Nigel Hall’s appointment as Chair marks an investment in CDP’s future: in the clients it serves, the employee owners who own the business, and the next stage of its growth.
Cambridge Design Partnership (“CDP”) has appointed Nigel Hall as Chair, effective 6 July 2026. The appointment is another step in the development of CDP’s board and leadership team, following the appointments over the past year of Wade Tipton as Chief Executive Officer, Chris Jones as Chief Financial Officer and Board Director, and Corey Smigelski and Michael Zeitlyn to its international leadership team.
Nigel Hall – Non-Executive Chair of the Board
The appointment comes as CDP, a 100% employee-owned product development consultancy working across the US and Europe, invests in a simple conviction: that clients are best served by partners who genuinely care about their success. At CDP, every member of the team owns a share of the business, so when a client wins, its people win too. It is a model the firm believes turns a supplier into a trusted advisor.
Nigel Hall brings more than 30 years of international leadership in building, scaling and transforming international innovative, technology-led businesses. His career spans senior roles at Orange and KPMG, the leadership of Cambridge Broadband Networks, and a range of board, advisory and investment roles with growth companies. It is precisely this experience in transformation and disciplined growth, that maps to the journey CDP is on.
His appointment reflects the latest in a deliberate evolution of experienced hiring. In the period leading up to it, Nigel has worked closely with CDP’s CEO Wade Tipton, on CDP’s strategy and the plan to deliver it, supported the leadership team through a significant transition, and helped put in place a clear agenda for change designed to leave the business well placed for future growth. Formalising his role as Chair gives that work long-term stewardship at board level, independent challenge and experience to a leadership team entering its next phase in growth.
Nigel Hall said: “What drew me to CDP is something you rarely find: world-class engineering and science combined with genuine ownership. When the people solving a client’s hardest problem also own the business, they care about the outcome in a way that cannot be manufactured. That is the foundation of a trusted advisor. CDP has reached exactly the right moment to build on it, and I am delighted to help the people and teams at CDP do so.”
CDP’s strengthened board will bring sharper governance to their client promise: to accelerate product development, navigating risks and increasing their chances of success, with a partner whose own success is tied to theirs. Part of Nigel’s role will be to help the leadership team stay true to that client proposition. For CDP’s employee owners, it signals a business investing in the future they collectively own. A more experienced board, a clear plan for growth, and a stronger platform for the careers, capabilities and rewards that employee ownership is designed to share.
Nigel added: “My job is to help Wade and the leadership team stay true to what makes CDP special as it grows. We have a clear strategy and a practical plan to deliver it, and the timing is right: the foundations are in place, and the opportunity to help clients succeed has never been greater. Good governance combined with experienced people will make that ambition more achievable.”
“Nigel understands what makes CDP different. We are here to help our clients succeed, and because we own the business, we care about that success as if it were our own.”
Wade Tipton | CEO
Wade Tipton, Chief Executive Officer, said: “Nigel understands what makes CDP different. We are here to help our clients succeed, and because we own the business, we care about that success as if it were our own. Over recent months Nigel has worked closely with me on our strategy and the plan to deliver it, and helped steady the team through a period of real change. Formalising his role as Chair gives that work the long-term stewardship it deserves, and I am delighted to welcome him.”
CDP’s promise to its clients is a simple one: to be the partner they trust with their hardest problems, and to care about the outcome as much as they do.