Curriculum Vitae



Curriculum VitaeVanessa Jane WilliamsVanessa is an experienced commercial lawyer, non-executive director, entrepreneur and business advisor with a broad range of experience gained from working closely with business owners and managers and in managing and running law firms.Personal DetailsDate of Birth:21 September 1968Professional Qualifications:BA (Hons) LawSolicitor of 24 years standingCorporate Finance Qualification, ICAEWFRSACurrent Posts:Excello Law:NED/Practising SolicitorAwen ConsultantsLimited:Managing DirectorWomen of the Year:NED/CompanySecretaryKey Areas of Legal Expertise:Business OrganisationCorporate/CommercialGovernanceM & A MBO/ MBIOutsourcing /ProcurementPartnership/LLPPrivate Equity/InvestmentProfessional Experience:2011 to 2012Forbury Investment Network/Clarkslegal LLPHead of Investment/Partner(Turnover circa ?17 million)2010 to 2011Rochman Landau LLPEquity Partner, Board Member(Turnover circa ?7 million)2007 to 2010Bates Wells and Braithwaite LLP Position:Equity Partner (Turnover circa ?25 million)2003 to 2007:Bevan Brittan LLP Position:Equity Partner, Head of Corporate (Turnover circa ?80 million)1999 to 2003:Morgan ColePosition:Equity Partner, Head of Corporate (Turnover circa ?90 million)1996 to 1999:Denton HallPosition:Solicitor1992 to 1999Fox WilliamsPosition:Trainee/SolicitorBackgroundAs a result of demand from her clients, Vanessa has recently commenced a portfolio career to allow her to apply her skills more widely than in a pure legal capacity. Whilst continuing to act for clients as a solicitor with Excello Law Limited, Vanessa also provides business advisory services through her company, Awen Consultants Limited. These include governance advisory work with boards to maximise business potential through a governance strategy that supports and sustains growth, and investment facilitation.Vanessa is currently a non-executive director for Excello Law Limited where she has recently facilitated an extensive strategy review resulting in an ambitious growth plan for the business. This includes an international expansion initiative which Vanessa is spearheading. She has been a board member of Women of the Year for the last 15 years in a volunteer capacity and has overseen the transformation of this prestigious lunch into a corporate structure which contributes substantial funds to its associated charity. Vanessa is also company secretary for a number of her clients.Until 2012, Vanessa was Head of Corporate, based in the London office of Clarkslegal. She was responsible for a team across three offices and also ran the firm’s wholly owned subsidiary, Forbury Investment Network.Prior to that Vanessa was an equity partner at Rochman Landau and Head of Corporate. She was active in the day-to-day management of the firm and was the partner responsible for HR, recruitment and training. Vanessa was previously a partner in Bates Wells and Braithwaite where she developed the profile and workflow of the corporate and commercial department, leading it into healthy profit for the first time in the history of the firm.Vanessa joined Bevan Brittan’s London office in 2003 to establish a corporate department for the firm. She recruited a team of lawyers in London, which consistently exceeded fee targets. As Head of Corporate, Vanessa was responsible for the strategy, budget, and management of the national team. Vanessa was first promoted to partner at Morgan Cole at only five year’s professional qualification. After successfully managing the London team, she was seconded to Oxford to recruit and establish a corporate and commercial department. Within six months, the team was generating fees well in excess of targets and expectations. On the strength of this rapid promotion she was awarded the Women in Enterprise Employee of the Year Award 2001.SkillsHaving been a partner for some 16 years and actively involved in the management of law firms, Vanessa has gained a variety of skills. These have been valued not only by her partners but by her clients who now look on her as an extra member of their management team.ManagementVanessa has been part of the board of running a law firm. She played an active part in all major decisions affecting the business including finance, business development, staff, strategy, stakeholder relations and internal operations and understands the commercial imperatives that drive decisions on these issues. Using the skills learned through her legal career, she now runs her own businesses and works in a non-executive capacity supporting other boards.Team BuildingVanessa’s career roles have centred on her ability to build departments and manage multi-disciplinary teams of people working on large scale projects. She motivates teams through her own willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done, remaining calm in a crisis and making the working life of those around her as enjoyable as possible. She strives to achieve consensus through listening to all perspectives and facilitating compromise where appropriate.Client RelationsClients appreciate Vanessa’s ability to get to grips with the issues facing their business and she often finds herself assisting with commercial and strategic concerns as well as legal advice. She has built a group of loyal clients who have stayed with her through various firm moves and who view her as an additional member of their management team. As a trustee Vanessa understands the responsibility to the wider community and the need to apply independent and balanced judgement on sometimes complex issues.Financial ControlAs a corporate lawyer and being part of a management board, Vanessa understands the financial structure that underpins a business and can read financial reports. She is engaged in budget forecasts, monitoring cash flow, arranging banking facilities and ensuring the business operates within their terms and assessing the impact of business decisions on overall profitability. StaffVanessa has held the post of Head of HR. Within that role she was responsible for staff recruitment and retention, salary reviews and staff benefits, implementing the new pensions requirements, appraisals, performance management issues and implementing redundancy programmes. She also dealt with the pastoral care of staff with health or other issues. Staff would consider her approachable and compassionate but with a “firm but fair approach” that sets clear standards and expectations.Equality and DiversityVanessa has throughout her career been a champion of equality and diversity both within the legal profession and business in general. As such she is a founder member of the European Women Lawyers Association which has lobbied at a European level for improvements in the number of women appointed to boards of major companies, acted as a consultant to the Right Honourable Eleanor Laing MP during her tenure as Shadow Minister for Women and has highlighted the many achievements of women across all sectors through her long-standing involvement with the Women of the Year Lunch. She now lectures on the Women for Boards programme at Westminster University Business School.StrategyStrategic thinking has been part of Vanessa’s work both as a business advisor and as a member of a management board. She is used to looking at external market conditions and assessing the business opportunities and risks. Many of her clients rely on her independent view when making key decisions in their business growth. Currently Vanessa is leading the strategic development of Excello Law, having recruited other senior non-executive directors to assist in driving the business forward.Presentation skillsVanessa regularly receives requests to present at national and international conferences on all aspects of corporate and commercial law, most recently chairing a full day session on “The Financial Markets and Risk Management” and a series of practical lectures for entrepreneurs on getting a business ready for investment or sale. She is a visiting lecturer for Westminster University’s Business School Programme for Women for Boards where she is consistently rated as one of their most engaging presenters.Business DevelopmentVanessa’s previous roles have centred on her ability to build departments and generate work across a number of industry sectors for herself and her team. Whilst Vanessa has a strong core of existing clients, the nature of corporate work makes it essential that these are regularly supplemented by new clients. Vanessa achieves this through her extensive contact base, including accountants, venture capitalists, bankers, and other professionals, investors, entrepreneurs, regulators, parliamentarians, journalists, and media celebrities, all of which consistently produce valuable referrals. Through her role as Head of Corporate Finance with Forbury Investment Network she has advised numerous SME businesses on their growth strategies, business plans and channels to market. She has become skilled at identifying opportunities within a variety of markets and using her network to its full extent.Corporate GovernanceAs a corporate lawyer Vanessa has advised extensively on corporate governance within her legal practice. In addition she has developed a corporate governance advisory package which performs governance health-checks and board evaluation services for businesses and organisations of all sectors and sizes. She lectures on governance and director’s responsibilities at Westminster University Business pany SecretarialVanessa is company secretary for Women of the Year Lunch and various of her client’s companies. She has a thorough understanding of the annual cycle of reporting. ClientsVanessa has spent her career working with large corporates, substantial charities and large membership organisations. Examples include:Acting for unions in relation to membership issues, restructuring and divestmentActing for listed public limited companies on both hostile and agreed takeovers, routine governance matters and large commercial contractsActing for large trade associations on governance issues, restructuring, mergers, tenders and member relations (including within food industry)Acting for national charities on mergers, governance and reorganisationsAdvising on governance, board appointments and voting procedures for professional governing bodiesActing for public bodies on tendering, appointments and powers.Other AchievementsVanessa was awarded the Corporate Finance qualification from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in 2007 and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce in 2006.Until recently Vanessa was a trustee of national charity, Butterfly Conservation. She now supports the chair of the committee for the development of the first UK wildlife hospital.Vanessa is a director and company secretary of the not for profit Women of the Year Lunch and Assembly, which organises a high profile annual awards ceremony recognising the achievements of women across all sectors, and oversees its associated charity, The Women of the Year Foundation.The second edition of Vanessa’s book: “Due Diligence: A Practical Guide” was published by Jordans in March 2013. Vanessa has previously worked as a volunteer with the Thames Reach Bondway Street Rescue Service, who seek out rough sleepers and attempt to find hostel places for them, an experience that she found hugely rewarding and in stark contrast to her professional life. She is presently training as a Street Pastor in Brecon.PersonalVanessa is married and divides her time between London during the week and her main home in the Brecon Beacons of Wales during the weekend, when she spends time with her husband and the family pets. Away from work, she is passionate about rugby, following Wales and the Cardiff Blues and is a regular volunteer at Brecon Cathedral. She enjoys walking her deerhound dogs in the Brecon Beacons as well as following the art and music scenes in Cardiff and London. Since her husband is an archaeologist, she spends the rest of her spare time visiting piles of rocks and ruins. ................
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