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 Gloucester based CEO’ operating in the Information Technology 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.
Freaky Clown
co-CEO and Co-Founder, Head of Ethical Hacking of Cygenta
FC is a well-known ethical hacker and social engineer. He has been working in the information security field for over 20 years and excels at circumventing access controls. He has held positions in his career such as Senior Penetration Tester as well as Head of Social Engineering and Physical Assessments for renowned security companies. Having worked as Head of Cyber Research for Raytheon Missile Systems, and working closely alongside intelligence agencies, he has cemented both his skillset and knowledge as well as help to steer governments take correct courses of action against national threats. As an ethical hacker and social engineer, FC ‘breaks into’ hundreds of banks, offices and government facilities in the UK and Europe. His work demonstrating weaknesses in physical, personnel and digital controls assists organisations to improve their security. He is motivated by a drive to make individuals, organisations and countries more secure and better-able to defend themselves from malicious attack. Now Co-Founder and Head of Ethical Hacking at Redacted Firm, he continues to perform valuable research into vulnerabilities. His client list involves major high-street banks in the UK and Europe, FTSE100 companies and multiple government agencies and security forces. He also co-founded the Surrey and Hampshire Hackspace as well as Defcon 441452 (Gloucester) hacker group. He has co-hosted many podcasts, been featured in the press and regularly writes articles for journals and blogs. FC and his partner Dr Jessica Barker have been announced as Guest Curators of the 2018 Cheltenham Science Festival. FC frequently gives talks at corporate events, security conferences, universities and schools around the world. He specialises in teaching people of all ages and abilities the art of security in an engaging and impactful way. He demystifies security with his expertise, humour and passion.
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About Cygenta: Cygenta support clients dealing with the multi-dimensional challenge of cyber-security.
Aynsley Damery
CEO and Founder of Clarity HQ
Aynsley is the CEO of business advisory platform, Clarity. He was also the CEO and founder of Tayabali Tomlin, a multi-award-winning advisory led practice based in Cheltenham, UK. Aynsley is a chartered accountant, accoladed entrepreneur and international keynote speaker. He has advised thousands of businesses around the world and sits as an advisory board member on a number of companies and charities. Aynsley is considered one of the most influential accountants in the UK and has co-authored an international best seller.
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About Clarity HQ: A global business advisory platform that empowers accountants, bookkeepers and advisers to help small business owners achieve success.
Peter Rodgers
Founder and CEO of 1060 Research Limited
Peter Rodgers is the architect of NetKernel and the father of Resource Oriented Computing. Peter started his research into ROC at Hewlett Packard Labs. When trying to build very large scale software solutions, he discovered that with traditional software he could afford to “build-one” but the long-tail cost of software dwarves the headline costs. He started thinking seriously about the Web as an abstraction for general software with the aim that the economics of the Web could be introduced to any software solution.
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About 1060 Research Limited: 1060 Research develops and reinvents software based on scalability, architecture, and operational performance.
David Carroll
Chief Executive Officer of XQ Cyber
David is an information security practitioner with over 25 years’ experience in the security field, gained within military and commercial roles. He is the CEO of XQ Cyber, the Tewkesbury based creators of the award-winning automated cybersecurity testing and risk-rating service, CyberScore. CyberScore is among the UK’s first automated Cyber Essentials Plus offerings, and XQ was recently invited to join TechNation’s inaugural cyber accelerator programme.
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About XQ Cyber: XQ Cyber is manage cyber risk across your business, your partners and your supply chain.
Neill Ricketts
Chief Executive Officer of Versarien
Neill Ricketts joined Versarien as CEO in 2011.
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About Versarien: Versarien is an engineering materials company, provides engineering solutions for various industry sectors.
Mark F. O’Connor
CEO and Cofounder of Monadnock Research
Mark O’Connor is CEO and co-founder of Monadnock Research (MR), a research, publishing and advisory services firm serving buyers and providers of consulting services. Clients responsible for more than 65% of global management and IT consulting spending subscribe one or more MR publications. Prior to co-founding MR, Mark was VP and GM of Kennedy Information’s consulting industry research and publishing group, with overall P&L responsibility for the company’s largest and fastest growing organization, increasing published research by 46% in his first year. He also launched its Consulting Services Procurement Solutions group. Mark is a former Yankee Group Director of Business Operations and Strategy, and Director of Knowledge Management, leading strategic projects during its 2000 acquisition by Reuters. Prior to that he directed the firm’s knowledge management research and consulting, and joined as a senior analyst in its Management Strategies practice. He was an early employee of new media publisher Individual Inc. (now Thomson Reuters), working as editorial manager, group leader and publisher of several of the firm’s most successful consulting, management and high-tech news categories. INDV was one of 96’s hottest IPOs. He also worked as a marketing manager and account manager at Honeywell-Bull, as a marketing rep for Policy Management Systems (now CSC), and as an account exec and systems engineer for the Insurnet agency/brokerage systems joint venture of Quotron and Continental Insurance Company. Mark is a frequent speaker on management and IT consulting topics, and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, NPR, TechTV, BBC, Crain’s Chicago Business and numerous other publications and media. Mark holds an MBA from the Boston College Carroll School of Management and a BS in Computer Science. He is also a National Ski Patrol member and volunteer ski patroller at Crotched Mountain in NH, and is a dual citizen of the US and Ireland.
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About Hearsay.com, Monadnock Research: Monadnock Research (MR) is the leading provider of intelligence on management and IT consulting with a focus on global consulting rates.
