culture change to rolling out a national mentoring circle programme for underrepresented women. Maria regularly mentors students and graduates from her former university, University of East London and is currently enjoying an evidence-based Professional Doctorate in Human Resource Management at Birkbeck College, London. Her research is focussed on transforming organisational EDI practices with cultural intelligence.

Chris is an Associate in S-RM’s Cyber Advisory team responsible for supporting clients in identification and remediation of cyber security risks, governance shortfalls, and regulatory requirements. He has supported financial services, aviation, logistics and not-for-profit clients with cyber security assessments, strategic to tactical level planning, and implementation of programs to grow cyber maturity. He has worked across a broad range of project areas including cyber incident response planning, security awareness training, resourcing, and technology procurement. His main areas of interest are in supply chain cyber risk management and security culture transformation.

Before joining S-RM, Chris was a Commissioned Officer in the Royal Engineers, projects included counter-terrorism contingency planning for the 2018 Asia Pacific Economic Conference. Chris hold an MSc from the London School of Economics and cyber security certifications including Global Information Assurance (GESC) 401 and ISO 27001 (2022) Internal Auditor.

Gideon Teerenstra is Head of Cyber Advisory Benelux for S-RM’s Cyber practice. With over 10 years in the industry, Gideon has worked closely with our clients to develop tailored solutions that map their precise requirements for cyber strategy and implementation based on their locations, exposure, and objectives. Prior to joining S-RM, he worked for the Cyber Strategy team of Deloitte Netherlands and has been the CISO of a university medical centre.

Gideon holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering & Management, and a master’s degree (honours) in Business Information Technology, specialising in Innovation & Management.

Katherine is the Head of Proactive Cyber Services based in Manchester, UK.

Katherine has 15 years of experience in cyber security advisory. As a Head of Proactive Cyber Services at S-RM, Katherine leads on developing the strategy for advisory, offensive security and private equity cyber services, supporting clients on their cyber transformation journeys. 

Prior to joining S-RM Katherine was a Senior Manager in PwC for just short of 4 years, specialising in cyber security advisory across private and public sector clients including cyber transformation, strategy, operating model, cyber risk assessment and management engagements. Katherine is an SME in supply chain security and was leading PwC’s third-party security risk management services helping clients identify critical third parties, assess and manage the risks they pose.  

Before PwC, Katherine was and Executive Principal Consultant at the NCC Group where she worked for 11 years, managing a security audit team and leading on the third-party risk services. Under Katherine’s leadership the audit team conducted PCI Card Production audits globally, comprising of security assessments of payment cards production facilities against the security standards of multiple payment schemes. 

Katherine is CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) and CCSP (Certified Cloud Security Professional), ISO27001 Lead Auditor and previously PCI QSA.

Michael has over 15 years of experience working in “Big 4” accounting firms and reputable global consulting firms operationalizing IT Risk, Cyber Supply Chain Risk, and Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) strategies and programs across multiple industries, including Financial Services, Pharma, Tech, Manufacturing, Retail, Energy, and Rail Transportation.

Specifically, Michael’s experience includes leading and supporting largescale global transformations, strategy development, maturity/current state assessments against industry-leading frameworks, program design and implementation, project management, change management, GRC technology selection and implementation, leading and conducting IT and supply chain risk audits, and various other related strategic activities in support of assisting clients to solve complex problems with pragmatic solutions. 

Prior to S-RM, Michael worked at PwC as a Senior Manager first within the Performance, Governance, Risk, & Compliance team and later within the Cyber, Risk and Regulations practice as part of the Third-Party Risk Management team. Michael also worked at EY in the IT Risk Assurance practice as a Manager focused on IT audits (including SOX audits), vendor risk control assessments, and SOC reports. Prior to starting his career in the civilian sector, Michael served in the US Army as a commissioned officer where he honed his leadership and problem-solving skills leading soldiers in combat missions while deployed.

Richard Blaksley has 30 years of experience in the investigations and business intelligence sector. After 15 years at Kroll, rising to head its EMEA and subsequently Asian regions, he was then an initial partner of GPW & Co. His work has covered multiple jurisdictions on behalf of leading law firms, multinational corporations, private clients and foreign government agencies. Notable cases in which he has taken a lead have been the identification of assets misappropriated by the Bhutto family of Pakistan, the large-scale privatisation frauds of Viktor Kozeny in Azerbaijan and elsewhere, and an early role in the ongoing 1MDB investigation.

Philippa joined the Disputes & Investigations team from the MENA regional desk. She has experience leading litigation support and asset tracing investigations associated with complex corporate disputes, as well as managing internal investigations. Philippa has spent several years living and working in Europe and the Middle East, including in Spain, Tunisia and the UAE. She previously worked as a journalist covering finance and infrastructure, in the GCC and wider Middle East, and subsequently covering European infrastructure funds. Philippa has an MA in Near and Middle Eastern Studies from the School of African and Oriental Studies, and a BA in Modern Languages from Durham University, and is a fluent Arabic, Spanish and French speaker.

Felicity Loudon joined the business in 2017.

She started her career at S-RM on the Sub-Saharan Africa desk, where she managed complex due diligence and investigative projects across the continent for a variety of financial services, private equity and multinational clients, before moving to Washington, DC in 2019 to establish a new office for S-RM. She returned to the UK in 2022 as Director of the Academy. Felicity previously served in the UK Foreign and Commonwealth office, and has also worked for a multinational insurer, based both in London and in Switzerland, where she developed global insurance solutions for large corporates.

Felicity has an MA in Philosophy from the University of Cambridge and an MLitt from the University of St Andrews.

Jillian Schleiden joined S-RM in 2022.

She began her work at S-RM leading development of an on-demand internal training service that allows each employee to individualise their training based on their needs and experiences. She currently manages training content creation and LMS integration for S-RM. Previously, Jillian ran an L&D and content consultancy in the U.S., where she assisted companies in building cohesive learning and knowledge management systems, and served as a Fulbright education consultant in the Philippines.

Jillian has an MPhil in Education from the University of Cambridge and an MAT in Education from the University of Central Missouri.

Beth Davies joined S-RM in 2022.

As the Foundations Specialist, Beth manages and delivers S-RM Foundations; our week-long introduction to the company where she works with new starters to ensure they have the network, tools and resources to succeed in their role. In addition, Beth also supports the wider Academy team develop and execute internal training.

Before joining S-RM, Beth worked as an Executive Assistant and Project Manager at Challenge Consultancy for over 2 years. There she managed multiple consultancy projects and supported the development and delivery of EDI training.

Beth holds an MA in ‘English: Literature, Culture and Theory’ from the University of Sussex.

Alex is Director of Innovation and Technology at S-RM

He is responsible for the company’s digital innovation and product development function, working to improve the digital client experience and enable our practitioners to solve client problems with the use of modern technologies such as AI.  He joined S-RM in 2019. Alex has more than 10 years’ experience managing products, services and engineering functions in the intelligence, security and mobility sectors. Alex has a BA in International History and Politics from Leeds University and an MA in Intelligence and International Security from King’s College London.

Jerry Zingapan joined S-RM in 2020. Jerry’s primary role is to manage S-RM’s suite of bespoke digital solutions built to serve our Corporate Intelligence clients.

Previously, Jerry worked in product management at Charles Schwab, YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP, and Bank of America. Jerry also previously served in the US Army.

Jerry holds a B.S. in military history from the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Kyle Schwaeble is a senior associate on S-RM’s cyber security team, bringing expertise in incident response management and, particularly, the secure restoration and recovery from cyber incidents such as ransomware attacks and business email compromises. In addition to his incident response work, Kyle has also supported multinational clients with their security transformation programmes, advising on the development and implementation of new technological, procedural, and cultural security controls.  

Kyle joined S-RM in 2019, initially working as an analyst in the Corporate Intelligence team, where he supported various corporate and diligence investigations. He holds a BCom(LLB) from Stellenbosch University in South Africa and is GSEC certified. 

Rachel is a Product Owner working within the Product Engineering capability. In addition to managing Portal, S-RM’s primary workflow management tool, her work spans across various bespoke digital solutions at enterprise level.

Before joining S-RM’s Technology team, Rachel worked as a Business Analyst for the Counter Terrorism Police in London.

Rachel holds a Master of Arts (Hons) in International Relations from the University of St. Andrews.

Xiao is a product manager working in S-RM’s Technology & Innovation team, specifically looking after the cyber security related digital products.

Before joining S-RM, Xiao worked as a mathematical modeller at DNV for 11 years.

Xiao holds an MEng from University of Bristol in Engineering Mathematics.

Connor is the Senior IT Service & Operations Manager working within the Technology Team at S-RM. Connor and his team are responsible for management, maintenance, and improvements to S-RM’s internal enterprise systems and services. Connor’s focus is on ensuring that every member of S-RM is provided with an exceptional support experience from the moment they join the team.

Before joining S-RM’s Technology Team, Connor spent many years working at a Managed Service Provider, working with the latest technologies and managing technical relationships with stakeholders to ensure a 1^st class service is being delivered to all clients.

Phil is an experienced information and cyber security leader, having worked with many companies to implement and run their internal security function over the past 20 years.

Phil currently leads the Information Security team at S-RM.

Bev Gainey is the Data & Governance Lead in S-RM. Bev is a seasoned professional with a passion for driving effective data management and governance strategies. Her journey at S-RM began as the Sales Operations Manager and while working on several projects she realised her experience working with data would help her emerged as a dedicated Data Governance Lead.

Before joining S-RM’s team, First in Sales, and Marketing team, then moving to the technology team Bev worked as a Data Governance Manager at a technology services company in London.

Steve is S-RM’s Head of Business Development in the Americas, coordinating both Cybersecurity and Corporate Intelligence practices. He has over 13 years of experience in the cybersecurity and intelligence fields working with the federal government, large enterprises, and small businesses alike. Steve got his start in information security through his time in the United States Marine Corps as a special operations signals intelligence operator and linguist. After leaving the Marine Corps, Steve transitioned to the private sector as a cybersecurity and privacy consultant.

Steve specializes in enterprise risk management, data privacy and security, and client relationships. He has a wealth of experience across multiple industries including technology, media and entertainment, and telecommunications. Steve has led numerous security risk assessments, written information security policies, and built cyber risk management teams across multiple industries and competencies. Steve has served as lead for incident communications, developed cyber risk-centric automations, and performed countless contractual reviews and negotiations.

Zaid works as a Senior Researcher on S-RM’s Active Monitoring Team in Cape Town. In addition to supporting a wide portfolio of Monitoring projects he also works with S-RM’s Digital Team to develop Monitoring tools and bespoke services.

Before joining S-RM’s Monitoring Team, Zaid worked as a Researcher at various NGO’s and Independent Organisations based in South Africa.

Zaid holds a BSocSCi (Hons) in International Relations from the University of Cape Town South Africa

Markus has over a decade’s experience in political analysis and risk consulting. He joined S-RM in 2018, and since then he has led on a range of projects globally. Within the Strategic Intelligence practice, Markus works with clients to develop tailored intelligence outputs, as well as overseeing S-RM’s Global Security Insight threat intelligence platform.

Before joining S-RM, he worked as a lecturer at the Universities of Cape Town and Stellenbosch, and at Webster University’s campus in Accra, teaching a variety of political science courses including International Political Economy and Comparative Politics. He also worked as a writer for Africa Check, the continent’s first fact-checking organisation. Markus holds an MSc by Research in African Studies from the University of Edinburgh, and an MA in Politics and International Relations from the University of Aberdeen. He also holds an International Certificate in Enterprise Risk Management (IRMCert).

Ryan Shields is an experienced forensic practitioner within S-RM’s Digital Forensics team. He has led complex digital forensics cases in both criminal and civil matters and conducted digital forensics investigations into internal investigations and other litigation support. Ryan works with both corporate and private clients across all industries and jurisdictions with specialist expertise in forensically analysing Windows computers, mobile devices, and cloud-based evidence. He specialises in acting as a forensic expert in criminal and civil disputes and has presented both written and oral testimony in court.

Prior to joining S-RM, Ryan was a Technical Responder in Deloitte’s Cyber Incident Response team and spent several years performing digital forensics investigations in UK law enforcement. Ryan holds a BEng (Hons) in Digital Security, Forensics & Ethical Hacking, and an MSc (with Distinction) in Cyber Security and has attained multiple industry-recognised certifications.

Based in Hong Kong, Naresh is a senior compliance professional with over 20 years’ combined experience in establishing and managing financial crime compliance programmes and practices; leading complex investigations, corporate intelligence projects and legal forensic assignments; and as a solicitor focusing on corporate, offshore and regulatory law. 

Following his early career with Kennedys (solicitor) and Conyers, Dill & Pearman (offshore attorney), Naresh has held senior roles at Credit Suisse, FTI, Citi and Kroll. Naresh holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) Degree with First Class Honours and Master of Laws (LL.M) (Financial Regulation & Compliance) with Distinction. He is a member of the Law Society of England and Wales (Solicitor, non-practising). 

Oliver Price is a Director in S-RM’s Cybersecurity Advisory practice. With over 10 years of experience assisting organisations in responding to complex cyber incidents and developing strategies and processes to minimise the business impact of these events.

Oliver leads security programs that enable businesses to navigate today’s evolving cyber threats. In particular by developing Informaton Security Target Operating Models that combine technical know-how with strategic insight, Oliver collaborates with organisations to design and implement effective security frameworks.

Previously, Oliver built and ran the incident response team for Europe the Middle East and Africa for a global business advisory firm. Serving as Head of Incident Response for EMEA, he worked on data breaches, complex malware incidents and led resilience projects for the firm’s high threat-profile clients in addition to leading the investigation into incidents relating to UK central government systems and has provided expert witness on numerous matters including as a named expert witness to the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. He has also held security management and security architect roles in the technology, insurance, and legal sectors.

Oliver holds an MSc in Software and System Security from the University of Oxford, MSc in Advanced Networking from Open University and a BSc in Economics and Finance from the University of London.

He also holds several certifications including CISSP, CCNP, CCDP, VCP6-NV, and is an ISO 27001 lead implementer.

Matt Venturas leads S-RM’s corporate intelligence work in Sub-Saharan Africa out of our Cape Town office. He advises a range of clients, including development finance institutions, Africa-focused private equity firms, and multinationals, on the market and integrity risks attached to conducting business throughout Africa. Matt focuses primarily on pre-transactional due diligence across the continent, as well as leading in-country investigations on state-owned entities and public-private partnerships, supply chain due diligence, identification of illicit trafficking networks, and cross-jurisdictional asset traces and litigation support. These investigations typically include detailed stakeholder mapping exercises aimed at identifying allegiances and behavioral patterns among political elites and how this impacts local business environments.

Matt holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and is an admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa, having practiced commercial and immigration law for five years prior to joining S-RM. He also holds a certificate in ESG investing from the CFA Institute.

Jon Seland is a cyber security senior analyst in S-RM’s incident response UK team. He has experience in a variety of ransomware and business email compromise incidents.

Jon holds a GCFE certification and a Master of Commerce in Occupational Psychology at Stellenbosch University.

Caitlin is the head of S-RM's Monitoring team and joined the business in 2018.

She works closely with clients to identify their monitoring requirements and develop relevant red flag, sanctions and other bespoke monitoring solutions. She is based in S-RM's South Africa office and leads a team of researchers that serve as the human overlay to S-RM's AI-driven monitoring platform.

Caitlin holds a MA International Studies degree from Stellenbosch University, and is an alumni of EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht (Germany) and Radboud University (Netherlands).

Michael is an Associate on S-RM’s Disputes & Investigations team. He has extensive experience of managing complex litigation support and asset tracing engagements in a wide range of jurisdictions including Europe, the Former Soviet Union, the Americas, and the Middle East. Michael holds a BA in History and Political Science from Trinity College, Dublin, and an MPhil in International Relations from the University of Cambridge.

Chris joined S-RM in January 2023 as the UK IR Practice Head having previously lead another IR Team at professional services firm. With over 12 years within the DFIR sphere including within the Military, a large national Telecoms company and, as part of effective consultancies, Chris ensures that the IR Team are able to rapidly respond to clients suffering highly impactful incidents.

With a technically focused history in Cyber Crime Investigations as well as internal and external Cyber Security and Incident Response roles, Chris is able to understand situations, develop processes and strategies and engage with clients on both the technical and commercial business levels, ensuring that a full-spectrum and bespoke IR response is delivered by the Cyber IR team, every time.

Chris has a history in the Armed Forces, Law Enforcement and wider Cyber arenas, handling cases from complex and global ransomware attacks to network intrusions and insider threats across many industries including government, industrial manufacturing, FinTech, Retail and supply chain environments, to name a few. This experience coupled with qualifications in Forensic Computing and Certifications within Incident Response areas, allows him to support the team to effectively and accurately drive all responses through S-RM to a quick and successful conclusion.

Based in London, he oversees the division’s resources, research methods, and network globally, and advises on select client engagements.

He was previously a Director within S-RM’s Deal Advisory practice (2019-2021) and Head of the Sub-Saharan Africa team, based in Cape Town (2018-2019). He joined the firm as an Africa analyst in 2013.

Before S-RM, Toby spent time working as a contributor to The Economist and for a UK member of parliament. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Modern History from the University of Oxford, and a master’s degree in Contemporary British History from King’s College London.