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 London based COO’ operating in the Media and Entertainment space. If you think a COO’ 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.
John Robson
COO of Moonbug
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About Moonbug, WildBrain: Moonbug is a global digital-first entertainment company for kids.
Andrew Dowsett
Chief Operating Officer of Press Association
Andrew joined the Press Association in August 2010 as Chief Technology Officer and was the first CTO to be appointed to the senior management team. His remit spans all data operations including Sport, Racing, TV and A+E listings, plus our Indian operations, PA Images and Globelynx. He will continue to be responsible for the company’s technology and for managing transitional services for MeteoGroup. Before joining the Press Association, Andrew spent two years at Bauer Consumer Media Limited as Operations and Technology Director. Prior to this he held a number of senior roles at high-profile media companies including EMAP, EMI and Virgin Media Group.
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About Press Association: The Press Association is a multi-platform news agency with operations in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Gill Hind
COO of Enders Analysis
Gill has widespread knowledge of the TV and radio markets. She was previously Operations Director at Freeview, and has run strategy teams in Channel 4 and Capital Radio, where she was also responsible for media regulation and competition issues. Gill holds a psychology degree from Bristol University.
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About Enders Analysis: Enders Analysis is a TMT analysis firm providing senior corporate managers with an alternative perspective on 3G and the internet.
Jeff Hughes
Chief Operating Officer of NEP Group
Jeff Hughes is Chief Operating Officer of NEP Group, responsible for helping all operating segments of the company share ideas across NEP’s businesses worldwide and for expanding NEP’s global capabilities as it embraces the future in a rapidly changing industry. A well-respected executive with significant media industry experience, Jeff brings to NEP a proven track record of transforming businesses and a deep understanding of our clients, how audiences consume media, and how media businesses operate. He joined NEP in September 2020 from FOX Networks’ Digital Consumer Group, where he was President & COO. During his time at FOX, he led the complete re-development and modernization of digital streaming capabilities across all networks within 21st Century FOX. Jeff also developed the company’s first end-to-end commercial platform for direct-to-consumer (D2C) services across several FOX networks. Prior to his role at FOX, Jeff was CEO of Omnifone, a B2B operator of music services in over 35 countries, where he helped transform the music industry from a transaction-based business to a subscription model. Under Hughes’ leadership, Omnifone became the industry leader and one of the fastest-growing companies in the UK. Earlier in his career, Jeff worked in consulting in Europe for some of the biggest media companies before moving to BSkyB (later renamed Sky UK) where he became Chief Technology Officer. At Sky, he led the company’s IT transformation, including the implementation of new CRM and customer care systems, and launched Sky’s Broadband service in the UK. While there, he took the company from a single-service broadcast business to a triple-play company with digital capabilities for the first time. An accomplished industry speaker, Jeff received his Bachelor of Arts from Texas Christian University and an MBA from Clemson University. After growing up just outside of Houston, Texas and spending nearly 20 years of his adult life in the UK and Europe he now calls Los Angeles, California home. He lives with his wife Maria and their two teenage daughters, along with a dog that likes to announce his presence in the background of Jeff’s video calls. In his spare time Jeff likes to read, swim, cycle and sail. He and his family enjoy spending time traveling and at the beach hanging out with friends.
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About NEP Group: NEP Group is the provider of outsourced teleproduction services critical to the delivery of live sports and entertainment events.
Frankie Kearney
Chief Operating Officer of Sliide
Frankie Kearney is the coo of sliide.
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About Sliide: Mobile technology company that work with MNO, MVNO and OEM partners globally to increase engagement, drive revenue, and decrease churn.
Claire Evans
Chief Operating Officer of Two Brothers Pictures
Claire was Head of Operations and Business Affairs at the BBC for 6 years, responsible for the business of all commissioned and acquired content, with specific responsibility for drama, film and acquisitions. Prior to that, she ran the business team for Comedy and Entertainment commissioning, was Head of Channel Management at BBC2 and was part of the original launch team at UKTV. In 2013 she left the BBC to launch her own factual entertainment company, Babygrand Productions. She also offers freelance commercial consultancy services in drama and film, including working with Two Brothers Pictures since January 2016. Her first novel, The Fourteenth Letter, will be published by Little, Brown in April 2017.
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About Two Brothers Pictures: Two Brothers Pictures aims to produce quality comedy and drama television.
Charlie Gardiner-Hill
COO of Tab Media
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About Tab Media: Tab Media is a global youth media startup for people under 25. It publishes The Tab and babe.
Damien Carroll
COO of Sohonet
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About Sohonet: Sohonet operates the largest private network for Media & Entertainment in the world, linking over 400 leading studios and creatives.
Pierdavide Marcolongo
COO & Board Director of V-Nova
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About : Next-generation video and image compression that works today
Tom O’Connor
COO of Thrillz
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About Thrillz: Personalised celebrity video messages and live experiences
Catherine Ross-Davies
COO and Co-Founder of Makematic
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About Makematic: Connecting brands with education through exceptional content and distribution
