Sam Tidswell-Norrish is a Partner at Access Holdings, based across London, Baltimore and New York. He joined the firm in 2025 and leads its fundraising, investor relations, marketing and communications functions, while serving as executive sponsor for portfolio value creation. He brings extensive experience and a forward-thinking perspective to alternative investments, with a particular focus on building strong investor relationships and supporting growth across Access’s portfolio.
Before joining Access, Sam was a senior leader and member of the founding team at Motive Partners, a specialist private equity firm focused on financial technology investments across venture, growth and buyout. From the firm’s formation in 2015 until January 2025, he played a central role in building its international platform and developing its value-creation capabilities. He also held an operational leadership role at portfolio company Dun & Bradstreet, serving as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer during Motive’s ownership.
Alongside his work in private equity, Sam founded and chairs Independent Sponsor News, a data and news media platform covering independent sponsor activity. He is also Chair of OPUS, a global platform helping early-stage entrepreneurs accelerate their founder journeys, and sits on the Board of the Chief of Staff Association. He previously served on the Board of the World Wide Web Foundation.
Highlights
I love what I do day to day. If I didn’t love it, I wouldn’t do it.
When you realise that and you work with the flow rather than against it, and you recognise that you’re not a hero yourself, the whole thing becomes easier.
My career and my successes are not the product of myself; they are the product of those I’ve been surrounded by.
If you go about your career as a single player game, like I think most people probably do, it’s very challenging.
Everything’s possible in today’s world.