Katie Gilmartin joins the FWB team

FWB is delighted to announce that Katie Gilmartin has recently joined the team as sector lead for our Legal & Professional Services practice across the UK. Katie joins us from the global executive search firm Odgers, where she gained invaluable experience advising some of the world’s leading legal and professional services firms.

A graduate of the University of Aberdeen, Katie began her career as a lawyer, working in private practice before transitioning into broader business and operational roles within international law firms, consulting and the Big Four.

Before moving into executive search, Katie was Global Head of People, Culture & Engagement at the design firm Arup. During her tenure, she launched the firm’s first people strategy and led various initiatives focused on leadership, wellbeing, and inclusion—particularly during the challenges of the pandemic. She was also part of the strategy and integration team that oversaw the three-way merger of CMS, Nabarro, and Olswang, the largest law firm merger in UK history.

Katie commented:

“Joining FWB to lead the legal & professional services offering is an exciting opportunity to build on the firm’s strong presence in Scotland and expand that out across the UK. In today’s market, organisations face complex challenges that demand brave, innovative leadership solutions and placing the right individual into a leadership position can be transformational in unlocking the potential of an organisation. FWB’s commitment to excellence goes well beyond outstanding delivery in search, its networks bring together senior leaders across the private and public sectors and its executive education programmes provide a unique platform to develop leaders of the future. I am looking forward to contributing to our clients’ success by leveraging our insights into market dynamics and I’m delighted to be working together with a team of exceptional colleagues at FWB.”

Adam Brown commented:

“We are extremely pleased to have been able to attract somebody of Katie’s calibre and experience to lead our Legal & Professional Services practice. Katie’s appointment is an important part of our strategy to build a specialist sector-focused offering for our clients across the UK, which is based on deep networks, exceptional delivery and judgement, and a long-term partnership approach to everything that we do.”