Stephen Sunderland new Asia Pacific leader of L.E.K. Consulting
L.E.K. Consulting has appointed Stephen Sunderland as the new leader of its Asia Pacific business.
Nick Holder, the leader of L.E.K. Consulting’s Sydney office, has handed over his Asia Pacific managing partner duties to his Singapore-based colleague Stephen Sunderland following the completion of a seven-year term.
Having initially joined the global strategy consulting firm in London in 1989, Holder later served as head of L.E.K. Consulting’s Australian practice prior to the appointment of Stephanie Newey as its new country managing partner toward the end of last year.
During his time as the Asia Pacific helm, Holder has driven a number of growth initiatives, including the build-up of L.E.K. Consulting’s regional education practice and launch of its Life Sciences centre of excellence in Singapore. “I was honoured to oversee the Asia-Pacific operations, and I look forward to being part of the region’s next chapter as Stephen takes the reins and continues developing and delivering strategies to best serve our clients,” Holder stated.
Like Holder, Sunderland is a University of Cambridge masters graduate who originates from the consultancy’s UK branch, which he joined in 2001 before relocating to Shanghai as a Partner and China practice leader for MedTech a decade on. Since mid last year, Sunderland has been overseeing the firm’s Southeast Asian Healthcare & Life Sciences business based out of Singapore, and also serves as a member of the firm’s global board of directors.
“Stephen has invested more than a decade growing our Healthcare & Life Sciences practice throughout the Asia-Pacific region” said L.E.K. Consulting global managing partner Clay Heskett. “With Stephen’s proven leadership abilities, we are well positioned to continue expanding and delivering high impact results for the companies and business leaders that trust our strategic counsel to succeed in a dynamically changing world.”
Sunderland’s appointment caps somewhat of a recent transition period for L.E.K. Consulting in the region, including the aforementioned ascension of fellow healthcare expert Stephanie Newey as Australia managing partner. In addition, another UK-origin partner Nick Codrington was appointed chief commercial & operating officer for Asia earlier this year, while Patrick Branch and Yuta Inokuchi were recently appointed as co-heads of Japan.
“I am deeply committed to L.E.K. Consulting’s continued growth and excited to take on this new role,” Sunderland said of the leadership handover. “Our hardworking and talented teams across the Asia Pacific from India to Japan have already achieved exceptional growth individually and collectively, and I’m especially thankful to Nick for expertly navigating the many challenges of the pandemic era to set us up for success in the years to come.”
