Louise Shepherd

As a Managing Consultant within Korn Ferry’s EMEA Industrial practice, Louise advises organisations on identifying and attracting leadership talent to support growth, transformation and succession. She combines deep sector knowledge with a highly relationship-led approach, taking the time to understand a client’s business, culture and commercial objectives before translating these into a focused search strategy.

Louise brings an extensive network developed over nearly two decades working with manufacturers and their leadership teams. Her experience spans specialist and multinational organisations, and she has particular expertise in senior commercial and operational appointments. She is known for building long-term, trusted relationships with clients and candidates and for bringing energy, pace and a pragmatic commercial perspective to every assignment.

Prior to joining Korn Ferry, Louise spent 17 years with a leading global recruitment and executive search organisation, recruiting senior leaders across industrial and consumer manufacturing. Her work focused particularly on personal care, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage ingredients, flavours and fragrances, chemicals and consumer durables, giving her an in-depth understanding of the leadership requirements, talent markets and competitive dynamics within these sectors.

Over the course of her career, Louise has partnered with organisations ranging from specialist manufacturers to large international businesses, supporting them in identifying leaders capable of driving growth, strengthening commercial performance and navigating periods of change. Alongside her search work, Louise led a Women in Manufacturing initiative, bringing together professionals from across the sector to build connections, share experiences and help champion greater representation of women within manufacturing leadership.

Louise holds a BA (Hons) in Business from Staffordshire University. She is also a Trustee of the Luca Guintoli Foundation.