Sarah Walker-Smith is the CEO of top law firm Shakespeare Martineau and professional services group Ampa. Sarah was the first female non-lawyer CEO in the legal top 50 and was recently named as the UK’s most influential legal leader on social media. A trained accountant having worked for PWC and Deloitte, Sarah strongly believes that ‘good business’ is both purposeful and profitable, often with one leading to the other.

Sarah regularly speaks at national leadership, learning and development events, is a governor at Nottingham Trent University and is a member of the Society of Leadership Fellows at St George’s House – a society only open to 250 leaders worldwide. She and sits on the board of the West Midlands CBI Council and is non-exec chair of Radikl, a scale-up business supporting female entrepreneurs’ growth and success to investment funds.

Throughout the pandemic Sarah has been leading Shakespeare Martineau from her garden shed. This has inspired her own professional vlog; ‘Shed Life’ where she regularly interviews experts in good leadership and discusses her own theories and experience. Sarah recognises the importance of life beyond work and enjoys writing, directing and performing in musical theatre productions.