Due Diligence: A Practical Guide, 2nd Edition

Vanessa Williams, Consultant Solicitor, Excello Law

Vanessa is a business lawyer with over 20 years' experience, 13 of which have been spent as a partner in leading London law firms.  She has established and grown corporate/commercial departments as well as participating at board level with particular responsibility for finance and HR strategy.

She has acted on transactions ranging from multi-million pound international acquisitions to business start-ups.  She particularly enjoys working alongside owner-managers helping them grow and develop their business.

Vanessa is the author of “Due Diligence: A Practical Guide” published by Jordans (second edition due in 2013), she speaks regularly at national and international conferences on business law and is a visiting lecturer for the University of West of England Law Faculty.

In addition to her experience in running law firms Vanessa is herself an entrepreneur.  In response to the recession she set up and continues to run Across the Board, a practical governance advisory service aiming to maximise performance and minimise risk within organisations.  She has run an investment network matching businesses with sources of funding and in collaboration with ActionCoach she helps management teams get “investor-ready”.  She now works as an independent business consultant and non-executive director as well as being a corporate/commercial consultant solicitor within ExcelloLaw.

Vanessa is also a director of the Women of the Year Lunch and its associated charity, which recognises the achievements of women across all sectors at an annual lunch and works actively within a number of wildlife charities.

Vanessa is married and divides her time between London during the week and her main home in the Brecon Beacons of Wales during the weekend, when she spends time with her husband and the family pets.  Away from work she is passionate about rugby, following Wales and the Cardiff Blues.  She enjoys walking her deerhound dogs in the Brecon Beacons as well as following the art and music scenes in Cardiff and London.  Since her husband is an archaeologist, she spends the rest of her spare time visiting piles of rocks and ruins.