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 United Kingdom based Executive Director operating in the Finance space. If you think a Executive Director 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.
Kirk A. Lepke
Executive Director, GS Growth of Goldman Sachs
Kirk A. Lepke is an Executive Director, GS Growth at Goldman Sachs. He was a member of the firm’s investment activities in Europe. Prior to Summit, Kirk worked for Torch Partners and Morgan Keegan Technology Group. He received a BA in commerce, organizations and entrepreneurship, magna cum laude, from Brown University.
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About Goldman Sachs: Goldman Sachs is a multinational financial services firm providing securities, investment banking, and management services.
Sarah Card
Executive Director of Goldman Sachs
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About Goldman Sachs: Goldman Sachs is a multinational financial services firm providing securities, investment banking, and management services.
Russell Berry
Executive Director of Goldman Sachs
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About Goldman Sachs: Goldman Sachs is a multinational financial services firm providing securities, investment banking, and management services.
Stephan Apel
Executive Director of Moelis & Company
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About Moelis & Company, Outlier Ventures: Moelis & Company is an investment bank that provides innovative strategic advice and solutions to a diverse client base.
Mark Pettit
Executive Director, Innovation & Strategic Partnerships of Visa
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About Visa: Visa is a multinational financial services company that facilitates electronic payment systems throughout the world.
Marc Moses
Executive Director and Group Chief Risk Officer of HSBC
Marc Moses was appointed as an Executive Director of HSBC Holdings plc in January 2014. He is Group Chief Risk Officer, with responsibility for risk and compliance, and a member of the Group Management Board, positions he has held since December 2010. Mr Moses joined HSBC in November 2005 as Chief Financial and Risk Officer with global responsibility for leading and managing the Global Banking and Markets finance and risk functions. In January 2008 he was also appointed Chief of Staff, responsible for all infrastructure in Global Banking and Markets. Mr Moses began his career at Sedgwick before joining Bankers Trust as a fixed income, money market and futures trader. He is a qualified accountant and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. He was audit partner and head of the market risk advisory group at PricewaterhouseCoopers and in 1999 he joined JP Morgan as European chief financial officer and global head of the valuation control group. Mr Moses is married with four children. He is a keen Arsenal football supporter and enjoys playing tennis.
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About HSBC: HSBC is a banking and financial services organization that offers a comprehensive range of services.
Philip Keller
Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of Intermediate Capital Group
Prior to ICG, Philip was Finance Director of ERM, a global environmental consultancy, where he was part of a management team that led two leveraged buyouts in 2001 and 2005. He previously held a number of financial directorships at GlaxoSmithKline and Johnson & Johnson. He is a Chartered Accountant and graduate of Durham University. Member of plc Board, Investment and Executive Committees. Responsible for finance, human resources and operations.
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About Intermediate Capital Group: ICG is a specialist asset manager in private debt, credit and equity.
Alice Avis
Non-Executive Director of Business Growth Fund
Alice Avis joined the board of BGF in April 2016 and brings a wealth of marketing, e-commerce and executive experience. During her time as Chief Executive and Chair at The Sanctuary Spa, Alice oversaw a trebling of the business’s value and its sale to PZ Cussons. Most recently she served as Executive Chairman for Lumene Oy, a Finnish skincare and cosmetics company. She is currently a Non-Executive Director at The Edrington Group, a privately-owned international spirits company, and Cyden Limited, a British beauty and health company, as well as serving as an advisor to the National Trust. Alice’s experience includes stints as Director of Marketing and e-Commerce at Marks and Spencer, and as Global Brand Director at Johnnie Walker. In 2009 she was awarded an MBE for services to the beauty industry.
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About Business Growth Fund: Business Growth Fund is an influential investor in small and mid-sized businesses.
Adrian White
Non Executive Director of Business Growth Fund
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About Business Growth Fund, Lloyds Banking Group: Business Growth Fund is an influential investor in small and mid-sized businesses.
James Chew
Non Executive Director of Business Growth Fund
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About Business Growth Fund: Business Growth Fund is an influential investor in small and mid-sized businesses.
Maria Lam
Non-Executive Director of QPQ
Maria Lam is a Director at QPQ.
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About QPQ: QPQ is a network infrastructure to enable a digital universe.
Stephen Rice
Non-Executive Director of QPQ
Stephen Rice is a Non-Executive Director at QPQ.
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About QPQ: QPQ is a network infrastructure to enable a digital universe.
Coline McConville
Non Executive Director of 3i Group
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About 3i Group: 3i is an international investment manager focused on mid-market Private Equity, Infrastructure & Debt Management.
Mark Stokes
Non-Executive Director of Pembroke VCT
Mark Stokes has over 30 years of experience in financial services, and 20 years at the Executive Committee level. He is currently Chief Commercial Officer at United Trust Bank, and previously held Managing Director positions at Lloyds Corporate and Commercial Banking, Williams & Glyn, and Metro Bank. He has a deep understanding of business strategy, execution, performance management, risk management, and governance. Mark has broad business experience from a career lending into commercial and SME markets, and consumer and asset finance markets, which includes M&A execution and capital markets fundraising. He has also previously served as a Non-Executive Director Alternate with Motobility Operations Group plc. Mark is a member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers and has completed their Green and Sustainable Finance certification. He also holds a Diploma in Company Direction and Board Development from the Institute of Directors.
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About Pembroke VCT: Pembroke is a venture capital trust focusing on growth stage companies in the health and fitness, apparel, media, and technology sectors.
Louise Wolfson
Non-Executive Director of Pembroke VCT
Louise is a senior corporate lawyer who was previously a partner at Allen & Overy LLP and Pinsent Masons LLP. She has a particular focus on corporate finance transactions and has wider experience including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic investments, capital raisings, and listings. Louise currently works as a freelance legal consultant and sits as a tribunal judge hearing social security and immigration appeals. Louise is also a director of Women’s Pioneer Housing, a housing association that supports women in West London.
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About Pembroke VCT: Pembroke is a venture capital trust focusing on growth stage companies in the health and fitness, apparel, media, and technology sectors.
Liz Hewitt
Non Executive Director of National Grid Partners
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About National Grid Partners: National Grid Partners makes and manages strategically and financially attractive investments and leads company-wide innovation efforts.
Peter Williams
Non-Executive Director of Bridges Fund Management
Peter Williams has 34 years experience in private equity. Until recently he was a group board member and head of UK at 3i, Europe’s leading quoted venture capital company. He qualified as a chartered accountant with PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Birmingham. In 1970 he joined 3i where he spent his career working in their offices in Birmingham, Liverpool, Brighton and London until he retired in 2002. He has been a council member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and the CBI Small Firms Council as well as a non-executive director of a number of companies.
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About : Bridges Fund Management is a specialist fund manager dedicated to sustainable and impact investment.
Govind Pindoria
Executive Director of Imperial Innovations
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About Imperial Innovations: Imperial Innovations is a technology commercialization and venture capital investor that focuses on technology.
Leonard Seelig
Executive Director of BABB
Leonard is supporting BABB in implementing best practices on both market-facing and operational processes. He has twenty years of banking experience, including in the technology sector, and in helping lead both private and public companies. Leonard has recently retired from his role as chairman of APC Technology Group PLC, and Board member of Defenx PLC, a security software company listed on the AIM London stock market.
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About BABB: BABB is a world bank for the micro-economy: a global marketplace for human innovation, financial autonomy and wealth creation.
Clive John
Non Executive Director of Development Bank of Wales
Clive has over 25 years’ experience in the private equity industry and spent a significant part of this as a senior director of Lloyds TSB Development Capital (LDC). He has considerable experience of investing in and growing private companies across many sectors, in many cases as a board member. Since leaving LDC he has chaired a thriving diagnostic business, worked with the BVCA in training private equity executives and acted as advisor to a major hedge fund.
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About Development Bank of Wales, SELDOC Healthcare: Development Bank of Wales provides flexible finance for businesses based in Wales.
Matt Gatrell
COO and Board Executive Director of Nutmeg
Matt joined Nutmeg in April 2018 bringing over 20 years of financial services technology experience with him. As Nutmeg’s CTO, Matt ensures our technology strategy matches our business strategy. Prior to joining Nutmeg, Matt held the position of Chief Technical Officer at both Neilson Financial Services and MarketInvoice. His experience has been rounded out by 13 years at BancTec, a global top 100 financial services technology provider, where he held a number of roles, including R&D Director. Matt holds a PhD in Software Engineering from Brunel University.
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About Nutmeg: Nutmeg is an online investment service that specializes in investments, ISAs and pensions.
Rachel Zagajewski
Executive Director of HPS Investment Partners
Rachel Zagajewski currently works as the Executive Director for PS Investment Partners, LLC. She previously worked at Park Square Capital as the Vice President.
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About HPS Investment Partners, University of Oxford: HPS Investment Partners operates as a global investment firm with a focus on non-investment grade credit.
James Witter
Non-Executive Director of Oxford Capital Partners
James joined the Board of Oxford Capital at the beginning of 2013 and contributes broad experience of the institutional capital and private equity markets in Europe and around the world. Following a 15 year career with Dresdner Kleinwort Benson merchant bank in London in origination and utilities financing, James became a managing director with Merrill Lynch International before joining Nomura International as Director of Private Equity Capital Markets. Since 2007 he has served SVG Advisers, an affiliate of the Schroders Group and a subsidiary of SVG Capital plc, as a member of the Executive Management Committee and Head of Investment Advisory and Solutions. James read Natural Sciences at Cambridge University and won an MBA at the London Business School. He is a Cambridge Rowing Blue and active sportsman.
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About Oxford Capital Partners, SVG Advisers: Oxford Capital is a technology venture capital investor based in London and Oxford.
Jostein Svendsen
Founder & Executive Director of Jaja
Jostein Svendsen currently serves as executive director of Jaja Finance since October 2015.
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About Jaja: Jaja is a fintech company that provides digital and physical credit cards and other financing services.
Julian Taylor
Executive Director – Asia Pacific of Scottish Enterprise
Julian Taylor is Scottish Enterprise’s Executive Director, Strategy and Economics. He is responsible for helping set the overall direction of SE – in response to the Government Economic Strategy – and the evidence base that supports this. He works closely with a range of public and private partners and his experience includes advising a number of major companies at a senior level. Julian has over 20 years’ experience of international economic development in a wide variety of roles and has been with Scottish Enterprise since 1997. He was educated at the Universities of Sheffield, Newcastle upon Tyne, Dortmund and Herriot Watt and is a member of Glasgow University’s Adam Smith Business School Advisory Board.
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About Scottish Enterprise: Scottish Enterprise is Scotland’s main economic, enterprise, innovation and investment agency.
Sue Hunter
Non-Executive Director of Frog Capital
Sue Hunter is the Chairman of Investment Committee at Frog Capital Ltd. Sue began her career as an accountant with KPMG, and holds a BSc (Hons) in Economics from the University of St. Andrews.
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About Frog Capital, Scotts Project Trust: Frog invests in software enabled scale-up stage tech companies in Europe.
Nigel Payne
Non-Executive Director Advisor Channel of rebuildingsociety.com
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About rebuildingsociety.com: peer to business loans platform connecting lenders directly with businesses needing debt funding.
Kenton Robbins
Non-Executive Director Business Strategy of rebuildingsociety.com
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About rebuildingsociety.com: peer to business loans platform connecting lenders directly with businesses needing debt funding.
Paul Chisnall
Executive Director, Financial Policy & Operations of British Bankers Association
Paul’s responsibilities include banking reform, financial reporting, tax and corporate governance. Paul prepared industry responses to the Independent Commission on Banking, the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards and various financial stability related UK government consultations. He is currently working on issues arising from the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013, including its provisions on ring-fencing and measures arising from the Government and regulatory response to the PCBS recommendations.
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About British Bankers Association: The BBA is the leading trade association for the UK banking sector with more than 230 member banks headquartered in over 50 countries
Irene Graham
Executive Director of Business Finance of British Bankers Association
At the BBA Irene leads the overall policy work across SME and corporate businesses, including key industrial sectors. This includes running Better Business Finance and strategic initiatives across products such as export finance and capital markets. Prior to joining the BBA Irene was a senior banker at Standard Chartered Bank, undertaking executive roles across its international footprint. This included heading its Corporate and Institutional business, and transaction bank in Europe, co-heading SCB’s European wholesale bank and leading international regulatory affairs. She sits on the board of the UK Business Angel Association.
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About British Bankers Association: The BBA is the leading trade association for the UK banking sector with more than 230 member banks headquartered in over 50 countries
AF_initDataCallback({key: \’ds:1\'” alt=”” class=”wp-image-14850″ width=”154″ height=”152″/>Carla Stent
Non Executive Director and Chair of Risk and Audit Committee of Tilney Smith & Williamson
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About Octopus Property, Tilney Smith & Williamson: Tilney Smith & Williamson is a financial planning and investment firm.
Juan Luis Bellon
Non Executive Director of ETFmatic
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About : ETFmatic powers digital wealth management services and works with exchange traded funds (ETFs).
Neil Berkett
Non Executive Director of Bank of Queensland
Neil joined the Board in July 2013. He is Chairman of the Guardian Media Group and is on the Board of Trustees for the NSPCC. Neil has over 25 years’ experience in a wide range of highly competitive customer-facing industries. Most recently, Neil was Chief Executive of Virgin Media Group from March 2008 to June 2013, having joined ntl, Virgin Media’s predecessor, as chief operating officer in September 2005. Before joining Virgin Media he was Managing Director, Distribution, at Lloyds TSB plc (UK). His previous roles include: Chief Operating Officer at Prudential Assurance Company Ltd UK; Head of Retail at St George Bank; Senior General Manager at the Australian division of Citibank Limited; Chief Executive at Eastwest Airlines Australia and Financial Controller at ICL Australia.
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About Bank of Queensland, Guardian Media Group: Welcome to our Pinterest! BOQ is one of Australia’s most dynamic and innovative financial institutions.
Mike Butterworth
Independent Non-Executive Director of Kin and Carta
Mike Butterworth, ACA joined the Board on 1 August 2010. Mike had served for 8 years as Group Finance Director of Cookson Group plc, a FTSE250 company, until December 2012 when Cookson was de-merged. Previously, Mike was Group Finance Director of Incepta Group plc for 5 years, an international marketing and communications group, prior to which he spent 5 years as Group Financial Controller at BBA Group plc, the international aviation and materials technology group. Mike is senior Non-Executive Director and chairs meetings of the Audit Committee.
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About : Kin + Carta is a global digital transformation business that advises, creates, and connects marketing and customer experience.
Martin Kaye
Non-Executive Director of Pacific Premier Trust
Martin Kaye joined Norden Farm Centre for the Arts as Chairman in 2015.Martin was previously Head of Risk Management, and a Client Relationship Lead Partner, at BDO LLP, one of the world’s largest accountancy networks. Martin was with BDO LLP for 19 years, during which time he ran two major business units, chaired the firm’s pension scheme trustees and served on the firm’s Partnership Council, Audit Committee, and Management Executive. As well as acting as a Trustee for the Cherie Blair Foundation, Martin is a non-executive director of a Pension Trust Company.
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About Norden Farm Centre for the Arts, Pacific Premier Trust, Ross Trustees Services: Pacific Premier Trust is an alternative asset custodian, with decades of expertise in holding private equity, real estate, and notes.
Patrick Brennan
Non Executive Director of Bumper
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About : Bumper is a payment platform for car dealerships.
Jeremy Levine
Group Executive Director of Evolution Funding
Jeremy Levine is the group executive director at Evolution Funding. He is a former area manager at the First National Motor Finance.
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About Evolution Funding: Evolution Funding provides motor finance and technology solution for dealers to generate leads, improve compliance, and sell more vehicles.
Sam Blackie
Non Executive Director, Remuneration Committee and Nomination Committee Chair of British Friendly
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About British Friendly: British Friendly helps to seek as many individuals as possible with income protection insurance.
Christine Johnson
Non Executive Director of CCLA Investment Management
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About CCLA Investment Management: CCLA Investment Management is a charity fund solutions firm that offers financial services, investment and asset management.
Peter Smith
Non-Executive Director of Seneca Investment Managers
Peter has nearly 50 years experience working within the Financial Services Industry, where he works closely with UK & European Parliaments, Treasury, HMRC, DWP, TPR, PRA, ICO and the FCA, on a wide variety of regulatory & digital innovation issues. He has wide experience of both regulation & market strategy, together with insight on innovation. He is a Non-Executive Director of Seneca Investment Managers and an Independent Industry Consultant at FinTechReguLabs and currently sits on a number of industry think-tank groups looking at the convergence of tech & regulation. He has also sat on a number of UK Regulatory Steering Groups. He liaises with regulators and ministers on all new developments in financial services, fintech & regulation. Peter’s work covers policy matters across financial services distribution, platforms, technology innovation, and retirement, New Technology Innovation (FinTech, Reg Tech, Insur Tech & Pens Tech), FAMR, MiFID, PRiiPs, PSD2, Open Banking, GDPR and SM&CR amongst others. He is a regular contributor to industry publications and provides commentary on various industry issues. Peter is supporting the facilitation of collaborating the fusion of regulation with FinTech & Digital evolution across UK Financial Services & the FinTech ecosystem. In amongst his many industry roles, recently he was Digital Ambassador for TISA leading on digital & FinTech helping to shape policy & deliver on UK digital innovation projects and liaising with FCA, ICO, Treasury and the UK fintech ecosystem as well as UK & European Regulators. His role also drove regulatory and industry dialogue and developed product and market strategy across a number of areas in line with the evolving regulatory and innovation landscape. He is a regular speaker and commentator at industry conferences & events. He recently sat on the steering committee for the Industry Sandbox consultation and the formation of the FCA Regulatory Sandbox, which explored different models for new industry-led accelerators aiming to speed up the process by which new financial services products are brought to market. He also is a participant in a number of industries “thought leadership” and “strategy policy” groups. He is a member of CSFI & ISMM and is a FinTech Advisory Board Member at Global FinTech Research, as well as a member of the Future of Finance Committee, The Payments Strategy Forum, EU AI Alliance, Fintech Alliance as well as All Party Parliamentary Groups on both AI & FinTech. Peter continues to focus on his passion of bringing the financial industry and the emerging financial digital ecosystem together utilising collaboration with ministers & regulators. Peter believes Technology provides us with a huge opportunity, getting it right is something that can only be done through collaboration with regulators & a wide range of Industry groups.
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About Seneca Investment Managers: Seneca Investment Managers specializing in multi-asset value investing.
