Catherine Sherwin new head of AlixPartners in France
Catherine Sherwin, a London-based Managing Director at AlixPartners, has relocated to France to take reins of the firm’s French office, succeeding Alain Guillot, who has held this position for five years.
In the UK, Sherwin most recently led the Digital practice of AlixPartners, comprising more than 40 consultants. Sherwin is an expert in digital transformation, having led dozens of projects and transformations in the space across industries, including cost reduction programmes, technology simplification, tech-driven innovation and the implementation of ERP and IT systems.
Prior to joining the global consulting firm nine years ago, Sherwin served as CIO of British insurance company Old Mutual, and before that held IT leadership roles at Old Mutual’s wealth management arm and Skandia, a Swedish insurance company founded over 150 years ago.
In France, she leads a team of eleven Managing Directors and some fifty consultants. Commenting on her new role, Sherwin said, “I am delighted to be moving to France and to have the honour of leading the Paris team. We have set ourselves ambitious growth objectives.”Sherwin arrives at a time full of local opportunities. Last year, France’s €7.3 billion consulting industry booked its strongest growth (11%) in a decade, with demand, average fees and chargeability all up on the year previous. The outlook for 2020 is according to Syntec Conseil – the country’s consulting association – just as rosy, with a third consecutive year of double-digit growth forecasted.
Playing to Sherwin’s strengths, digital transformation remains the key driver of consulting growth. Today, over four out of ten engagements in France have a strong digital component, growing from less than a quarter four years ago. Alongside digitisation, AlixPartners helps its French clients with strategy, performance improvement, mergers & acquisitions and restructuring and turnaround, among others. Its industry sweet spot lies in the aviation & aeronautics, automotive, energy, retail and technology sectors.
“I am proud to have led the high-quality Paris team for the past five years, but I am also delighted to now have more time to devote to clients again,” commented Alain Guillot, who has been promoted to the role of Global Co-Head of the Operations and Aeronautics practice.
The leadership switch is part of AlixPartners’ country rotation system, according to a press release it issued, designed to “strengthen the international collaboration” between management and teams. Globally, the management consulting firm, founded in 1981 in the United States, has 24 offices in four continents.
Last year, AlixPartners was named one of France’s leading strategic consulting firms for private equity.