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 CFO’ operating in the Banking space. If you think a CFO’ 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.
David Mathers
Chief Financial Officer of Credit Suisse
David Mathers has been the CFO of Credit Suisse Group and a member of the Executive Board since October 2010. He is also responsible for the Group’s global IT and global Operations functions. Prior to his appointment as CFO, Mr. Mathers was the Head of Finance and the COO for Investment Banking in New York and London from 2007 to 2010. In this role, he was responsible for Investment Banking Finance, Operations, Expense Management and Strategy. Mr. Mathers started his career as a research analyst at HSBC James Capel in 1987 and became Global Head of Equity Research in 1997. He joined Credit Suisse in 1998, working in a number of senior positions in Credit Suisse’s Equity business, including the Director of European Research and the Co-Head of European Equities.
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About Credit Suisse, Credit Suisse: Credit Suisse Group is a financial services company that advises clients in all aspects of finance.
Cristina Alba Ochoa
CFO of OakNorth
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About OakNorth: OakNorth is the creator of the ON Credit Intelligence Suite – proven cloud software that transforms commercial lending
Niall McConnell
Founder & Chief Financial Officer of Ziglu
Niall McConnell is the co-founder and Chief Financial Officer at Ziglu.
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About Ziglu: Ziglu provides a digital platform that enables customers to exchange fiat currency for cryptocurrency.
Anthony Murphy
Chief Financial Officer of Tandem
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About Tandem: Tandem is building a bank and financial management universe, focused on freeing users from financial stress by making money simple.
Ewen Stevenson
Group Chief Financial Officer of HSBC
Ewen Stevenson became Group Chief Financial Officer of HSBC Holdings plc in January 2019. Prior to joining HSBC, Mr Stevenson was Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer for Royal Bank of Scotland. He joined RBS in May 2014 following a 25-year career with Credit Suisse, where he was latterly co-Head of the EMEA Investment Banking Division and co-Head of the Global Financial Institutions Group. Mr Stevenson has a long career in the banking industry, both as an advisor to major banks and as an executive. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration, majoring in Accountancy, and a Bachelor of Law from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Mr Stevenson was born in England but was raised and educated in New Zealand, following his family’s emigration. He is married with three children.
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About HSBC: HSBC is a banking and financial services organization that offers a comprehensive range of services.
Francois Barou
Co-Founder & CFO of OneWealthPlace
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About OneWealthPlace: One Wealth Place’s mission to support the digital transformation of private wealth banks and global asset services companies.
James Dawes
Chief Financial Officer of 3i Group
James is Chief Financial Officer for 3i Group’s Infrastructure business and joined in January 2016. He manages all of the operational, financial and reporting requirements for the Infrastructure business line within 3i Group, as well as performing CFO duties for 3i Infrastructure plc. Prior to joining 3i, James was with Legal & General Investment Management where he held a number of senior finance roles, including Finance Director of LGV Capital from 2007 to 2015. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and a Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment.
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About 3i Group: 3i is an international investment manager focused on mid-market Private Equity, Infrastructure & Debt Management.
William E. Matthews
Vice Chairman & Chief Financial Officer of National Commerce
William E. Matthews, IV serves as Chief Financial Officer for South State Corporation. Prior to the merger with South State, Mr. Matthews was the Chief Financial Officer of CenterState Bank. Before joining CenterState Bank, Mr. Matthews served as the President of National Commerce Corporation (“NCOM”), the Chief Financial Officer and the Vice Chairman of NCOM; the Executive Vice President of NCOM and its subsidiary bank, National Bank of Commerce (“NBC”), and the Vice Chairman and the Chief Financial Officer at NBC and as a Director of both NCOM and NBC. Mr. Matthews also served as the Executive Vice President and the Chief Financial Officer at First American Bank and was a Partner at New Capital Partners. Prior to joining New Capital Partners, Mr. Matthews was the Executive Vice President and the Chief Financial Officer at Alabama National Bancorporation, Chief Financial Officer at RBC Bank (USA), and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at NBC He has over 20 years of experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate financing and investment management in privately owned and publicly traded companies Mr. Matthews earned an M.B.A. degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an A.B. in Economics from Princeton University.
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About National Commerce, South State Bank: National Commerce is a a financial holding company that provides various financial services to individuals, businesses, and business owners.
Andy Halford
Group Chief Financial Officer of Standard Chartered Bank
Andy Halford was appointed as Group Finance Director and Group Executive Director of Standard Chartered plc on 1 July 2014. He is based in London and is responsible for Finance and Corporate Treasury. Andy joined Standard Chartered from Vodafone Group plc, where he spent the last 15 years and the last 9 years as Chief Financial Officer. Andy joined Vodafone Group plc in 1999 as Financial Director for Vodafone Limited, the UK operating company, and in 2001 he became Financial Director for Vodafone’s Northern Europe, Middle East and Africa Region. In 2002, Andy was appointed Chief Financial Officer of Verizon Wireless in the US and was a Member of the Board of Representatives of the Verizon Wireless Partnership. Andy became Chief Financial Officer of Vodafone Group plc in July 2005, a position which he held until March 2014 when he retired from the group. Prior to Vodafone, Andy was Group Finance Director at East Midlands Electricity Plc. Andy is a non-executive director of Marks and Spencer plc and is a former Chairman of the Hundred Group of Finance Directors. Andy holds a bachelor degree in Industrial Economics from Nottingham University and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
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About M&S Financial Services, Standard Chartered Bank: Standard Chartered Bank is an international banking group.
Nigel Medhurst
CFO of Ffrees Family Finance
CFO at FFREES FAMILY FINANCE (UK COMPANY)
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About Ffrees Family Finance: Ffrees provides a digital current account service that provides access and tools to allow users to save up rather than to get into debt.
Jonathan Hull
CFO of Third Bridge Group
Jonathan oversees Third Bridge’s financial strategy. He focuses his time on working with our business units, to understand how each is performing and to ensure resources are effectively allocated in order to achieve our strategic objectives. Jonathan is an experienced CFO, having held senior executive roles at Vodafone, Unite plc and Quadriga. Prior to joining Third Bridge in December 2015, Jonathan was CFO at AlertMe, a pioneer in the Internet of Things; the company was successfully sold in March 2015 to British Gas. Outside work, Jonathan enjoys the occasional round of golf, hillwalking and spending time with his family.
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About Third Bridge Group: Third Bridge Group is a provider of research services to private equity and hedge funds.
John Jack
International CFO Finance of BNY Mellon
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About BNY Mellon: BNY Mellon is an investment company that provides investment management, investment services, and wealth management services.
Misak Davtyan
Chief Financial Officer of BABB
Over the course of twenty years in commercial and retail banking, Misak has held various C-suite and senior executive positions and managed large teams, complex finance functions and business lines. He’s closely involved with BABB’s financial and strategic operations informed by an MSc in Strategy and Leadership from LBS and a postgraduate diploma in International Tax Law. He’s also a passionate photographer and can often be found snapping on the streets of London.
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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.
Jonathan Crossfield
CFO of Featurespace
Jonathan leads Featurespace’s finance team and is responsible for financial reporting and investor relations. He works closely with the commercial and operational teams around all aspects of internal analysis and business planning.Prior to joining Featurespace, Jonathan worked in strategic consultancy and equity research, including several years as a senior technology analyst with Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Jonathan studied Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge and qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte.
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About Featurespace: Featurespace provides an adaptive behavioral analytics technology and automated deep behavioral networks for risk management.
Tony Ellingham
Chief Financial Officer of Starling Bank
Tony Ellingham manages the bank’s financial operations and strategy in his role as Chief Financial Officer. He is responsible for the overall financial management of the company, its treasury and reporting. Previously, Tony was at Lloyds Banking Group where he was Finance, Risk & Operations Director of Group Corporate Treasury and prior to that Divisional Risk Officer for Finance. He has held executive roles at EIIB, Gulf International Bank and Schroders. Tony joined Starling to lead a truly customer-centric approach to bank profitability. After all, it’s not every day you can set up a bank from scratch. If he wasn’t at Starling, Tony would probably be hitting the ski slopes or sailing the open seas.
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About Starling Bank: Starling Bank is a mobile banking platform that offers personal, joint, and business accounts.
Declan Ferguson
Deputy CFO and Chief Strategy Officer of Starling Bank
Declan Ferguson is the chief strategy officer at Starling Bank.
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About Starling Bank: Starling Bank is a mobile banking platform that offers personal, joint, and business accounts.
Sebastien Maloney
Chief Financial Officer of Charter Savings Bank
Sebastien has executive responsibility for all aspects of finance,including production of management and statutory accounts, external audits, financial planning and analysis, corporate finance, treasury operations, capital markets activities, and asset/liability management. He previously held senior roles at Merrill Lynch, GMAC-RFC and Morgan Stanley. Sebastien holds a BA in Economics and a Masters in Business Administration.
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About Charter Savings Bank: Charter Savings Bank offer straightforward savings accounts, great rates and reliable service.
Michael Williams
Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Glory Global Solutions
CFO since May 2014 and COO since April 2018, Michael is responsible for the company’s Finance, Supply Chain and IS functions. He joined Glory Global Solutions from Hitachi, where he was most recently European Finance Director. Michael’s extensive experience has included consistent delivery of growth and profitability in established global businesses as well as that of large-scale projects such as mergers, acquisitions and divestments. ‘Big Four’ accountancy firm qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. Michael has led technical accounting conversion projects, process efficiency drives and IT implementations. He has also been instrumental in developing and bringing to market start-up solution businesses. He has experience across a range of sectors including retail, rail, manufacturing, leasing and motor.
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About Glory Global Solutions: Glory Global Solutions is a pioneer in the development and manufacture of money handling machines and systems.
William Billingsley
CFO, Cofounder & Chief Commercial Officer of ApTap
As the co-founder of ApTap, he is fully involved in the operations, planning and strategy of the company. Upon graduating from Imperial College he delved into the world of business, inspired by experiences in tech and science, in order to learn and make an impact. With work experience in research labs, in the field and abroad, as well as in business development, alongside his BSc in Biology with Management (hons), He is excited to have started a company, to drive his aspirations to change the world.
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About ApTap: ApTap offer a simple bill management API for banks to cancel, compare and switch their service providers with just a tap.
Benedikt Einarsson
Chief Financial Officer of Meniga
Benedikt Einarsson is Chief Financial Officer at Meniga.
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About Meniga: Meniga is a digital banking platform that helps banks, businesses, and individuals manage their financial data.
Andrei Dikouchine
Co-Founder & Chief Financial Officer of 3S Money
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About 3S Money: 3S Money offers international business banking services in 190 countries.
Christopher Fox
Chief Financial Officer of British Business Bank
Christopher is Chief Financial Officer and is also responsible for central functions including HR, IT and Admin. Prior to joining the British Business Bank, Christopher was Head of Banking at UK Financial Investments, where he was responsible for overseeing HM Government’s shareholders in Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and UK Asset Resolution. He was also a Non-Executive Director at UK Asset Resolution, Bradford & Bingley and NRAM. Christopher joined UKFI from UBS, where he gained extensive experience of financial services over nearly 20 years, having provided capital markets and investment banking advice to a range of governments and financial institutions around the world. He joined UBS in 1993 and is a qualified accountant.
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About British Business Bank: The British Business Bank aims to make finance markets for smaller businesses work better.
Neil Sawbridge
Chief Financial Officer of Wyelands Bank
Neil is an experienced Chief Financial Officer who joined the bank in December 2017. He has over 30 years of experience in finance, tax and business development roles with AT&T Capital, Newcourt Credit Group, Dell Financial Services and the CIT Group. As CFO he helped establish CIT Bank Limited in the UK and CIT Group’s European Leasing businesses headquartered in Dublin. He qualified as a chartered accountant and chartered tax adviser with Coopers & Lybrand.
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About Wyelands Bank: WB partners with businesses to support industrial growth, enable businesses to trade more easily around the world and to create jobs.
Andrew Taylor
CFO of Musoni System
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About Musoni System: The award winning banking software for microfinance organisations
Mohammad Shoaib Memon
Chief Financial Officer, COO of Europe Arab Bank
Mohammad Shoaib is an experienced finance professional with background in accounting, audit and advisory. He joined EAB from Ernst & Young LLP, where he worked in the Banking & Capital Markets practice. During his stay at Ernst & Young LLP he undertook various engagements with top tier international banks ranging from finance related advisory, accounting, audit and regulatory reporting. Prior to Ernst & Young, Mohammad Shoaib worked for four years with KPMG where he qualified as a chartered accountant. Mohammad Shoaib is a member of ICAEW, ACCA and ICAP.
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About Europe Arab Bank: Europe Arab Bank offer personal and private banking services, advisory investment management and corporate services.
Alex Crocombe
Co Founder, Chief Financial Officer of Goji Investments
Co-founder and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for an FCA regulated private asset investment platform. Qualified accountant with a background in fintech M&A and strategic advisory.
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About Goji Investments: Investment platform providing access to regulated investment products from across the direct lending sector
Martin Steenkamp
Co-founder & Chief Financial Officer of FC Exchange
Martin co-founded FC Exchange and before this worked in the Convertible Bonds team at Deutsche Bank. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Martin qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte in South Africa. He also moved to the US with Deloitte, working on energy trading clients, including American Electric Power and Columbia Gas. Martin holds a B.Acct (Hons) degree in Accountancy from the University of Natal in South Africa.
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About FC Exchange: International payments and money transfer services for individuals and businesses at bank-beating rates.
Ralph Coates
Chief Financial Officer of TSB Banking Group
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About TSB Banking Group: TSB Banking Group provides various banking products and services to personal and small business customers in the United Kingdom.
