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 Managing Director operating in the Commercial space. If you think a Managing 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.
Nestor Paz Galindo
Managing Director of UBS
Nestor Paz Galindo as managing director and head of sell-side and financial sponsors M&A for EMEA. Paz Galindo will join the bank from JP Morgan in March next year. Paz Galindo has spent all of his professional career to date at JP Morgan. He has held a range of M&A-related roles over 22 years, most recently including managing director of the bank’s European financial sponsors group.
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About UBS: UBS is a global financial services company that engages in the provision of financial management solutions.
Marc Wursdorfer
Managing Director of UBS
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About UBS: UBS is a global financial services company that engages in the provision of financial management solutions.
Roger Kennedy
Managing Director of Cantor Fitzgerald
Roger Kennedy is the Managing Director at Cantor Fitzgerald.
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About Cantor Fitzgerald: Cantor Fitzgerald is a global financial services firm that specializes in equities, investment banking, and real estate.
Edward Hollands
Managing Director and Founder of DrivenMedia
Ed Hollands is the 23-year- old entrepreneur behind DrivenMedia, the Derby-based advertising agency which creates mobile billboards on commercial trailers for brands, organisations and businesses. Originally from Hertfordshire, Ed graduated from the University of Derby in 2016 with a first-class honours degree in Business Studies and was always ambitious to create his own company. Today DrivenMedia offers companies, brands and organisations the opportunity to advertise on the sides and backs of lorries, trucks and vans as they travel the world delivering goods and services. Ed got the idea of mobile billboards on an early morning walk when he saw traffic – including several large, plain lorries – queuing at a busy roundabout as rush hour traffic began to build. He realised the scope for offering companies a different type of marketing opportunity was huge. Ed grew up in a village called Pitstone near Tring in Hertfordshire with his parents Angela & Graham and his younger brother Will. His mum works for local hospice charity and Graham works for HP. Will is currently studying music at university. It was in primary school (Brookmead Primary School) that the seeds of entrepreneurship were sown when Ed declared he wanted to run a pub called The Happy Inn. He also saw his father being away from his family due to working overseas and felt that he wanted to have some choices around work when he got older. Later when at secondary school in Tring he earned money by carrying bags for small change to the form room. His determination to run his own business became stronger just before selecting his GCSE choices as he already knew he wanted to be the master of his own fate financially. This dictated the subjects he chose at both GCSE and A level. Ed chose to study for his degree at the University of Derby as he felt the campus and the teaching staff had the right ethos around business. Once there he also joined the Business and Entrepreneurship Society and began to be inspired by those who had already walked the walk in business. It was during this time he met Graham Mulholland, a leading local entrepreneur who became his mentor alongside lecturer and friend Bev Crighton Senior Lecturer/Programme Leader BA HRM As part of his studies, he did explore the idea of creating digital billboards on A38 right next to the university. He also set up his own business in the summer of his first year at university but the idea didn’t work mainly because he had not appreciated the important role played by marketing and advertising. It was an early lesson learned. At home, Ed lives with his fiancé Tara and they are childhood sweethearts who met at Scout Camp more than five years ago. Tara is a teaching assistant at a school in Nottingham and also is also an Ofsted-registered nanny currently studying for her level 3 NVQ in childcare. Ed is also a keen dodgeball player and qualified referee. While at university he played for the university team, The Derby Seahawks, and now plays for the Nottingham Sheriffs alongside being an referee. He plays twice a month during the season and referees weekly.
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About DrivenMedia, DrivenMedia: The UK’s major road network is one of the most densely populated highways in the world.
Gregory Dewerpe
Managing Director of A/O PropTech
Gregory is a seasoned real estate and technology investor with over 15 years of experience across I-Banking, real estate and venture, a multi-billion deal-making history, and a deep understanding of the financial markets, real estate and venture capital eco-systems. A/O Proptech has emerged from AMD Capital, a dedicated real estate investment company ( direct real assets, public real estate markets, and venture) also founded by Gregory after he left I-Banking where he started his career a decade earlier, at Credit Suisse and Citigroup, looking after investments, structuring and financing for Sovereign wealth funds and other large institutions. Gregory sits on the board/advisory board of a variety of companies in the tech and Real estate space including amongst others Placemake.io, Plentific, Wildstone, Fornova, Residently, Livelike and Tiger Media. Gregory is a Swiss national, fluent in English, French and Italian; he attended HEC Lausanne University, London School of Economics (Masters) and Harvard Business School. Gregory is passionate about sports, travelling, nutrition/food-tech, cancer research and fighting the destructive long-lasting impact of bullying amongst children and younger generations. Gregory currently lives between London and Berlin.
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About A/O PropTech: Europe’s largest Proptech VC firm investing in technology companies transforming the real estate industry.
Tim Armstrong
Managing Director UK and Product Development of Greensill Capital
Tim Armstrong is a member of Greensill’s European team, focusing on developing partnerships within EMEA. Prior to joining Greensill, Tim worked at KPMG managing a Supply Chain Finance solution for clients which utilised partnerships with leading FinTech companies in combination with KPMG’s suite of advisory services. Prior to that, Tim worked in the corporate finance team in Deloitte, working closely with the UK Government’s Department of Business, and at Morgan Stanley, in their securitisation team.
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About Greensill Capital: Greensill Capital is a provider of structured working capital financing to businesses globally.
Brett Downes
Managing Director and Chief Risk Officer of Greensill Capital
Brett is responsible for all aspects of credit and operational risk within Greensill. Prior to working at Greensill, Brett headed the EMEA Trade Credit Risk team at Citi where he was responsible for managing the credit and operational risk for the Letters of Credit, Trade Finance, Export Credit Agency, Commodities, Insurance Letters of Credit, and Supply Chain businesses. Prior to that he held various risk and front office positions at Commerzbank, Barclays Wealth and National Australia Bank. Brett holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Queensland, a Masters in Applied Finance & Investment from Macquarie University and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from Melbourne Business School.
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About Greensill Capital: Greensill Capital is a provider of structured working capital financing to businesses globally.
Tony Fairhurst
Managing Director and Founder of Wallsauce.com
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About Wallsauce.com: Wallsauce.com are here to deliver bespoke wall murals to help transform your living space or workplace.
Dominic Quennell
Founder, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director of Enertechnos
Enertechnos is the Founder, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director of Enertechnos.
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About Enertechnos: Enertechnos develop, patent, and commercialize CTS as a new concept in ultra-low loss cable based on capacitance technology.
Scott Morris
Managing Director of DisplayPlan
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About DisplayPlan: DisplayPlan is specialists in delivering retail display programmes for the world’s most prominent brands and retailers.
Jo Willett
Managing Director of Oxford Innovation
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About Oxford Innovation, United Kingdom Science Park Association: Manage Business & Innovation Centres on behalf of a range of building owners, including local authorities and property investors.
Niels Footman
Managing Director, UK and Europe of Copylab Inc
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About Copylab Inc: Copylab is an investment writing and copywriting agency.
Susan Collins
Managing Director of Information Technology of PureSignCo
I am an inventor, business woman and entrepreneur. I have invented, designed and brought to market something that no one else has thought of.Background – Chairman and Secretary to two large Resident Associations in Southampton (9 years).It was during this period of trying to redress the number of Estate Agents Boards displayed outside blocks of flats and HMOs, dominating the resident’s vista, that the Eco Sign was conceived.Business Development of Security Systems for 3 years. Property Industry (23 years); always having had a creative mind I developed a specialist construction company which was, at its inception, a new take on extending properties. It attracted the interest of a London Public Company and was taken under its wing with the intention of expanding Nationwide. The PLC was later sold for 72m.Early career -Salesperson of the year.Developed retail outlet for a Yorkshire manufacturing company; increased turnover in the factory by 62% within the first 7 months.”
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About PureSignCo: PureSignCo is a NEW COMPANY and has 3 years R & D.
Martin Weaver-Parker
Managing Director of Lockyers
Martin Weaver-Parker is the managing director at Lockyer Insurance.
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About Lockyers: Lockyers is an independent insurance broker that specializes in business insurance and insurance for commercial and residential landlords.
Monty Halls
Founder & Managing Director & Executive Producer of Seadog Television and Film Productions
Monty is a well known BBC presenter, having fronted three series of BBC 2’s ‘Great Escapes’, as well as ‘Great Barrier Reef’ and ‘The Fisherman’s Apprentice.’ He has also presented films and series’ for Discovery, The History Channel, Channel 5, National Geographic, and Channel 4. More recently he has created several series concepts, including ‘Dive Mysteries’ and ‘The Great Shark Chase’, and has worked more actively as a producer and originator of new content.
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About Seadog Television and Film Productions: Seadog is an independent television and commercial production company founded by Monty Halls.
