Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top London based CEO’ operating in the Service Industry space. If you think a CEO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Sebastien Breteau
Founder & CEO of QIMA
Sebastien Breteau is an entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist. He is the founder and CEO of QIMA, a global supply chain compliance solutions provider headquartered in Hong Kong. Founded in 2005, QIMA partners with brands, retailers and manufacturers in consumer goods and food to secure and improve the quality of their global supply network. QIMA combines on-the-ground experts in 85 countries for quality inspections, supplier audits, certification and lab testing, with a digital platform that brings accuracy, visibility and intelligence for quality and compliance data. In 2013, Sebastien created the Breteau Foundation, a non-profit organisation which aims to promote digital education for children in developing countries. 18,000 children are now enrolled in its program. Sebastien Breteau is also an active private investor in Europe, China & the US and has invested in over 30 start-ups globally.
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About Breteau Foundation, QIMA: QIMA is a provider of supply chain compliance solutions to secure, manage and optimize global supply networks.
Kai Feller
Founder & CEO of Bark.com
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About Bark.com: A new better way to buy services online
Andrew Michael
CEO, Director & Founder of Bark.com
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About Bark.com: A new better way to buy services online
Niccolò Corsini
Founder, CEO of Logidot
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About Logidot: Logidot is a plug-and-play and high-performance indoor location intelligence platform for warehousing and factory automation.
Ian Strang
Founder & CEO of Beyond
Fortunate enough to have been an integral member of some very successful start-ups. ● TRM Corporation (launched fee-charging ATMs in UK) – 3rd employee to £43m exit in 2005 ● Arts Alliance Media – set up their service operations from scratch in 2006/7 – they became global leader before large exit to Luxin Rio in 2017 ● Verve (prev StreetTeam) – as MD, turned small 5 client marketing agency (£150k rev) into international SaaS company & took to £15m Series A in 2013/16. They’re now post Series B. ● Beyond – founded, current, building a consumer brand for death…
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About Beyond: Your knowledgeable companion for everything after life.
Christopher Cowdray
CEO of The Dorchester Collection
Mr. Christopher Cowdray became Dorchester Collection’s chief executive officer in 2007, prior to being general manager of The Dorchester since 2004. Brought up in Zimbabwe, his 30 years of extensive international hotel management experience, across four continents, gives him an exceptional understanding of the luxury hotel market and the significant impact that cultural differences have when doing business around the world Mr. Cowdray firmly believes that the success of any organisation comes from its employees, with every single member of the team playing a vital role in delivering exceptional service. He has been instrumental in establishing Dorchester Collection’s Vision & Values and ensuring that these are articulated through all teams in the hotels. This has led to the entire company being visibly aligned to his vision of passion for excellence and innovation.
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About The Dorchester Collection: The Dorchester Collection provides one of the world’s largest selections of luxury hotels.
Matthew Addison
CEO of StepLadder
Matthew Addison is the CEO at StepLadder
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About StepLadder: StepLadder helps you buy your first home faster.
Lukas Zoerner
Co-founder & CEO of Mespo
Lukas Zoerner is the Co-founder & CEO of Mobillity. Before founding Mobillity, he worked in Morgan Stanley’s investment banking division advising Power & Utility companies across EMEA. Lukas holds a degree in business administration from the University of Mannheim in Germany.
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About Mespo: Mespo is an independent platform that manages money across all of the accounts.
Ravi Sharma
Founder & CEO of PoochPlay Limited
Ravi is the Founder & CEO of PoochPlay, a UK based startup behind the revolutionary intelligent dog well-being management app and a Bluetooth enabled activity tracker that delivers valuable benefits to dog owner. Previously, Ravi managed enterprise level product development projects for over a decade for leading brand viz. Faber & Faber, Pineapple Studios, Aman Resorts, Chanel, Elemis, Affordable Art Fair, Lulu Guinness, Karen Millen and many more. Ravi is an electronic engineer, possesses a degree in IT, a degree in business administration, a masters in marketing and management and is a PRINCE2 certified professional.
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About PoochPlay Limited: PoochPlay is a free mobile app & dog activity tracker that manages your dog’s complete well-being!
Pedro Carmo Oliveira
CEO & Co-founder of Talent Protocol
Pedro Oliveira is the CEO and Co-founder at Talent Protocol.
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About Landing.jobs, Talent Protocol: decentralized platform where talent can create a personal token
Justine Roberts
CEO , Founder & Owner of Mumsnet
Justine Roberts is the Founder and CEO of Mumsnet. Over the last 20 years Mumsnet has grown into the UK’s busiest and most influential network for parents, with over 10 million unique users per month. Mumsnet regularly campaigns on issues including support for families of children with special educational needs, improvements in postnatal and miscarriage care, and freedom of speech on the internet. Mumsnet was awarded the Online Comment Site of the Year (Editorial Intelligence Comment Awards) 2011 and 2014. Justine was the Institute of Internal Communication Communicator of the Year in 2014 and EY Entrepreneur of the Year London and South Winner in 2016. Justine was one of EU-Startup’s Top 50 Most Influential Women in Startups and VC in 2019. Before Mumsnet, Justine wrote about football and cricket for the Daily Telegraph and the Times and before that she was an economist and strategist for SG Warburg. She is a mother of four (and two dogs) and was appointed CBE in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to the economy.
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About Gransnet, Mumsnet: Mumsnet is the UK’s busiest social network for parents.
Jim Williams
Chief Executive Officer of Arian Silver Corporation
Jim Williams is a geologist with over 30 years’ experience in exploration, development and mining both underground and open pit operations, evaluation and management. Mr Williams holds BSc, MSc and D.I.C. degrees in Geology, Geo-mechanics, mineral exploration and evaluation. In addition Mr Williams is a Fellow of the Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Materials (FIMMM), a Chartered Engineer (CEng), Chartered Geologist (CGeol), European Engineer (Eur Ing) and European Geologist (Eur Geol) and is therefore a “Qualified Person” under the rules of the Toronto Stock Exchange and a “Competent Person” under the rules of the London Stock Exchange. Mr Williams has published work including a diamond policy study review in Sierra Leone on behalf of the UK government, and has worked as an expert witness for a leading London-based law firm
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About Arian Silver Corporation: Arian Silver is a public company (AIM + TSX-V) operating a portfolio of producing silver mining projects in Mexico.
Timothy Armoo
Co-Founder and CEO of Fanbytes
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About Fanbytes: Creating unforgettable experiences with the stars you love.
Guillem Singla Buxarrais
Co-Founder and CEO of Neurofenix
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About MedTech Innovator, Neurofenix: Neurofenix is aiming to make rehabilitation more autonomous, enjoyable and accessible to stroke victims.
John Mushriqui
Founder/CEO of Swiffix
Founder at Swiffix
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About Swiffix: Swiffix is a technology platform.
Mina Gouran
Senior Client Partner- CEO & Board Services of Korn Ferry
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About Korn Ferry: Korn Ferry is a global organizational consulting firm
Guy Armitage
CEO / Founder of Zealous Solutions
Guy graduated MSci Artificial Intelligence from Kings College London, before working 3 years for the London Stock Exchange, heading up the FTSE reviews and streamlining processes within the business. In 2006, Guy quit to start a IT consultancy and contracting company in Cairo, Egypt (Bright Creations), where he and his partner grew to 25 employees, and contracts with local and international companies (Google), before selling up and returning to the UK (2 weeks before the Egyptian Revolution). Upon returning Guy came up with Zealous, a creative network aimed at empowering artists worldwide, facilitating collaboration, promotion and distribution of media across all creative fields. Having spent the first year bootstrapping on a shoestring budget, Zealous hired it’s first employee in January 2012.
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About Zealous, Zealous Solutions: Zealous Solutions is a cleaning, hygiene, maintenance, garden and pest management company.
Tom Fitzherbert
CEO and Director of Fast2Fibre
Tom Fitzherbert is a highly-experienced CEO within the research and technology field and has a proven track record of establishing and building innovative and entrepreneurial start-up companies into successful businesses.
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About Fast2Fibre: Fast2Fibre is a provider of a highly efficient, cost-effective process for upgrading copper telecoms and power cables worldwide.
Matthew Connelly
Founder & CEO of ihateironing.com
Mr. Matthew Connelly, also known as Matt, serves as Managing Director of ihateironing.com Ltd.
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About ihateironing.com: ihateironing.com is a company that provides dry cleaning and laundry services on delivery.
Jidé Maduako
CEO of Yoke Network
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About Yoke Network: We help apps grow by driving downloads through social media influencers & providing tangible business value.
Nandini Sukumar
CEO of World Federation of Exchanges
Nandini Sukumar is CEO @ World Federation of Exchanges
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About World Federation of Exchanges: World Federation of Exchanges is a trade association of 64 publicly-regulated stock, futures, and options exchanges.
Anthony Viggiano
CEO of Autotether
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About Autotether: Autotether Marine is a lanyard-free wireless kill switch that shuts off a boat’s engine if the boat operator or passenger falls overboard.
Ian Hobson
Co-Founder, CEO & Managing Director of ChargeBox
Ian has set and delivered the mission and objectives for ChargeBox which has seen the company grow rapidly. Involved since the companies inception, Ian took over control of the company and formulated the change in strategy driven by the smart phone market and Olympics in 2012. Ian is passionate about ChargeBox and passionate about bringing free charging to everyone who needs it everywhere they need it. A graduate of Imperial College, Ian’s career has taken him from Accenture to Hambrecht & Quist and Tibco, all the time delivering rapid growth and businsess development.
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About ChargeBox: ChargeBox They pride Theirselves for providing the easiest to use, most trusted and innovative charging solutions for public spaces.
Alexandra Goat
CEO of Livity
Alex is CEO of youth-led creative network Livity. Part creative agency, part talent accelerator, part innovation incubator, Livity works with some of the most disruptive brands on the planet to create a more positive life for young people.
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About Livity, Livity, Livity: Livity, a multi disciplined youth marketing agency.
Gavin Starks
CEO of Open Data Institute
With a unique background in business, technology, science and media, Gavin has broad and deep knowledge of how data can change the world. He began developing internet-based research tools in 1993, and joined Branson’s award-winning Virgin Net (now Virgin Media) in 1995 as its fifth team member. In 2006 he created AMEE, raising over $10m from world-class venture investors including O’Reilly, USV, and Amadeus (organising the world’s environmental data, standards, and calculations into a simple web-service). In 2011 he joined the UK Government’s “Energy Sector Board” as part of their Midata open-data initiative. Having helped to kick-start the streaming media industry in Europe in the late 90’s, Gavin created award-winning media-technology service, Tornado, selling it to a larger media group in 2003. He then helped create the digital media supply-chain, as founding CEO of world-leading digital distributor, CI. CI was the first company to deliver digital products to iTunes, and delivered Amazon US ~25% of its download store at launch. At the UK’s Jodrell Bank Radio Observatory he worked on systems designed to map and interpret the universe. He created courses and lectured in Engineering and Music at Glasgow University, and has degrees in Astronomy (B.Sc.), and Electronic Music (M.Mus.). He co-created a co-operative harbour on the Thames where he now lives, as a musician has released his own album, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
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About Open Data Institute: Open Data Institute is an organization thats works to lead the movement of the open data in the web.
Nicola Gammon
CEO of Shoot
Her professional background is in the IT sector, with over 15 years’ experience as a senior sales director and business strategist. She has worked for companies including Messagelabs, the leading provider of managed email security services to businesses worldwide; The Cloud, Europe’s largest WiFi operator; top international telecommunications company Cable & Wireless; and Computacenter, independent supplier of IT infrastructure services. Combining her IT expertise with her love of gardening, Nicola was prompted to launch shoot following the steep but inspiring learning curve she herself experienced when designing and maintaining her own beautiful garden in North London. Having originally impulse bought plants from the garden centre, she then watched as many withered and died, unsuited to the soil and general conditions in her garden. Not being the sort of gardener to research and keep notes, but knowing that her new plants needed ongoing care, she realised there was a need for a gardening service that reminded her when and how to care for the plants in her garden. With the launch of shoot, Nicola’s mission is to enable gardeners of all abilities to really make the most of their gardens, as easily and effortlessly as possible.
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About Shoot: Shoot is striving to be the UK’s premier gardening and garden management website.
Simon Day
CEO and Co-founder of Apptivism
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About Apptivism: A citizen engagement platform that provides a fact checked spectrum of views on an issue.
Judith Davey
Chief Executive Officer of The Advocacy Project
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About The Advocacy Project: The Advocacy Project helps marginalize people to speak up and to make choices about what happens in their lives.
Neil Herron
Founder and CEO of Grid
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About Grid: Grid connects city businesses, services, people and technology.
Jared Ruddy
CEO – Founder of FitCat
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About FitCat: FitCat is an app, a device and a community that keeps your cat in top condition
Jon Slade
CEO of Elasticine Ltd.
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About Elasticine Ltd.: Elasticine is a disruptive music-tech software business focused on the live events sector.
