Andrew has experience of handling a broad range of executive and non-executive appointments for private, PLC and private equity-backed companies in the UK and internationally. His sector experience covers a broad range of industries across global retail, consumer goods, leisure, telecommunications, retail financial services, consumer services, utilities, insurance, transport and sport. Andrew was previously at executive search firm Whitehead Mann (now Korn Ferry). Before moving into search, Andrew worked in finance for Tesco plc and TimeWarner.

He holds a BA (Hons) from the University of Southampton, an MBA from Warwick Business School and is Belbin accredited.

Emma joined Sam Allen Associates in 2014 and is currently Head of Operations. She manages the in-house research team and works closely with the Partners to enable delivery of searches. 

 Emma began her career within Executive Search as a Research Associate working predominately within the retail and consumer space on C-Suite executive placements. 

 She graduated from Durham University with a BA (Hons) and is a certified psychometric assessor with SHL leading on OPQ assessment.  

 

Olga joined the business in 2012. Since then she has handled a wide range of senior executive and Board level appointments across multiple sectors, including retail, FMCG, financial services, leisure, telecommunications and healthcare. Olga previously worked at Boyden in the London Financial Services practice, where she specialised in senior appointments in Investment Banking. She began her career in banking, having worked in debt capital markets for a number of years.

Olga holds a Masters in Economics and Business from University College London and an MSc in Economics from the University of Helsinki, Finland. She also holds an International Relations Degree (Hons) from Belarusian State University.

Sam built the company after holding key leadership positions at international executive search firms Whitehead Mann and Boyden over a nine year period. Prior to this Sam had a 15 year career in the UK and internationally with Sainsbury’s plc, Dunhill and Greene King plc, the latter of which she was on the Board.

Sam holds an MBA, an MA in Employment Law, is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), is an accredited commercial mediator and a qualified MBTI and Belbin Team Roles practitioner.

Zara joined Sam Allen Associates as a Researcher in March 2021. 

Before joining the team, Zara worked in advertising sales in the legal sector and managed the accounts of several large law firms within EMEA.

She graduated with a degree in Modern History and German from St. Andrews University, during which she spent a year teaching English in Nuremberg, Germany. 

Emma joined Sam Allen Associates as a Research Associate in June 2021.

Before joining the team, she worked within the leisure industry.

Emma graduated with an MA (Hons) in Human Geography from the University of Edinburgh where she specialised in Social and Cultural Geography and Qualitative Research.

Katherine joined SAA in September 2023 as a Research Associate. 

Katherine graduated from the University of Cambridge in June 2023 with a degree in Modern and Medieval Languages and Literature, focusing on French and German, with a year of Greek. During this time, she spent a year in Paris at La Sorbonne, learning Norwegian and Danish, where she accidentally joined a Danish choir as a soprano. 

Outside of work, you can find Katherine watching cricket, reading Dostoevsky, or getting far too competitive in pub quizzes. 

When she was 5, Katherine wanted to be a traffic warden because she thought they were powerful. 

Noah joined Sam Allen Associates as a Research Associate in September 2023.

Noah completed undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Psychology at the University of Sheffield, researching the language development of Deaf and Hard of Hearing infants with hearing parents. During this time, Noah worked an assistant researcher for The University of Sheffield, assisting on projects in collaboration with the National Deaf Children’s Society.

 Outside of work, he can often be found bouldering or throwing himself down a hill on a skateboard.

Rebekah joined Sam Allen Associates as a Researcher in January 2022. 

Prior to this, she graduated with a Master’s degree in History from Keele University and was awarded 2021 MRes Humanities student of the year. She also has a BA (Hons) degree from Keele University, in History and Politics. 

Tom joined Sam Allen Associates as a Research Associate in April 2023. He graduated with a degree in History from Brunel University London, writing his dissertation on the wars of German Unification in the 19th Century.  

Before joining the team, Tom worked for the health service and for the UK’s largest provider of sport and physical activity to primary schools. In his spare time, Tom is most often found keeping active running around the rugby pitch.