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Stuart Shilson

Senior PartnerLondon

Stuart Shilson

Senior PartnerLondon

Combines strategy expertise with government experience to support the senior leaders of a wide range of infrastructure-related organisations

Stuart Shilson is a senior partner in McKinsey’s London office, where he helps to lead our global Capital Projects & Infrastructure Practice and our Strategy Practice in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Much of Stuart’s work involves helping senior executives in major infrastructure-related organisations across a wide range of strategic, organisational, operational and financial issues. His primary focus is on economic infrastructure (especially transport, power, water and waste, mining and defence), but some of his work relates to social infrastructure.

Recent McKinsey work has included helping a large transport company to improve margins through pricing, network and service rationalisation, engineering efficiency, procurement, contractor management and capital optimisation, and transforming a multinational energy company through re-thinking its corporate strategy, supporting a substantial merger, and helping improve individual business units and functions.

Stuart also has extensive experience helping organisations to manage their relationships with governments and other stakeholders.

Before joining McKinsey, Stuart worked for five years as a commercial barrister. In 1999, he spent a year as a senior civil servant for the British government. He also served for a number of years as an Assistant Private Secretary to The Queen. Stuart graduated from Balliol College, Oxford University with a First Class degree in Mathematics and Philosophy. He also earned an MSc and an MPhil following postgraduate work at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

Stuart was elected a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in 1989, a fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce in 1996 and a fellow of the British–American Project in 2001. He is also a member of the worldwide governing body of the Order of St John (a major, UN-accredited charity working to improve the health and wellbeing of people in over 40 countries).

Published work

Making the consumer case for major infrastructure,” McKinsey & Company, May 2014

Maximizing revenue from government-owned assets,” McKinsey & Company, May 2014

Keeping Britain Moving: The United Kingdom’s Infrastructure Needs, McKinsey & Company, March 2011

Past experience

Buckingham Palace
Assistant private secretary to the Queen
2001-2004

Cabinet Office
Senior civil servant
1999-2001

Chambers of Hon Christopher Bathurst QC, Chambers of R. J. Royce QC
Barrister
1992-1997

Education

University of Cambridge
MPhil, law and criminal justice

University of Oxford
MSc, computer science

University of Oxford
BA, mathematics and philosophy