Marakon hires Yann Duchesne and Devendra Kumar
Marakon, the boutique management consulting practice of Charles River Associates, has added two senior advisors to its London office: Yann Duchesne and Devendra Kumar. Duchesne joins the firm as an Executive Director, while Kumar, who re-joins the firm, will take on the role of Director.
Yann Duchesne joins Marakon with extensive experience as consultant and business leader in the financial services, consumer, retail, and industrials sectors, most recently gained at Doughty Hanson. At the private equity firm he fulfilled the role of Senior Partner for the past 12.5 years. During this time, he led transactions in the industrials and consumer sectors. Prior to joining Doughty Hanson, Duchesne worked for McKinsey & Company for more than 20 years between 1982 and 2002. At McKinsey, he held several positions in the US, Europe, and Japan, including acting as Managing Partner for McKinsey in France, leading, among others, the firm’s pharmaceutical division and co-leading the financial institutions group.
Devendra Kumar brings 20 years of experience in the global financial services sector to his new role as Director at Marakon. Kumar joins the firm after a short period of working as Independent Payments and Strategy Professional and as Managing Partner of Greenings Advisors. Prior to this, he worked for the Royal Bank of Scotland for more than 11 years. Between 2003 and 2007, he acted as Head of Strategy - Cards Business, after which he became the bank’s Director of Strategic Development. Between 2000 and 2003, Kumar fulfilled his first term at Marakon, working for the firm as Senior Consultant. He started his career at HCL Infosystems in 1998 as its European Business Development Manager.
Commenting on the appointments, Neal Kissel, Marakon European Practice Leader, says: “Yann and Devendra are great additions to our team. They are both highly experienced and well-regarded professionals, and we expect them to contribute materially to the build-out of our business in the UK across our core sectors of financial services, consumer, and industrials. Yann will focus on a broad and material business building mandate across our sectors, while Devendra brings a long industry track record in financial services and payments to our growing financial services practice.”
Paul Maleh, President and Chief Executive Officer of Charles River Associates, adds: “It is a pleasure to welcome Yann Duchesne and Devendra Kumar to CRA and Marakon. They are trusted advisors to senior executives on business and corporate strategy matters in the core sectors we are focused on growing within Marakon’s management consulting offerings.”
Last year Marakon bolstered its team with Maria Teresa Blanco (who joined from Oliver Wyman) and John Rolander and Srini Venkateswaran (both former Strategy& partners).
Consultancy.uk recently highlighted Marakon's recognition as a top-10 employer in the UK.
