Distinguished Leaders Series: Melanie Richards (KPMG)

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Speaker biography

Melanie Richards
Vice Chair and Board Member, KPMG UK

Melanie Richards is a Partner at KPMG and joined in 2000 to develop the Debt Advisory practice, a team which has advised on circa. €60 billion of debt in the last couple of years. Melanie was appointed to the KPMG UK Board in 2012 and was appointed Vice Chair of KPMG UK in October 2014. She has more than 30 years of banking experience particularly in bank lending, debt restructuring and capital markets’ instruments.

Prior to joining KPMG, Melanie spent 15 years with NatWest and 3 years with Hambros’ Fixed Income Group where she headed the private placement group. She was active in the origination and execution of a full range of debt capital markets’ products including syndicated loans, private placements, to both US and European institutional investors, public bond issuance and associated interest rate and currency hedging products.

Melanie is a passionate champion of Diversity & Inclusion both within and outside of KPMG and is a recognized voice on the issue of gender equality. She is a founding member of the 30% Club Steering Committee, a pioneering campaign focused on increasing female representation in FTSE Boards and Leadership. In 2013, Melanie received the Opportunity Now’s Champion Award, the gender campaign from Business in the Community, for her contribution to advancing, promoting and embedding a diversity culture within the workplace. She joined the Harvard Women’s Leadership Board in June 2014. In June 2016, Oxford Brookes University awarded Melanie an Honorary Doctorate of Business Administration (HonDBA) for her many achievements in business and for her active promotion of gender equality.

Melanie is a Trustee of two charitable organisations - The Eve Appeal, which funds research into developing effective prediction and detection of gynaecological cancers and Orbis UK, which is focused on blindness prevention and treatment in developing countries. In addition, she is a governor of Eastbourne College.

Melanie is married with two children and when she does have a spare moment she finds enjoyment in running and going to the theatre. 

This lecture is part of the Distinguished Leaders Series.