Meet our Team
Charity and Arts - Finance Team
Holly Arrowsmith
Associate Director – Not-for-Profit
Holly has a decade’s experience recruiting finance professionals to the Not-for-Profit and wider Charities sector. Having begun her career with a FTSE 250 recruitment specialist, Holly has recently joined the Ivy Rock Partners team to lead and develop their Not-for-Profit team further. Holly has experience recruiting both interim and permanent accountants for qualified to Executive level roles.
Outside of work, Holly is passionate about mental health concerns. As well as being a certified mental health first aider, Holly volunteers for a mental health crisis line in her spare time. She is particularly passionate about partnering with Not-for-Profit organisations and prides herself on being able to recruit candidates with the right technical proficiency as well as softer skills for a positive cultural addition to any finance team.
T: 07760 565 161
Jake Morrow
Principal Consultant
Jake joined us in 2022 having previously worked in the charity sector.
Since joining the team, Jake has focussed on interim recruitment across the not-for-profit sector with a focus on arts & culture and charities, combining his professional experience with an interest in the arts following his degree in Classics from the University of Nottingham.
Please get in touch if you’re looking for an interim role within the not-for-profit sector.
T: 07340 284 189
Heather Bateman
Consultant
Heather joined the team at Ivy Rock Partners in 2024 and supports with permanent recruitment into the Charities/Not-for-Profit sectors.
Originally from County Cork, Ireland, she made the move after finishing her degree in Anthropology. Her passion for the public sector began long before her studies in the social sciences.
Heather is dedicated to applying her honest and open approach to recruitment and is excited to work for a company who shares these values.
Please get in contact if you wish to discuss permanent roles in the Charity/Arts sector.
T: 07423 002 961
Education and Housing - Finance Team
Phil Southern
Director – Education & Housing
Phil has spent ten years recruiting senior finance professionals across the education, and international development sectors.
He has an extensive network of senior Executives across the multi academy trust sector, as well as higher education and independent schools. He has helped some of the largest and highest profile trusts in the UK centralise their finance functions, by recruiting key hires across finance and operations both in their centralised, and regional hubs.
Please contact to discuss: interim or permanent finance/operational recruitment within the education sector, salary benchmarking and advice around centralising finance.
T: 07717 229 627
Megan Hunter
Senior Consultant
Megan joined the team in September 2023, specialising in recruiting finance professionals into permanent roles in the education and housing sector.
Her interests have always been in the not-for-profit sector with her prior experience volunteering and has always had a passion for education following her finishing her degree in English. Megan works with integrity at the core of everything she does within recruitment and looks to help both candidates and clients in any way possible.
Please get in touch to discuss permanent roles within the education and housing sector.
T: 07392 687 349
Local Government - Finance Team
Will Ryan
Director
With 17 years working in some of the top public sector recruitment consultancies in the UK, Will joined Ivy Rock Partners in 2022.
Will has predominately supported organisations across Local and Central Government as well as Housing Associations. He has delivered numerous senior level recruitment projects and run large multi vacancy campaigns. As part of his commitment to developing talent in the sector he has run mentoring events and organised seminars focused on supporting under represented groups in the sector.
Please contact to discuss: executive search; multivacancy campaigns, recruitment/talent strategy; and collaborations on talent development.
T: 07909 030 965
Will Thomson
Principal Consultant – Local Government
Will joined Ivy Rock Partners midway through 2023, coming with over 8 years of professional recruitment experience. With a big passion to work with and place professionals into organisations with a social purpose, Will moved from the FMCG sector into now specialising in Local Government Finance recruitment.
Previously working with a variety of senior candidates placing them into some of the biggest FMCG businesses in the country, Will cares deeply to find the right role for the right candidate.
T: 07392 653 878
Matt Horsman
Senior Consultant
Matt specialises in recruiting permanent finance professionals within Local Government.
With a prior interest in finance dating back to his Economics & Finance degree, he has adopted an honest approach to recruitment since joining us in 2022. Working with a range of candidates at all stages of their career, Matt will always have the best interests of both clients and candidates at heart.
Please contact to discuss: permanent finance roles in Local Government.
T: 07502 726 270
Claire Coyne
Associate Director
Claire joined Ivy Rock after 12 years’ experience placing finance and senior executives into the public sector- recruiting both interim and permanent roles.
Claire and an extensive network across public sector and will focus on senior interim finance appointments into local government.
She is determined to provide a positive candidate and client experience – always providing transparency and honest feedback.
Please get in contact to discuss senior interim recruitment within Local Government.
T: 07435 528 347
Charlotte Daly
Senior Consultant
Charlotte joined Ivy Rock Partners in 2023 after previously working in sales.
Since joining the team, Charlotte has focused on interim recruitment across local government. Charlotte has an honest approach to recruitment and looks to support candidates to find the right next role for them.
In her spare time, Charlotte enjoys fundraising and has taken part in and organised several events for different foundations.
Please get in touch if you’re looking for an interim role within local government.
T: 07392 653 237
Digital, Data and Technology Team
Ben Langlay-Smith
Associate Director
Ben joined Ivy Rock in 2022 to spearhead our IT offering having spent ten years recruiting IT, digital & data professionals across the public and non-profit sectors as well as previous experience recruiting into the commercial sector.
In the past 5 years, Ben has placed over 200 Technology professionals into Central and Local Government, the NHS, Universities, Not-for-Profits and Housing Associations.
Please contact to discuss interim, fixed term or permanent technology recruitment within the public and not-for-profit sectors.
T: 07442 996 028
Matt Alderson
Principal Consultant
Matt joined Ivy Rock Partners in 2024 with five years’ experience of placing permanent and interim candidates into the public sector.
He joined our Digital, Data and Technology team and specialises in building long term relationships, regularly supporting the same clients and candidates with multiple assignments throughout his career.;
Please get in contact to discuss interim, fixed term or permanent technology recruitment.
T: 07768 051 421
Maria Darnal
Consultant
Maria joined Ivy Rock Partners in 2024 after completing her degree in Digital Marketing at the University of Derby. With a background in sales, Maria brings a genuine and approachable style to building connections with both clients and candidates. Outside of work, her passion for acting and theatre inspires her creativity and curiosity, whilst her love for badminton keeps her active and fuels her competitive spirt.
As part of the Tech & IT team, Maria is dedicated to building strong relationships and delivering exceptional service. She takes the time to understand the unique needs of every client and candidate, ensuring a bespoke approach to each recruitment process.
If you’re looking to discuss interim or permanent technology recruitment, Maria would be delighted to hear from you.
T: 07875 313 945
Central Government - Finance
Michael Quest
Director
Michael launched Ivy Rock Partners in 2019 and leads on both the Executive and Portfolio search.
With over a decade of experience recruiting finance and executives, he has placed well over 300 professionals into roles in organisations with social purpose and has a great network.
Please contact to discuss: executive or portfolio search; recruitment/talent strategy; working for Ivy Rock Partners; collaborations and partnerships.
T: 07766 401 842
Ellie De Nardo
Associate Director of Central Government
Ellie brings over a decade of recruitment experience with a specialist focus on Senior Finance appointments. Although she has worked across multiple sectors and industries, most of her experience has been delivering large interim and permanent recruitment campaigns across Central Government nationally.
She is passionate about candidate experience – from transparency around salaries and rates to making sure everyone gets feedback.
Please contact to discuss executive search; multivacancy campaigns, recruitment/talent strategy; and collaborations on talent development..
Operations Team
Katharyn Natynczuk
Director of Operations
Katharyn joined Ivy Rock Partners in January 2020 as our Director of Operations, after working closely with Michael for several years.
She is passionate about providing the highest standard of care and support to our candidates and clients. Get in touch if you need any help with timesheets or invoicing, or to discuss marketing and events.
T: 07875 313 945
Poppy McCartan
Operations Co-ordinator
Poppy joined the team in September 2024 as Operations Co-ordinator after graduating from Lancaster University.
Originally from Skipton in North Yorkshire, this is her first role in London. Poppy is excited to develop her skills and knowledge in this role, whilst supporting the company’s mission and always having a friendly attitude to both candidates and clients.
Please get in contact to discuss any enquiries regarding timesheets or any marketing.
T: 07767 011 372
Our Board Advisors
Abi Mustapha-Maduakor
Board Advisor, Chief Executive Officer of the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA)
Abi is currently Chief Executive Officer of the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA) and Co-Founder and Director of Black Women in Leadership Network.
We are privileged to have Abi as our Board Advisor; her entrepreneurial mindset, passion and insight into scaling and institutionalising small businesses is invaluable.
As Co-Founder and Director of Black Women in Leadership Network, Abi will also be uniquely placed to advise on how Ivy Rock supports diversity and inclusion, both in partnership with our clients and internally as a company core value.
James Mitra
Board Advisor, Founder JBM Consulting Ltd
James founded JBM Consulting in 2012 and has grown the agency to be a market-leading search firm known for recruiting executive talent and future leaders into disruptive tech start-ups, FinTech and high growth consulting firms. James has not only managed to create a highly successful agency with a loyal client base, but has done so with integrity and a modern approach – we are very lucky to have James involved and he has been a kind and reliable source of support since launching Ivy Rock Partners.
Julie Gilbert
Board Advisor, Executive Director City Lit
Currently the Executive Director for City Lit, Julie’s impressive career to date has seen her act on the School’s Management Committee for London Business School and hold strategic HR roles in the commercial sector for both Chevron and Harrods. With expertise in organisational design, talent acquisition, employee relations, engagement, employment law and performance management, we are extremely fortunate to have Julie involved with Ivy Rock Partners and she will play a key role in our future.
