Sam Lydon joins HKA’s Growth Office for EMEA region

HKA has welcomed Sam Lydon as a Director to the firm. Based out of London, Lydon will focus on helping HKA deliver its growthambition across the EMEA region.

Under the wings of investor PAI Partners, HKA has set sail for a bold growth agenda. Currently at over 1,000 staff in more than 40 offices worldwide, HKA aims to accelerate the growth of the business and capitalise on the opportunities unfolding in its key segments of project risk mitigation, business forensics, and dispute resolution.

Putting weight to its ambitions, in June HKA established a Growth Office, led by industry veteran Stuart Ells. Lydon now joins this team, focused on both organic and inorganic growth opportunities in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa – HKA serves the region through 15 offices.

“I am delighted to be joining HKA at this exciting time in its growth journey. I am looking forward to working with so many expert colleagues to achieve HKA’s ambitious growth plans and can't wait to get started,” said Lydon.

Working with the EMEA Leadership Team, Lydon and Ells will identify and source growth opportunities for the region, including securing individual senior talent, and team lift outs, as well as M&A opportunities (in January HKA acquired GMR).

Lydon has more than 12 years of experience in professional and financial services. Most recently, he served as UK Chief of Staff at Avaloq, where he was responsible for the growth, strategic initiatives and day-to-day operations of the UK business. 

Prior to Avaloq, he was a Senior Business Manager at Alvarez & Marsal for over seven years, where he was a member of the team responsible for the inorganic growth strategy – identifying and executing all M&A, team lifts and senior level recruitment activities.

During his time with Alvarez & Marsal, Lydon successfully recruited a number of senior fee earning teams and individuals, and opened multiple offices across Europe and the Middle East as the firm grew significantly with a CAGR in excess of 30%.

Mentor Ells has a similar track record: in his previous role at Forensic Risk Alliance, he helped the firm grow its partner base by over 25% and supported the launch of new international offices in the Middle East and Asia.

“I’m excited to have Sam join the HKA team. His wealth of experience in professional services will be invaluable as we pursue our growth ambitions.”