Sue Williams is a specialist kidnap consultant, mediator and trainer in conflict transformation. In 2003 she was awarded the Queen's Police Medal in recognition of her commitment to the field of kidnap, negotiation, and saving life. Sue was formerly Head of the Hostage And Crisis Negotiation Unit, New Scotland Yard, and part of the Metropolitan Police’s Royalty Protection Group senior management team. She was a senior member of the Directing Staff on the National Negotiation Training Course, and an active member of many international working parties on negotiation, including Interpol. Since leaving the police, Sue works with NGOs and corporations, advising on crisis preparation and response. She has been an active contributor to the UK government's responses to abductions, sieges and kidnaps, and currently advises the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) and sits on the Comite Maritime International.

Sue was named Personality of the Year 2010 by WISTA-UK, the Women's International Shipping and Trading Association - you can read the press release here - and has also been named their International Personality of the Year 2010 - more details here.

“Working in negotiation training was a life-changing experience for me. There are only a minority of people who will have to undergo the trauma of a kidnap, and even fewer people who can help them. I got involved in Hostage UK because I saw first-hand how much difference we could make to the families. You can help make an unbearable situation bearable, and turn a crisis around.”