Tim Payne

A strategic advisor with over 30 years of experience, focusing on issues of critical reputation, risk, geopolitical complexity, M&A, crisis, and governance.

Tim had a background in politics and a career spanning the UK and US. He then built, over 20 years, a market leading consulting practice in Asia, as Head of Asia and part of the global leadership team at Brunswick Group, the leading critical issues advisory firm.

Tim is now Principal at Kellaways, his own strategy consulting firm focused on areas of reputation and trust.

He is also Senior Advisor and Asia Chair with Global Mentors Group, the world’s preeminent leadership mentoring organisation, supporting Chairs, CEOs and senior executives with personal mentorship from some of the best international business minds.

Tim has worked on transactions and crises for many of Asia’s most significant companies, and on their highest profile issues around the world, as well as supporting leading global MNCs as they engage Asian markets. His appreciation for geopolitical, corporate, cultural, and personal complexities enables him to formulate strategies framed by context. His roots as a political campaigner, and his deep understanding of the micro and macro challenges facing the business world of Asia, strengthen his role as a transformative advisor.

Tim is a committed advocate for inclusion, diversity, and gender parity. He served for 10 years as a director of The Women’s Foundation in Hong Kong and was a former Chair of the 30% Club, fighting to increase the representation of women on corporate boards.

He currently sits on the governing Council of Sussex University in the UK, his alma mater, and was a previous member of the International Advisory Board of the Renmin University of China, School of Business in Beijing. He is a founding director of XBMA, the International Institute for the Study of Cross-Border Investment and M&A.