Stuart Ells joins HKA as partner and regional chief growth officer

HKA, a global consultancy in risk mitigation, dispute resolution, expert witness and litigation support services, announced that Stuart Ells has joined the firm as partner and chief growth officer for the EMEA region.

As HKA’s regional chief growth office for EMEA, Elis will report directly to Amanda Clack, partner, regional chief executive officer EMEA. Elis’ focus will be to accelerate and support the growth agenda for the EMEA region working with the EMEA Leadership Team in identifying and sourcing growth opportunities for the region, including securing individual senior talent, and team lift outs, as well as M&A opportunities that will help the firm on its growth journey.

Clack said, “We are excited to welcome Stuart to the EMEA leadership team, and look forward to working with him to expand our presence across EMEA. His impressive track record in propelling growth in professional services firms aligns perfectly with achieving HKA’s vision for the future in EMEA.”

Elis has more than 30 years of corporate experience in the professional services, and media and entertainment sectors. Most recently, he served as chief executive officer at Forensic Risk Alliance (FRA), where he was responsible for all operational planning, running and reporting of the business globally. During his time with FRA, Elis successfully recruited a number of senior fee earning individuals, grew the partner base by over 25 per cent and opened international offices in the Middle East and Asia.

Prior to FRA, Elis was managing director & chief administrative officer for Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) Europe & Middle East, where he was responsible for the management, effectiveness and efficiency of the corporate support functions in the EMEA region. His role included future proofing the support structure to make it scalable to support the very significant growth of A&M in the EMEA region in recent years. Prior to his CAO role, Elis had led A&M’s European Media & Entertainment Corporate Performance Improvement business, during which time he had served as interim COO of the Global English division of Pearson Plc.

Prior to A&M, Elis has served as CFO, COO and CEO in a range of companies involved in filmed entertainment, TV production, recorded music, music publishing, theatre production and theatre management during which time he has led or advised on multiple mergers and acquisitions.

Elis started his career at Ernst & Young and he is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales.

Elis said, “I am thrilled 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 our ambitious growth plans.”