The Crossbridge story began in 2007, when the founders and long-time friends, Tim Cuddeford and Ted Rees met up at a business function in Amsterdam. They began to discuss ideas for a new firm that could leverage their mutual experience and understanding of how banks operate (from end-to-end, and across both organisational and product silos), as well as the human element of facilitating change in this type of environment.
Early in 2008, the first exploratory meetings were held in London, and the initial ideas for the company model, structure and aspirations were shared. Tim's wife Cathy had already suggested the name Crossbridge, and Ted agreed it would be a great name for a consultancy.
An early intention to work together was signed on a napkin, which is now preserved in what has become known as the "Crossbridge Museum."
Tim set up Crossbridge Services Limited for his first assignment at a Japanese banking client, whilst Ted continued to work on a start-up banking assignment under his own company name. Both of these companies migrated over to Crossbridge, which meant that the firm's first two client assignments had been secured.
"Crossbridge helped us to launch a challenging new fund product. Their range of experience, ability to gel the team together, and practical approach to solving problems underpinned the projects success."CEO Independent Wholesale Bank
Professional advice from accountants and brand consultants soon led to the formation of Crossbridge LLP in July 2008. Andrew Marshall and Stephen Kinns were the first to come aboard in September 2008, expanding the firm's client base to four, with Crossbridge included on a client's Preferred Supplier List (PSL) for the first time.
At the beginning of 2009, the team expanded rapidly bringing onboard former colleagues; Richard Squire, Tony Clark, Steve Green, Jennyfer Stanley and Karen Chu. This expanded the client footprint to six, with two more clients adding Crossbridge to their PSL. Throughout the rest of that year the firm experienced considerable growth, despite the banking crisis following the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. During this period, the number of working consultants grew from 5 to 30.
Discussions with former colleagues led to the creation of Crossbridge New York early in 2010, headed by Beth Boyd, giving the firm a greater ability to service the increasingly global nature of client assignments. In early 2011, Crossbridge welcomed Louise Courtman as the first Associate Partner in London.
Today, Crossbridge benefits from a strong senior leadership team as well as a mature network of both clients and consultants from across the industry. With more than 100 consultants across the globe, Crossbridge has Capital Markets capabilities to rival those of larger cross industry consultancies and continues to grow year-on-year.
