The partners
Operators, in the rooms that matter.
AXEL is the UK practice of Traksjon — a partnership of ten operators, people who have run the plays they now run with clients. No leverage model, no juniors learning on your budget. The partner you meet is the partner who does the work.
Three of the four partners below served as Regional Directors for the UK Department for Business and Trade in the United States.
Los Angeles · San Francisco · Seattle · Houston · Boston · New York City · London · Copenhagen · Zürich
Thomas S. Riebs
Managing Partner · Los Angeles
Founder of Traksjon. Leads defence & dual-use and aerospace & space.
Read profile →Carlo Cavagna
Partner · Los Angeles
Former Regional Director, UK Department for Business & Trade. Leads media, entertainment & creative industries.
Read profile →Leah Mayo
Partner · Houston
Former Regional Director, UK Department for Business & Trade. The operating machinery of market entry.
Read profile →Kirsten Chambers-Taylor
Partner · Boston
UK Department for Business and Trade, Boston, 2000–2024. Adviser to successive British Consuls General.
Read profile →Every partner has operated on both sides of a border — building, selling, or regulating across markets before advising anyone else on how to. Profiles for the wider Traksjon partnership publish through the autumn.
How every partner works
Five values. One operating system.
Unrelenting Curiosity · Systems Thinking · Constructive Contrarians · Operators Not Consultants · Curated Belonging — not aspirational statements on a wall, but how the firm hires, works, gives feedback, and decides which clients to take.
Considering the US market?
Start with a conversation. We will listen, ask sharper questions than you expect, and tell you honestly whether we are the right fit. The conversation is the first step, not the commitment.
Begin a conversation →