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 Chairman operating in the Marketing space. If you think a Chairman 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.
Chris van der Kuyl
Chairman of TVSquared
Chris van der Kuyl is a highly experienced Chief Executive and Non-Executive Director whose expertise combines the start-up, development and market listed business arena in the technology, media and entertainment sectors. Van der Kuyl grew his first business, VIS entertainment plc out of a bedroom in Dundee to become a global player in the creation of leading-edge entertainment property for computer, television and video games platforms worldwide. Through the development of VIS, as CEO and President, he took the business through substantive growth by developing and delivering on an acquisition, development and ultimately merger strategy that took the business on to an international stage merging in 2004 with the NASDAQ listed Bam Entertainment company. This experience has equipped him in delivering successful and substantial fundraising exercises in the Private Equity, Corporate Venturing and now Listed Markets. Moreover as a business builder he has an exceptional ability in developing committed employees whilst keeping an ever- watchful eye on the bottom line. Chris is widely recognised as one of the UK’s the leading young entrepreneurs. He is also a regular contributor to the 21st Century business and enterprise agenda through a variety of conference keynote speaking engagements and media coverage. Chris is a member of the Global Leaders of Tomorrow Programme at the World Economic Forum. The young entrepreneur also embraces the spirit of ‘giving something back’ and is fully committed to building the next generation of business people by encouraging enterprise education in Schools, Colleges and Universities. He was Chairman of Young Enterprise Scotland for seven years and is a member of the Smith Group advising the Scottish Executive on educational matters. As one of the youngest Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Chris sits as a member of the Scottish Scientific Advisory committee who advise the Scottish government on all areas of science and technology. Chris also Chairs the Creative board of the Education Wing at Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow and is a Director of Dundee Science Centre.
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About 4J Studios, 4J Studios, Ace Aquatec, Ace Aquatec, Baillie Gifford, Broker Insights, Chroma Developments, Chroma Developments, Chroma Ventures, Chroma Ventures, Parsley Box, Puny Astronaut, Stormcloud Games, TVSquared, University of Abertay Dundee, University of Abertay Dundee: TVSquared is the global leader in TV attribution.
Jim Glover
Deputy Chairman of CSM Sport and Entertainment
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About CSM Sport and Entertainment: CSM Sport and Entertainment provides sports and entertainment marketing services.
Julian Pullan
Vice Chairman & President International of Jack Morton Worldwide
Julian joined Jack Morton in 2002 as director of operations in London and became managing director in 2005. He joined the Global Executive Team in 2009, became President, EMEA in 2011 and was appointed President, International in 2015. Under his leadership, the International operation has grown significantly in size and reputation, including the foundation of Jack offices in Dubai, Germany, and South Korea. Today, Julian is Vice Chairman of Jack Morton Worldwide, stewarding the creative quality and output of the agency in addition to his continued leadership of the agency outside of the US. In his 30 years in the industry, Julian has led major communications campaigns and projects for most of the world’s leading brands. Julian remains a passionate creative at heart, winning many creative awards during his accomplished career. Teams under his leadership have earned over 500 awards, including well over 100 in just the last 2 years. He has served as a member of the board of the International Visual Communications Association, is a regular commentator within the industry trade press and event circuit and is a member of the Superbrands Council.
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About Jack Morton Worldwide: Jack Morton Worldwide is an American multinational brand experience agency.
Rory Sutherland
Vice Chairman of Ogilvy
Rory Sutherland read Classics at Christ’s College, Cambridge, before joining Ogilvy as a Graduate Trainee. He was appointed Creative Director of OgilvyOne in 1997 and ECD in 1998. In 2005 he was appointed Vice-chairman of the Ogilvy Group in the UK. Sutherland was President of the Direct Jury at Cannes in 2007, and was elected President of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising in 2009. He is a visiting professor at Warwick University and in 2012 was awarded an honorary doctorate (D.Litt) by Brunel University. He also writes The Spectator’s Wiki Man column.
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About Ogilvy: Global brand Strategy, Advertising, Customer Engagement and Commerce, PR and Influence, Digital Transformation, and Partnerships.
Chris Bell
Chairman of the Board of Directors of XLMedia
Chris Bell Is The CEO At Ladbrokes PLC.
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About : XLMedia is a provider of digital marketing services. They use proprietary tools and methodologies to drive high value traffic.
Stewart Easterbrook
Chairman and Strategic Adviser of MiQ
Stewart is an advisor to the boards of several companies operating in the fields of media communications, data analytics, technology and mobile communications. He is Chairman of Media iQ, the leading global analytics technology and programmatic media specialist. He holds advisory roles with the video and animation production marketplace, Wooshii, mobile brand advertising experts, Widespace, and the world’s leading social music business, Instrumental.
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About MediaLab Group, MiQ: MiQ is an independent marketing intelligence company with the people and technology that help businesses win.
David Tyler
Chairman of Sainsbury’s
Appointed to the Board on 1 October 2009, David became Chairman on 1 November 2009. He is also Non-Executive Chairman of Hammerson PLC and a Non-Executive Director of Burberry Group PLC. He was previously Finance Director of GUS PLC (1997-2006) and has held senior financial and general management roles with Christie’s International PLC (1989-96), County NatWest Limited (1986-89) and Unilever PLC (1974-86). He was Chairman of Logica PLC (2006-12) and of 3i Quoted Private Equity PLC (2007-09), and a Non-Executive Director of Experian PLC (2006-12) and of Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (2007-09). He has also been Chairman of Hampstead Theatre since 2012.
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About Sainsbury’s: Sainsbury’s operates supermarkets and convenience stores, an online grocery and general merchandise operation, as well as Sainsbury’s Bank.
Neeshu Lukha
Chairman of the Board of Realeyes
Neeshu chairs Realeyes’ Board and leads business development with key brands. Neeshu comes to Realeyes with over 17 years brand management experience at Procter & Gamble (where he obtained P&G peak advanced level in marketing and advertising) and running Yum! Restaurants in Europe for another 3 years. He has successfully grown businesses over a diverse spectrum, including US, Europe and 15+ years in emerging markets, 50+ brands over 25 categories, and a wide variety of business situations like launching and designing new brands, expanding established brands, entering new geographies and segments, turnarounds, high-growth markets, economic downturns, joint ventures, technology and innovation partnerships and numerous acquisitions. Neeshu has worked across businesses such as Olay, Hugo Boss, Pampers, Pizza Hut, KFC, Gillette, Crest, Braun, Vicks, and in marketing these brands has also lead development of new marketing models and new research & innovation approaches.
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About : Measuring Human Response At The Speed & Scale Of AI
Vikrant Bhargava
Co-founder and Chairman of KF Beauty
Vikrant Bhargava serves as Managing Partner of Veddis Ventures. Mr. Bhargava founded the firm. Previously, till 2006 he served as the Group Marketing Director of PartyGaming Plc. Mr. Bhargava headed the marketing team during PartyPOker’s explosive growth from a start-up site to one with revenues of almost a billion dollars in 2005. He left PartyGaming in early 2006 to set up Veddis Ventures. Mr. Bhargava served as a Group Marketing Director and Director at iGlobalMedia Entertainment Limited. His experience included positions as a Credit Officer at the Bank of America, responsible for managing credit exposure and revenue for a portfolio of corporate clients and a Business Analyst at British Gas in the business development division. He served as a non-executive Director at SocialGO PLC (formerly Bright Things plc) from January 12, 2010 to February 08, 2012. Mr. Bhargava attended Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (1994) and Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (1996).
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About KF Beauty, LetzChange, Veddis: We identify, develop and market innovative products in the Health & Beauty sector.
Vikrant Bhargava
Co-founder and Chairman of KF Beauty
Vikrant Bhargava serves as Managing Partner of Veddis Ventures. Mr. Bhargava founded the firm. Previously, till 2006 he served as the Group Marketing Director of PartyGaming Plc. Mr. Bhargava headed the marketing team during PartyPOker’s explosive growth from a start-up site to one with revenues of almost a billion dollars in 2005. He left PartyGaming in early 2006 to set up Veddis Ventures. Mr. Bhargava served as a Group Marketing Director and Director at iGlobalMedia Entertainment Limited. His experience included positions as a Credit Officer at the Bank of America, responsible for managing credit exposure and revenue for a portfolio of corporate clients and a Business Analyst at British Gas in the business development division. He served as a non-executive Director at SocialGO PLC (formerly Bright Things plc) from January 12, 2010 to February 08, 2012. Mr. Bhargava attended Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (1994) and Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (1996).
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About KF Beauty, LetzChange, Veddis: We identify, develop and market innovative products in the Health & Beauty sector.
Chris Underhill
Non Executive Chairman of Hive Marketing Cloud
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About Hive Marketing Cloud, iVoucher: Hive Intelligence is an agile marketing platform that offers marketing software and services.
Tina Beattie
Chairman of The Sandpit
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About The Sandpit: Applying the Private Equity model to start-up acceleration.
Tina Beattie
Chairman of The Sandpit
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About The Sandpit: Applying the Private Equity model to start-up acceleration.
Paul Cooper
Chairman of Programmai
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About Programmai: Programmai is a predictive marketing technology that radically improves the incrementality of acquiring new and repeat customers.
Patrick Reeve
Founder, Chairman and Managing Partner of Albion Capital Group
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About Albion Capital Group: Albion Capital Group is an independent investment manager with a long-term record of backing change and growth.
Christofer Solheim
Chairman, Chief Innovation Officer of Commetric Ltd.
Mr. Christofer Solheim founded Commetric Ltd. in 2005. Prior to Commetric, Mr. Solheim worked in various roles at Hill & Knowlton Public Relations spanning 10 years, including leading H&K s Business Intelligence unit and latterly providing executive counsel to Paul Taaffe, global Chief Executive Officer of Hill & Knowlton. In the 80s and 90s, he consulted full time for the Chief Executive Officer of Kaldnes de Groot and spent two years at Heerema in Oslo. Since 1992, he has pioneered the use of advanced technologies to revolutionize business and communications strategic planning. In 2003, he was the Principle Founder of 2B, a company specializing in quantitative reputation measurement, later acquired by Factiva, a Reuters & Dow Jones Company. Prior to founding 2B, he was the founding Director of H&K s Net Communications practice. In 2007, he co-founded CommEq Asset Management to develop and implement fully automated behavioural finance trading methodologies. He was educated in business at the Academy of Commerce, Oslo, and in Computer Science at the University of Oslo.
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About Commetric Ltd.: Award-winning media analytics solutions that provide deeper, more practical level of insight. #MoreWithAnalytics
Peter Burridge
Chairman of the Board of Director of Team Telecom Group
Peter became Chairman of TTG in May 2008 having previously worked as group managing director since 2003.Prior to this he spent many years in the technology investments and restructuring sectors in various senior roles.
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About : Operating in markets ranging from the emergency services and transport, to mobile networks and airports, each of our companies has a
Andrea Radrizzani
Chairman & Founder of Aser Ventures
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About Aser Ventures: Aser Ventures is an investment platform specialising in sports, media and entertainment.
Jon Wilkins
Executive Chairman of Karmarama
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About Karmarama: Karmarama is a full service communications agency, combining creative excellence with technology-inspired solutions
Jon Myers
Strategy Consultant & CAB Chairman of DeepCrawl
Experienced senior leader with over 19 years’ experience within the digital marketplace working for large corporate organisations to start ups within the sector. Currently the Chief Growth Officer of DeepCrawl. www.deepcrawl.com Jon has been working in Digital Marketing since 1997, first agency side, working for Latitude Digital Marketing as one of the original core team members. Then he moved to MediaVest, part of Starcom Mediavest (now part of Aegis), and grew their Search department from around 20 to over 40 people, including setting up the SEO team. After working agency side for 13 years, Jon moved to Yahoo! to head up their search business and display account management. After 2 years at Yahoo! Jon was head-hunted for the position as VP & Commercial Director EMEA with a view of becoming VP & Managing Director of Marin Software EMEA. In his time heading up Marin Software in the EMEA region, Jon helped grow the company; doubling the international revenues, opening new offices and assisted developing the product offering. Also he was part of the exec management team taking Marin Software through IPO in March 2013. Whilst being VP & MD EMEA at Marin Software the company won the following awards: Best PPC Management Software – UK Search Awards in 2011, 2013 and 2014 Best PPC Management Software – European Search Awards 2012, 2013 and 2015 Best Use of Search – Finance with Moneysupermarket.com at European Search Awards in 2014 Best use of PPC Innovation with Moneysupermarket.com at the DADI Awards in 2014 More receltly with DeepCrawl awards for: Best B2B Technology – B2B Expo Awards 2017 Best Search Tool – MENA Search Awards 2017 Jon is seen as a thought leader in the digital marketing industry and speaks, keynotes, chairs and moderates at industry events worldwide. Jon is a regular judge at notable industry awards in the UK and Europe. He contributes regularly to the online and offline digital marketing and mainstream press, as well as trains, mentors and supports up and coming marketers.
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About DeepCrawl: The #1 technical SEO SaaS platform for enterprise businesses
Vincent Boni
MD Newsquest Dorset, Hampshire, Cornwall, Salisbury, Chairman of NQ Pension Fund, President DCCI of LOCALiQ
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About LOCALiQ: LOCALiQ is a local businesses provide navigate the complexities of modern digital marketing.
Richard Syme
Chairman of Optimise
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About Optimise: Global Performance Marketing Company
David Pattison
Chairman of Rezonence
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About Rezonence: Our mission is to fund journalism through high performance advertising.
Bobby Leach
Chairman of BTP Advisers
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About BTP Advisers: BTP is a multi-award winning international communications agency. We deliver campaigns that change hearts and minds.
Bobby Leach
Chairman of BTP Advisers
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About BTP Advisers: BTP is a multi-award winning international communications agency. We deliver campaigns that change hearts and minds.
John Beddingtonc
Chairman of Mongoose Sports & Entertainment
John has over 40 years of industry experience. Well known in racquet sports, he has been involved in staging over 200 international tournaments in tennis and squash. For 17 years John was tournament director of the Canadian Open Tennis Championships in Toronto and Montreal and Executive Vice President of Tennis Canada. Returning to the UK, he created the prestigious Masters Tennis tournament at the Royal Albert Hall and brokered the long standing deal between Barclays and the ATP World Tour Finals. John does an excellent Mansour Bahrami impression on the tennis court, and despite being very familiar with his trick shots, Chris falls for John’s cheeky drop shot every time.
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About Mongoose Sports & Entertainment: Mongoose Sports & Entertainment is a specialist agency in sports and entertainment.
John Beddingtonc
Chairman of Mongoose Sports & Entertainment
John has over 40 years of industry experience. Well known in racquet sports, he has been involved in staging over 200 international tournaments in tennis and squash. For 17 years John was tournament director of the Canadian Open Tennis Championships in Toronto and Montreal and Executive Vice President of Tennis Canada. Returning to the UK, he created the prestigious Masters Tennis tournament at the Royal Albert Hall and brokered the long standing deal between Barclays and the ATP World Tour Finals. John does an excellent Mansour Bahrami impression on the tennis court, and despite being very familiar with his trick shots, Chris falls for John’s cheeky drop shot every time.
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About Mongoose Sports & Entertainment: Mongoose Sports & Entertainment is a specialist agency in sports and entertainment.
Richard Last
Chairman of Hyve Group
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About Hyve Group, Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales: Hyve Group s a organisers of international trade exhibitions and conferences in growing markets.
Chris Barling
Chairman of The Bot Platform
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About Powered Now, The Bot Platform: Empowering people to build a better employee experience using bots, digital assistants and automation tools.
Jeremy Middleton
Non Executive Chairman of Visual Method
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About Visual Method: Visual Method is a creative agency that offers innovative solutions for image, video, interactive, technical solutions, and marketing.
Kev McFadyen
Chairman of Crowd Reactive Ltd
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About : Crowd Reactive Ltd operates a web-based application for event organizers.
