Category Archives: Appointments

Appointments, News

Advanced appoints ex-Salesforce VP as Chief Operating Officer

Former Customer Success VP Simon Short takes on senior role for the company to drive customer success for its 20,000+ customers

Advanced, one of the UK’s largest software and services providers, has appointed ex-Salesforce leader Simon Short as Chief Operating Officer. Simon, who is the former Executive Vice President of Global Customer Success for Salesforce, will help bolster customer success around Advanced’s Cloud solutions through driving high levels of retention, customer growth and acquisition.

Simon is Advanced’s second major appointment in eight months. In June 2020, Chuka Umunna, the former Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, joined the company as a non-exec director to support is accelerated growth phase. The appointment also comes 18 months after a £2 billion investment deal with Vista Equity Partners and BC Partners.

Simon has an extensive track record, having worked for Salesforce in a senior customer success role, across EMEA and globally, for more than five years. Previously, he was Head of Technology and Business Management at Vodafone as well as CTO and Head of Digital for the customer experience business at Capgemini. He also served as an officer in the Royal Navy for 15 years where he supported major defence and technology programmes.

The appointment is pivotal for Advanced as it has made significant investments into its customer success function which will help it accelerate growth – through building its existing Cloud products and acquiring new products. The company has developed and acquired 19 Cloud products within two years, with more in the pipeline for 2021, and the Net Promoter Score (NPS) for its existing Cloud products has grown by 9% in just six months and +8 points since June 2019. Overall, Advanced’s NPS score has grown by +46 points since Gordon Wilson joined the company as CEO.

Commenting on his appointment, Simon said: “Advanced is a fast-growing Cloud software company and I am thrilled to be joining at this point in its journey. The company has had remarkable success to date and I look forward to focusing on how to make a difference to its thousands of customers and grow the business through unrivalled customer success.”

Gordon added: “We want to become the best Cloud software and services provider, and Simon is the person who will help us get there. He is one of the customer success heavyweights in the industry. His vast experience in customer success, working for the world’s first and largest software-as-a-service business, gives us the opportunity to not only learn best practice but align to our vision of delivering a service to our customers that others can only aspire to.”

Appointments, News

LogicMonitor appoints former Slack executive Christina Kosmowski as president

Customer-centric growth expertise honed at Salesforce and Slack will propel LogicMonitor’s global scale and technical innovation

LogicMonitor, the leading cloud-based IT infrastructure monitoring and observability platform for enterprises and managed service providers (MSPs), today announced the appointment of veteran technology leader Christina Kosmowski as president of the high-growth SaaS company.

The appointment comes at a time when both LogicMonitor’s global customer base and product capabilities continue to scale rapidly. Demand from enterprises seeking full visibility into complex, hybrid IT infrastructures has created a market opportunity predicted to grow to more than $100 billion by 2024, according to IDC. LogicMonitor is well-positioned to capitalise on the opportunity. LogicMonitor recently ranked No. 378 on Deloitte’s 2020 Technology Fast 500 due to the company’s impressive revenue growth of 255 percent over the past three years.

Kosmowski joins LogicMonitor after spearheading global customer success and services at publicly traded Slack (NYSE: WORK), where she was instrumental in scaling the business from $90 million in annual revenue to $1 billion in annual revenue. Prior to Slack, Kosmowski spent 15 years at Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), where she oversaw functions including renewals, consulting, support and customer success management and helped the company grow from $20 million to $10 billion.

As president, Kosmowski will lead LogicMonitor’s go-to-market strategy, research and development, and customer success practices as the company enters the next stage of its rapid growth trajectory. She will report to CEO Kevin McGibben and will work closely with McGibben and LogicMonitor’s leadership team to set the strategic path of the company moving forward.

“LogicMonitor is serving as a catalyst for digital transformation and IT modernisation at a time when the ability to provide an uninterrupted digital customer experience can make or break a business,” said Kosmowski. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with LogicMonitor’s top-notch team and help elevate and scale this company as it continues to deliver a valuable, world-class IT observability platform.”

Kosmowski holds a board position at Rapid7 (NASDAQ: RPD), and is a founding limited partner of Operator Collective, a group of more than 100 of tech’s most sought-after operators, investors and founders from diverse backgrounds who invest in and accelerate the next generation of business-to-business technology.

“I am thrilled to welcome Christina to the LogicMonitor team,” said McGibben. “Christina brings vast hands-on leadership and operations experience from her nearly two decades of leadership roles at world-class SaaS technology companies. Her energy, enthusiasm and unique expertise in building global customer-centric enterprise software businesses makes her the perfect leader as LogicMonitor continues to grow and scale aggressively.”

Kosmowski began her career as a manufacturing engineer at Tenneco Packaging after receiving her bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Northwestern University and later transitioned into consulting. Kosmowski also worked as a project manager at Inforte, a global consulting firm specialising in e-business software applications.

Accounts and Accountancy, Appointments, Finance News, News

String of New Year promotions at Smith Cooper

Smith Cooper, a Midlands based top 41 Accountancy and Business Advisory firm, has welcomed in the New Year with a number of promotions and key strategic hires across many of its service lines as follows:

  • Natalie Pollard Senior Manager (Tax Advisory)
  • Kimberley Wapplington Senior Manager (Business Recovery and Insolvency)
  • Ali Raynor Manager (Audit)
  • Annabelle Rowlinson Manager (Accounts)
  • Tara Adams Assistant Manager (Accounts)
  • Matthew Aston Assistant Manager (Audit)
  • Jonathan Dunn Assistant Manager (Audit)

These promotions follow recent external strategic hires which include recruiting Adam Rollason into our Tax Advisory division, based in our Birmingham office,

Harriet Pye-Watson, who joins our ever-expanding Private Client team and Dinesh Pancholi, who is a Senior Manager in our specialist Employment tax team.

“Committed to attracting, developing and retaining home grown talent to facilitate the delivery of the firm’s strategic vision”

David Nelson, Senior Partner states “Whilst the impact of COVID-19 and the governments measures introduced to combat its spread led to several advisory and corporate finance projects being delayed, the nine months to December 20 saw the firm deliver pleasing growth across most of its service lines.”

“Especially pleasing was the continued growth within our Audit, Accounts and Tax compliance divisions which, following the investment and strategic focus given to them, took full advantage of the changes caused by the top 10 firm’s revised approach to service delivery and pricing. That growth should continue into 2021 through the new client wins we have already secured and our increased relevance and attraction to businesses looking at the service quality and value gained from their existing accountancy providers.”

“This current and future expected increase in client numbers means that we have an ever-increasing need for quality team members to support and contribute to the delivery of the growth. These recent promotions justify that not only are we growing, but with many of the team members having started with the firm as trainees, prove that we remain committed to attracting, developing and retaining home grown talent to facilitate the delivery of the firm’s strategic vision.”

“These promotions are very well deserved, and I am confident that each individual will go on to enhance their skills and reputation to their own and our clients’ benefit.”

“Whilst taking team members out of their comfort zone, our newly implemented promotion process provided successful candidates with a real sense of accomplishment”.

Sian O’Leary, HR Manager at Smith Cooper comments

“These promotions are the first where successful candidates have been taken through a formal process to help them understand their current and future potential within the firm, helping them achieve their professional goals whilst enhancing their sense of belonging and marking a real, measurable accomplishment.”

Appointments, News

CooperOstlund expands sales team with new appointment

CooperOstlund, the UK’s leading provider of combined heat and power (CHP) installation, maintenance and improvement services, has announced the appointment of Steve Jephcott as Business Development Manager.

Steve brings more than 19 years’ industry experience to the CooperOstlund team, gained with organisations including JCB Power Products and Aggreko.

With responsibility for driving new client development across Scotland, his immediate priorities will be to lead day-to-day prospecting activities, as well as supporting the commercial team to meet ambitious sales growth targets.

Steve commented: “CooperOstlund is renowned across the power generation industry for its unrivalled experience and intricate expertise in the anaerobic digestion and biogas marketplaces. I’m looking forward to playing a key role in further increasing our market share throughout Scotland, as well as developing opportunities in natural gas and expanding into new markets.

“From initial site surveys and system installation, through to O&M services, optimisation and major overhaul provision, CooperOstlund is the perfect partner for your CHP genset. It’s a privilege to join the team at such a pivotal time and I hope to make an immediate business impact.”

Tim Broadhurst, Chief Commercial Officer at CooperOstlund, added: “With significant experience gained across the power generation industry, Steve will be a highly valuable addition to our rapidly-expanding team. I’m looking forward to further building our profile in Scotland and know Steve is the perfect team member to lead the charge.”

For more information about CooperOstlund, or the company’s extensive range of CHP installation, maintenance and improvement services, visit www.cooperostlund.com.

Appointments, News, Telecoms News

Voneus names David Smyth as new CFO

Telecoms veteran to lead rural broadband provider’s ambitious growth plans

Voneus, the rural community broadband specialist, today announced the appointment of David Smyth as Chief Financial Officer. Smyth will oversee Voneus’ continued strong financial performance, as the company steps up its efforts to upgrade its customers to gigabit-capable broadband and expand into new hard-to-reach areas across the UK.

Smyth joins Voneus with a wealth of valuable experience from telecom companies, most recently as CFO of Gigaclear, the full-fibre rural broadband operator, where he led the Finance, HR, Strategy, Legal, Facilities and PMO teams and facilitated a near doubling in size of the company.

Prior to Gigaclear, Smyth sat on the Board of a UK-listed software business and a high growth NASDAQ-listed broadband company operating throughout Russia. This followed a hugely successful 12-year period as Strategy and IR Director at Orange, the mobile operator, which he joined two years before it launched service, built and ultimately helped sell to France Telecom for £25bn.

“I am excited to be joining Voneus, whose mission to level up rural and hard-to-reach communities is close to my heart. No family, individual or business should be disadvantaged in Britain today because of poor broadband, no matter where they are,” said David Smyth. “I join at a time when Voneus’ customer base is experiencing a rapid expansion and I look forward to working with the team to further expedite this growth.”

“This year, Voneus enters a new chapter as we look to upgrade a large number of our existing customers to gigabit-capable fibre broadband and reach hundreds of new customers with our fixed wireless technology. David will play a key role in supporting our ambitious plans by managing, mentoring and empowering our finance and operational support teams to add value across the business,” said Steve Leighton, CEO at Voneus. “He is a strategically-minded, highly talented individual and we are delighted to have him on board.”

Smyth replaces Graham Wallace, one of the founding members of Voneus, who has served as the broadband provider’s CFO since 2011. During Wallace’s tenure, Voneus experienced rapid and consistent growth, while he also played a pivotal role in securing the company’s 2019 investment from Macquarie Capital.

“Graham’s contribution to Voneus over the last nine years has been immense and we can’t thank him enough for his dedication,” continued Leighton. “Under his watch, the company has grown from scratch to be one of the largest providers of rural broadband in the UK and he was instrumental in securing external investment that’s helping us close Britain’s digital divide.”

Wallace commented “I’m happy to be leaving the company in safe hands as it now has the strategy and funding to develop a steeper trajectory of growth and care for our customers. I have developed deep and lasting friendships in Voneus, with a very talented team, but am now looking forward to my next venture.”

About Voneus:
Voneus is the champion of rural community broadband and leading provider of superfast broadband for homes and businesses located in poorly connected or difficult to reach communities. Founded in 2015 by a group of seasoned telecoms industry specialists, Voneus aims to become the UK’s number one provider of both superfast and ultrafast broadband services, bringing parity between rural areas and the UK’s towns and cities.

For more information, please visit www.voneus.com

Appointments, News

Cardiff Capital Region Economic Growth Partnership appoints ex-Admiral Group CEO to the Board

The Cardiff Capital Region Economic Growth Partnership (EGP) is delighted to announce the appointment of David Stevens, former Admiral Group CEO, to the Board. David brings with him a wealth of business talent and strategic expertise – with a strong desire to put his experiences to good use, playing an active role in the delivery of the CCR Economic and Industrial Growth Plan.

The REGP, with its impressive line-up of C-suite talent, already includes the ex-Admiral IT and Finance Director, Andrew Probert – and is now in the extraordinarily privileged position of having a second Ex-Admiral Director bring further commercial wisdom and extensive business expertise, proven in both taking a pioneering company to stock market listing and in building an industry-leading FTSE100 entity. The positive implications of this are significant, positioning the REGP alongside the Regional Cabinet and other CCR advisory bodies as engines capable of delivering and developing the CCR strategy and ambition, across the region.

David graduated from Oxford University to join Cadbury Schweppes in 1983. After five years of accelerated learning – learning everything from running an operation in the giant Bourneville factory, to trying to convert American palates to the delights of Milk Tray – David left Cadbury’s for Insead, before joining the London office of McKinsey where he consulted across a wide range of industries.  David learnt a huge amount during his four years at McKinsey; including the realisation that consulting wasn’t for him long-term. Given that, Henry Engelhardt’s invitation to join him in setting up Admiral in 1991 was both well timed and gratefully received.

Initially responsible for Admiral’s Marketing, David took on responsibility for Pricing in 1995 and managed the more technical insurance parts of the business, including Underwriting and Claims, before becoming the Chief Operating Officer, followed by the Group CEO role when Henry stepped down in spring 2016. On December 31st 2020, after 30 years of working for Admiral, David himself stepped down from the Group CEO role.

Outside of professional life, David’s other interests include The Waterloo Foundation – a charitable foundation started with his wife Heather in 2007. The Foundation mainly focuses on helping with world development, the environment, child development – and supporting areas, such as unpaid carers, that are underfunded in Wales.

When asked why he is keen to take up other commitments such as the REGP David explained:

 “South Wales has been both a welcoming home and a very important part of the magic potion which has made Admiral a huge success. I warmly welcome the chance, towards the end of my career, to try and give something back. The REGP Board, with its already established track record of making things happen, seems like a place where I might be able to do that.”  

On David’s appointment, Frank Holmes. Chair of the REGP, said:

“Having experienced and talented leaders on our Board is essential for our collective ambition for the CCR and I am delighted to welcome an individual of the calibre of David Stevens. His immense range of skills and unique experiences combined with his different perspectives will further compliment the considerable range of expertise we have around the table. David will unquestionably add real value to the team and we are all looking forward to working with him”.

Appointments, News

IPI announces Sat Sanghera as new CEO

IP Integration (IPI), the digital contact centre specialist, today announced two key appointments to its new executive team, with respected industry leader Sat Sanghera joining as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Andy Scopes joining as Chief Operating Officer (COO). The appointments mark the beginning of a new era at IPI, with the new leadership team committed to building on the company’s founding principles– to deliver innovative, cloud-based customer contact centres to its clients, as well as an exceptional working environment for its people.

Sanghera comes to the role with a wealth of experience accumulated during a number of senior leadership positions, including co-owner of DatapointEurope – sold to Sabio in 2017. Over the past year, Sanghera has worked closely with the team at IPI in an advisory capacity. In this time, he played a strategic role in helping the board to refocus the business – building up IPI’s consultancy capability, investing in IPI’s applications development team and championing a cloud first mentality within the business – with Sanghera instrumental in supporting the team to launch IPI’s cloud platform.

“What started out as a two-week advisory engagement, unexpectedly turned into an incredibly exciting opportunity,” said Sat Sanghera, CEO at IPI. “Every good business starts with a great group of people – and IPI has a very loyal and highly skilled team. We want to build on this solid set of foundations and encourage the IPI team to aim higher and succeed together as we evolve the business to better serve our clients.”

Scopes brings more than 20 years of experience to his new role at IPI. He most recently was the VP of Group Operations at Sabio, previously holding senior management positions at Verint, Datapoint, and Avaya. As COO, Scopes is charged with defining IPI’s new service offering, working closely with the development team to carve out a new revenue stream that better serves clients and drives continual improvements across the business.

As part of the new leadership team, Joe Prentis is also named the new IPI Chairman.

“We are delighted to welcome Sat Sanghera and Andy Scopes to our leadership team,” said Joe Prentis, Chairman at IPI. “Sat leads from the front and by example, enacting positive change across the organisation. In the short amount of time he has been with our company, he has fostered a culture built around championing our people and celebrating our clients. I believe our company will be all the stronger with him and Andy at the helm.”

About IPI:
IPI is the UK’s leading digital contact centre specialist, focused on creating intelligent and innovative contact centre solutions that deliver exceptional customer experiences that best meet the needs of its clients in the evolving world of customer service. Founded in 2001, the company supports more than four million customer interactions and 55,000 agents every day.

IPI’s portfolio of in-house developed applications is offered to clients alongside a complete suite of contact centre solutions from IPI’s industry-leading partners. These bespoke solutions – available in the cloud, on-premise, or as a managed service – cover every component of the contact centre, from integration, unified communications, networking, workforce optimisation, compliance and security, right up to conversational AI, speech analytics and voice biometrics. It also offers a range of consultancy and professional services as well as devOps support, delivered by its highly-accredited team of contact centre experts.

Headquartered in Reading, UK, IPI also has offices in London and Manchester, as well as in the Philippines. For more information, please contact us or visit https://ipintegration.com/.

Appointments, News

OGL Computer appoints Gary Reynolds to grow software division, boost turnover and spearhead new ERP solution roll out

OGL Computer has appointed Gary Reynolds as Software Director to manage the roll out of the company’s next-generation enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, Profit4.

Gary has been in the software industry for over 24 years and has a wealth of experience in taking new software products to market, from designing new applications by actively collaborating with customers, through to building teams to support, deliver and develop the software.

Profit4 provides stockists, distributors and wholesalers with a comprehensive software suite to connect and manage all core business processes, from order management to stock control, while removing manual processes that hinder progress. Developed in-house by OGL Computer’s Software Division, Profit4 is a cloud-based software, offering flexibility and remote access.

Reporting directly to OGL Operations Director Debbie Barton, Gary will be responsible for managing all aspects of Profit4’s UK-wide roll out. Gary’s new role will also see him build out OGL Computer’s software offering with further functionality and integrations to meet growing customer requirements.

OGL Computer has seen adoption of its integrated eCommerce solution jump by over 150% in the last six months of 2020, and Gary will build on this and grow the business’ turnover and customer base, by strengthening and expanding the software team, and overseeing service delivery for clients.

Gary commented on his appointment: “I was attracted to OGL Computer because of its collaborative culture and I am excited by the opportunity to spearhead the launch of our new Profit4 software. Even before the pandemic, there was an increase in demand for OGL’s web services thanks to the explosion in online sales. With Profit4’s roll out, our customers can rest assured that we can better support multi-channel sales, as more wholesale distribution businesses increasingly sell online or via partners such as Amazon and eBay.

“My vision for the future is ambitious, but attainable, as ERP is the lifeblood of stockist businesses, so there is a huge opportunity for OGL Computer to provide solutions to fill other gaps in customers’ business processes. At the same time, we will continue to provide customers with tools that give them greater data insight so they can make informed business decisions. Together with my team, we will build on OGL’s investment in the new ERP software by adding complementary products and services that deliver greater value to our customers.”

Debbie Barton, Operations Director, OGL Computer, concluded: “With the launch of Profit4 and the future expansion of the software division, the board was keen to appoint a new Software Director to support and drive our plans. I have run the software team for over 30 years so when looking for someone to take over the mantle, I knew it would have to be an outstanding and dedicated candidate who was also a great fit for the business. I am delighted to welcome Gary to the OGL team. He is already making a difference in the business, working on implementing new initiatives and tools that will make our software delivery even more effective and efficient.”

Gary began his software career as a developer after receiving a first-class honours degree in Business Information Systems from the University of Leicester and a masters in Interactive Computer Systems Design and Software Engineering from Loughborough University. Having worked his way up to Chief Technology Officer and Development Manager for companies providing remote workforce management solutions to the healthcare, defence and maritime industries, Gary, who will be based at OGL Computer’s Kidderminster-headquarters, brings a wealth of expertise to the growing business.

Enabling users to combine all of their business processes, from stock and warehouse management to sales, including new websites or product lines, into one system, ERP is a solution being adopted by industries including electrical, tooling, fasteners and fixings, cleaning and janitorial, and automotive.

Appointments, News

Riding Wave of Growth, Rightpoint Names First Managing Director of Europe

Global experience leader Rightpoint, a Genpact company, today announced that it has named Marty Zalewski as Managing Director of Europe. Zalewski will lead efforts to build on the strong organic company growth in the region.

Under Zalewski’s leadership, Rightpoint will take a highly local, mindful approach as it expands its customer and employee experience, digital product and commerce solutions to clients in the financial services, healthcare and life sciences, professional services, and high-tech industries, while continuing to leverage Genpact’s global scale.

Zalewski brings over 20 years of experience in growth-focused innovation to his role with Rightpoint. His tenure includes work in consulting and private equity including founding The Mindful Eye, a tech start-up focused on addressing the growing impact of lifestyle choices and environmental factors on wellbeing and performance in order to drive positive change in behavior through intelligent technology. He has an MBA from London Business School.

“Rightpoint was founded on the belief that we could do things differently through our approach to innovation and our expansion into Europe is a powerful representation of this idea,” said Marty Zalewski, Managing Director of Europe, Rightpoint. “Customer and employee experience is at the heart of everything Rightpoint does, and we are at the leading edge of experience innovation that is grounded in strategy, design, and technology.”

Appointments, News

Made Tech appoints former NHS Digital Director of Apps to deliver lasting value for the NHS

Made Tech, the public sector technology delivery expert, has continued its rapid growth with the appointment of a new head of health, Hazel Jones.

Joining at a time when the NHS has had to rapidly embrace digital solutions, the role will see Hazel use her expertise in technology and healthcare to lead Made Tech’s digital transformation projects across the health service.

She will be working to modernise legacy applications and working practices, accelerate digital service delivery and enable improved digital capabilities within client teams.

Hazel brings with her over 20 years of digital transformation experience across both public and private organisations. Most recently, she acted as Interim Head for NHS Blood & Transplant Rapid Covid Response and Senior Director at Push Doctor, as well as previously holding the role of Apps & Wearables Programme Director at NHS Digital.

Discussing her appointment, Hazel Jones said: “Working for the NHS, I have seen first-hand how Covid-19 has brought challenges that have led it to embrace digital technologies so it could still operate and treat patients safely. The pandemic has been a turning point for the NHS and as it continues to optimise its digital capabilities, I hope to offer my experience and passion to accelerate the health service’s journey through digital transformation.

“I believe that technology delivery companies working for the public sector shouldn’t simply turn up, install digital solutions and then leave. They should support organisations to evolve their workforce’s skills and digital capabilities through co-working. This will ensure they have the tools and techniques to continue to grow and evolve their digital expertise. These values are shared by Made Tech and I can’t wait to get to work and do whatever I can to make a difference in the healthcare sector.”

Rory MacDonald, CEO at Made Tech said: “Hazel brings with her the knowledge, expertise and passion for healthcare that we know will not just benefit Made Tech but the entire public sector. Her leadership will allow us to continue supporting the NHS through its digital revolution and help ensure it is providing the best solutions possible to the UK, staff and patients.”

To learn more visit the company website: https://www.madetech.com