LONDON—January 19, 2026—Bain & Company today announced that Clare Gordon, who has previously served as the firm’s chief strategy officer, has been appointed as its new UK managing partner, leading the firm’s UK business and London office, effective from January 15, 2026.  

Clare takes over from James Hadley, who rotates out having served a full six-year term in the role, at a time when Bain’s business in the UK is experiencing strong growth and fast-paced development in the scope and scale of its capabilities. Bain’s UK business has doubled its size over the past six years and is continuing to see a robust pace of expansion currently, amid fast-growing client requirements across a range of key practice areas, with buoyant client demand in its AI, Technology, and Performance Improvement practices, in particular. 

In taking over in her new role, Clare brings deep experience from a 24-year career at Bain, including as a senior partner in the firm’s Consumer Products and Marketing practices, as well as from her role as chief strategy officer and as a member of the firm’s global leadership team. In her client work, Clare has supported management teams on strategies to significantly outpace competitors in their markets, bringing deep expertise in corporate and business unit strategy, brand strategy, marketing, and innovation. She has led multiple large-scale business transformations and post-merger integrations with clients across all major regions, including during a six-year posting in Asia.  

Outside of consulting, Clare has previously also launched a sustainable business program for the United Nations. Additionally, she led new business development at Innocent Drinks, the UK-based beverages business, for several years. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA (Hons) in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Oxford. 

Domenico Azzarello, Bain & Company’s regional managing partner for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), said: “Throughout her career, Clare has been recognized by colleagues across the firm not only for her client success and leadership, but also for the way she represents the unique values of Bain as a role model with an international and fresh perspective, as well our ambitions for the success of our business. Clare is inspirational, commercially successful, and known for developing strong teams and fostering Bain’s special culture. I am looking forward to seeing how she will further develop and build on the continuing success of our UK business and unlock its next wave of growth and delivery for our clients in the UK and Europe.” 

Clare Gordon said: “This is an exciting moment to be taking over leadership of our UK business. It’s a time of extraordinary change where companies are seeing AI, and other critical challenges, radically reshape the business landscape and redefine industries – and where we have a crucial role to play in helping our clients grasp the opportunities this brings. I’m excited to work with our talented teams in London to enable the companies we work with to realize their ambitions and turn those into sustained results and value.” 

Clare succeeds James Hadley, who led Bain in the UK for six years, coming into the role just before the COVID pandemic in early 2020. Over that period, as well as a multi-year run of strong growth despite external turbulence, the firm’s UK business has seen a very substantial expansion in clients and especially large-scale client relationships, while also integrating more closely with Bain’s wider EMEA and global operations to bring the full breadth and depth of the firm’s capabilities to clients across industries. In this time, Bain’s UK operations have also expanded through acquisitions, with the firm acquiring Proxima, the London-based leader in procurement and supply chain consulting in 2022, and Enterprise Blueprints, a leading provider of technology solution architecture, also London-based, in January 2023. James will now return to working full-time with clients as one of the global leaders in Bain’s Strategy & Transformation practice. 

“Under James’s leadership, our London office has grown to become as crucial hub for Bain in EMEA and client activity across the range of our activities. James has piloted the UK business through not just a highly successful period of growth and commercial success since 2019, but also through a time in which it has greatly expanded the size of our teams, deepened the capabilities we bring to clients, and strengthened the culture in our London office as a key driver for our future success,” said Domenico Azzarello. 

Media contacts 

Gary Duncan (London) — Email: gary.duncan@bain.com  

Dan Pinkney (Boston) — Email: dan.pinkney@bain.com 

Joaquín Sanz (Madrid) — Email: joaquin.sanzfernandez@bain.com