...introducing our
remarkable people

Jill Ridley-Smith

Board & Senior Management

Jill has worked with growth companies for the past 15 years both as a private equity investor at HgCapital and currently as a Non-Executive Director, business mentor and angel investor. Jill’s skill-set is in supporting, advising and backing management teams who have the vision, courage and execution skills to take advantage of new market opportunities in innovative ways. She brings insight from her diverse business and industry experience together with expertise in strategy, finance and investment with a special interest in healthcare and pharma/biotech.

Sector and Service Expertise

Jill has established credentials as private equity investor in the finance sector, a blue-chip sales and marketing with a FTSE 100 and has held freelance NED and board Governor roles for the last five years. She is a business mentor, coach and advisor.

Strengths and Career Achievements

Jill works as a Non-Executive Director and with start-up and scale-up companies as a business mentor, coach, advisor and investor. Prior to this she spent 8 years as a Private Equity investor and portfolio manager at HgCapital and previously had management roles at GlaxoSmithKline and LEK Consulting. She has worked at Board level for seventeen years. As well as her role at Skarbek she is currently an NED on Digital Catapult, Smartzer, Pearson Ham and Deputy Chair of the Nottingham Trent University Development Board. Her work also includes mentoring entrepreneurs through Innovate UK and the government funded Start Up Loans programme.

Discover other key Skarbek people

Anton Herbig from Skarbek Associates
Anton Herbig

Highly Experienced Global Operations Leader with over 39 years of Manufacturing and Supply experience with Pharmaceuticals

James Hayward from Skarbek Associates
James Hayward

A former soldier with a strong record leading strategic projects in the hospitality, leisure and sports sectors.

Lieutenant General Sir Graeme Lamb KBE, CMG, DSO from Skarbek Associates
Lieutenant General Sir Graeme Lamb KBE, CMG, DSO

The epitome of a Special Forces officer, unfussy, straight talking with a flair for creative solutions

Huw Bollen from Skarbek Associates
Huw Bollen

Versatile programme director, project manager with extensive enterprise programme experience

View the whole team
A good mix of inspiration and technique – this is really helping going forward
Regional manager
SME