Team

Our key strength is the quality of our people. They have strong academic backgrounds, represent a diversity of cultures, and draw upon a wealth of prior experience in corporate law, capital markets, strategy consultancy, project management, and social and environmental policy.

Partners
Associates

Partners

Neil Alderton

Profile
Neil has over a decade‘s experience of leading Board Reviews for organisations internationally. He oversees the delivery of our advisory mandates and briefs clients on the outcomes of our Reviews — including comparisons with peers. Neil speaks regularly on governance topics internationally and leads the development of the Lintstock Governance Index, a data analytics tool that generates insights for clients and feeds our research arm.

In his spare time Neil enjoys playing the piano, cycling, and walking his dogs along the Suffolk coast.
Education
Master‘s in Engineering from the University of Cambridge.

Dudley Hawes

Profile
Dudley leads operations and client services at Lintstock while also supporting the delivery of advisory mandates. He came to Lintstock after a career in venture capital and private equity where he was most recently a General Partner at Anterra Capital, a Fidelity-backed VC fund and a Partner at a multi-family office. Dudley has worked in multiple executive and investor director roles and continues as a Venture Partner at Westerly Winds, a London-based growth investor.

Dudley is married with four children. Widely travelled with both work and family, he also enjoys playing football, skiing and the occasional triathlon.
Education
MBA from Columbia Business School and London Business School (EMBA-Global programme). BA in Business and Management from the University of Reading.

Laura de Regil

Profile
Laura is responsible for the firm‘s finance function and client onboarding, having worked in various risk and control roles for UBS and Deutsche Bank.

Music has always been a big part of Laura‘s life, having been a member of the choir in Bilbao. As a childhood concert pianist, Laura‘s passion for the piano was has been recently rekindled through teaching her children the instrument.
Education
BA in Law and Specialist Diploma in Economics from the University of Deusto, Spain.

Merlin Underwood

Profile
Merlin founded Lintstock in 2002 and leads its Board Review practice. With a background in commercial and company law, he is responsible for the principles and methodology which underpin Lintstock‘s approach.

For over a decade Merlin and his wife have lived in France with their four sons, with skiing, climbing and ocean swimming on the doorstep. Living on the border with Spain, Merlin‘s ideal day is a mountain biking trip involving two ferry trips and eight hours in the saddle, ending with a beer and pintxos in San Sebastian
Education
BA in Law from the University of Cambridge and European Master‘s in Law and Economics (LLM) from the Erasmus University of Rotterdam. Member of the Middle Temple, called to the Bar in 2004.

Associates

Kate Barclay

Profile
Kate is responsible for scoping Lintstock‘s Board Reviews in close collaboration with Chairs and Company Secretaries, and manages our live projects through to their successful conclusion. She regularly presents the findings of our Reviews to clients, and hosts seminars on emerging trends in corporate governance.

Kate lives in Peckham and spends her weekends exploring south-east London and experimenting with gardening.
Education
BA in History from the University of Oxford.

Sophie Burrows

Profile
Sophie supports the delivery of Board Review mandates, conducts in-depth analysis which feeds into our reporting and research, and assists with the scoping of presentations to our clients.
Education
LLB (Hons) in Law and French from the University of Leeds; LPC/LLM in Professional Legal Practice from the University of Law; Solicitor of the Courts of England and Wales (non-practising).

Katie Cunnah

Profile
Katie supports our research, business development and outreach activities, drawing on her experience as a Chartered Psychologist with a background in academic research, organisational psychology and small business management.

Being Yorkshire-based, Katie spends much of her spare time on the North York Moors with her dog and tending to her creative streak through food photography and song writing.
Education
BA (Hons) Music from SOAS, Master‘s in Psychology (Conversion) from Leeds Beckett University, PhD in Psychology from University of Hull

Jacob Leat

Profile
Jacob supports the delivery of Board Review mandates and assists in client onboarding, relationship management, project delivery and the firm‘s finance function.

Married with 2 children and a keen sports enthusiast, a perfect day for Jacob involves family, friends, golf, good food and wine.
Education
BSc (Econ) in Politics from Swansea University; MRes in Policy Research from Queen Mary University of London.

Tom Leather

Profile
Tom supports the delivery of Board Review mandates and takes a leading role in developing the content and format of our reporting year-on-year, drawing on his depth of experience as a technical writer in the entertainment and technology sectors.

Outside of the office, Tom is a keen badminton player, competing in tournaments across the UK and abroad. He also enjoys photography, creative writing and video games.
Education
BA in Modern and Medieval Languages from the University of Cambridge.

Valerie Marshall

Profile
Valerie supports Lintstock‘s reporting function, drawing on her extensive experience as a researcher in financial services to develop reporting and briefing materials to assist in the delivery of Board Review mandates.

Outside of the office, Valerie enjoys spending her time in the great outdoors, surfing, snowboarding and hiking. She is always looking for tips for hiking routes in the UK, Europe or further afield
Education
BSc in International Relations and History from the London School of Economics.

Phil Piper

Profile
Phil is responsible for managing the firm‘s IT function, maintaining our technology infrastructure and developing new tools to support the services we provide to clients.

Phil enjoys designing and making things and is an archery coach.
Education
BSc (Hons) in Physics, University of York.

Shania Sandher

Profile
Shania supports the management and delivery of Board Review mandates, with a focus on client services. Drawing from a technical background in information management, Shania also supports the development of the firm‘s data analytics and statistical reporting.

Shania grew up in California, and enjoys exploring London‘s art galleries and the home counties in her free time.
Education
Master‘s in Engineering from Durham University.

Philip Sidney

Profile
In addition to supporting Board Review mandates, Philip leads our growing research activities and our association with the All Party Parliamentary Corporate Governance Group, producing studies on the latest trends in governance which reach a global audience. His writing on topical governance issues has appeared in Governance, Governance & Compliance, CGj and FOGlet.

When not in the office Philip enjoys spending time at home in Kent, music and reading lengthy historical biographies. He also serves as a Governor of the Lord Leycester Hospital in Warwick, and chairs the Next Generation Group of the Historic Houses Association.
Education
BA (Hons) in English Literature from Durham University; MA in Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture from the University of York; PhD in British Literature Post-1830 from the University of Cambridge.