Bridgewater, who left the direct agency in December 2004, pleaded guilty to 16 charges of theft, after accessing Hicklin Slade's online accounts to fund a £2m lifestyle, over a five-year period between August 1999 and May 2005
This involved a fleet of six Porsches, seven houses, a Spanish villa, luxury goods, holidays in the Maldives and Barbados, and dinners in five-star London restaurants.
The court heard how Bridgewater, who was arrested in June 2005 by the Metropolitan Police's economic and specialist crime directorate following a complaint during a routine internal audit, stole £2m from her employers, which the prosecution said left Hicklin Slade in a "parlous financial state".
The agency, which retained all of its major accounts following Bridgewater's arrest, said her conviction would "close a sad chapter" in the history of the company, that had resulted in a two year period of rebuilding its finances.
Justin Hicklin, co-founder of the agency, said: "The fraud only involved Sharon, no client funds, business partners or employees were involved. Clients have been kept up to date but consider the matter to be an internal one for the agency."
Hicklin added that following Bridgewater's arrest, the agency had been able to invest in key areas of its business, including its digital and data technologies. A source at Hicklin Slade & Partners stressed that the agency was fully profitable and operational in the wake of Bridgewater's fraud conviction.
Bridgewater joined the agency in 1999 having previously been convicted of eight accounting offences, which occurred at Epsom-based computer firm Dyna-Five in 1996. She did not tell her new employers of her previous conviction, and joined the agency as finance director, where the majority of her offences were committed.
She was found guilty on Tuesday, along with her partner Robert Sangster, who was convicted on charges of helping to pervert the course of justice. The pair will be sentenced on October 26, with Judge Brian Argyle stating, "a custodial sentence is uppermost in my mind".