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 Director operating in the Electronics space. If you think a 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.
Sally Wright
Marketing Director of Samsung Electronics
Sally Wright is an experienced and commercially-driven marketing professional. As Marketing Director for Samsung Electronics UK and Ireland, she leads the enterprise marketing team and is responsible for setting and driving the brand’s marketing strategy for business. With a global track record of creating and implementing strategies that deliver P&L impact for Telco (fixed and mobile) and IT brands, Sally has delivered these quantifiable successes by consistently developing campaigns that speak to consumers while hitting and exceeding commercial goals. Prior to her role at Samsung, Sally held senior roles including Head of Enterprise Marketing for Vodafone and Managing Director and International Marketing Director for Pitney Bowes.
Follow Sally Wright:
About Samsung Electronics: Samsung Electronics is an electronics company engaged in consumer electronics, IT and mobile communications, and device solutions.
Renaud Di Francesco
Director – Europe Technology Standards of Sony
Renaud Di Francesco joined Sony in 1998 to develop its external R&D cooperation, then leading its first Digital Cinema project. He is now in charge of the standardisation activity for Europe, with projects involving R&D and committee contributions. His current interests include energy efficiency, network architectures, M2M, multimedia from large venue cinema to personal wrist-watch formats, Mobility, M2M, industrial Internet and real time systems, user interface and accessibility, AAL. In previous assignments, he has worked for the European Commission, coordinating the preparation of Telecom Councils of Ministers, and earlier he managed the portfolio of network management, security and e-commerce in the Advanced Communications Technologies and Services programme. He started his career as a researcher in real time detection and speech coding (PhD, patent) at France Telecom, where he then became department head for new satellite services. His next move was to develop the multi-operator projects of France Telecom in core network (SDH, IP over ATM), service (ACE2000) and R&D (Eurescom).
Follow Renaud Di Francesco:
About CEN and CENELEC, Institution of Engineering and Technology, Sony: Sony develops and manufactures audio, video, communications, and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets.
Andreas Lane
Creative Director of Smarter
Andreas Lane is an award winning designer and has an extensive background in product design and manufacturing. Andreas has previously set up his own business in interior design and retail. As a founding partner at Smarter, Andreas works alongside the CEO, is responsible for the planning and management of product development and design. Andreas manages a team of manufacturers, engineers and developers in the UK and manufacturers in Asia. He oversees the entire product development cycle from concept, feature creation to design and mass production. Andreas is responsible for the development of Smarter’s brand and design. He has created the Smarter product range from physical products, packaging and print to the software and its apps.
Follow Andreas Lane:
About Smarter: Smarter develops connected kitchen products that bridge the gap between the traditional and smart kitchen.
Isabella Lane
Managing Director of Smarter
Isabella is responsible for ensuring that the visions and strategic plans of the Board and CEO are realised and translated into the day-to-day running of the business. Isabella has oversight of each department from finance to customer services keeping the various teams motivated and driven to reach Smarter’s goals and targets. As a founding partner at Smarter, Isabella has extensive experience in all aspects of the business. Being instrumental alongside the CMO for strategic partnerships, Isabella has worked with some of the largest names in the industry e.g. Bosch, Unilever, Amazon, John Lewis.
Follow Isabella Lane:
About Smarter: Smarter develops connected kitchen products that bridge the gap between the traditional and smart kitchen.
Darren Barson
Finance Director of Smarter
As Finance Director at Smarter, and in addition to overall ownership of the core Finance function, Darren is part of the management team and provides commercial insight and support across a variety of key business decisions. Darren joins Smarter having spent the past 7 years working in Asia across various commercial finance roles, most recently as Head of Financial Operations for St James’s Place Wealth Management (FTSE). “Joining the Smarter team was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make. The industry leading products, global opportunity and the team translates into a journey I had to be part of.”
Follow Darren Barson:
About Smarter: Smarter develops connected kitchen products that bridge the gap between the traditional and smart kitchen.
Ran Janda
Executive Director of Smarter
Ran heads Internal Operations and is the Executive Director at Smarter, London. Ran has visibility of all the departments in the business. She has over five years’ experience in technology startups. Ran is responsible for ensuring that the business has the best working environment and processes in place. To this end, she has grown the business from four to 30 employees, overseen a major office move from Croydon to London. Ran is also responsible for HR, day-to-day internal management and also manages logistics for major exhibitions and conferences the Smarter attends. Before joining Smarter, Ran worked for Xively Ltd, an IoT connected product management platform. She had overall responsibility for the day-to-day financial management as well as supporting the growth of the company in recruitment and HR. Over the course of two years, the company experienced rapid growth and was acquired by Boston-based remote access firm LogMeIn in 2011 for $15M.
Follow Ran Janda:
About Smarter: Smarter develops connected kitchen products that bridge the gap between the traditional and smart kitchen.
Alessandro Benedetti
Director of Versatile Systems
Alessandro Benedetti joined Equus Total Return as Director in 2010.
Follow Alessandro Benedetti:
About Equus Total Return,Inc., Versatile Systems: Versatile Systems is a organization that specializes in the field of Data Management.
Stephen Bonner
Executive Director, Regulatory Futures of Information Commissioner’s Office
Follow Stephen Bonner:
About Information Commissioner’s Office: The ICO is a U.K.-based independent body set up to uphold information rights.
Martin Arumemi
Co-Founder & Managing Director of EE
Arumemi-Ikhide is the MD and Founder of EE. He also serves as the MD of Hansworth Ltd and General Manager of Engineering for Rockson Engineering. In both Hansworth and Rockson Engineering he is responsible for the leadership, execution and construction of the 4 NIPP power plants in FGN. He has lead the firm to the successful commissioning of the first phase of the 1074MW Alaoji CCGT plant. He is also progressing the completion of the 225MW Omoku, 225MW Gbarain and 338MW Egbema OCGT also based in FGN. Prior to joining Hansworth, Dr Arumemi-Ikhide worked for GE Power and Water for more than seven years as a Senior Project Manager, overseeing the execution of several landmark projects. At GE he was the Project Manager for two combined cycle plants that were using GE 9FB based in Spain and Turkey notably. Whilst at GE, he was on the fast track of the firm’s world renowned leadership programme. Dr Arumemi-Ikhide holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering from Warwick University. He also holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from University of Birmingham. He possesses and is attending a number of business management executive courses including leadership programme from Boston University and is currently completing a leadership programme at Oxford University Business School.
Follow Martin Arumemi:
About EE, Rockson Engineering: EE is a telecommunications company that provides 4G mobile and fixed fiber broadband services to personal and business customers.
Neil Sawyer
Commercial Channel & Edu/SMB Director of HP
Neil Sawyer is Director of Education for HP in the UK&I. Over the last 15 years Neil has developed a broad knowledge of the key solutions, partnerships and insights that have helped a number of schools, colleges and Universities in their decision making and investment in educational technology.
Follow Neil Sawyer:
About HP: HP is a manufacturer and seller of personal computers, printers, computer hardwares, and business solutions.
John Hughes
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Spectris
John Hughes CBE has more than 30 years’ experience leading global, high-technology businesses. He has significant experience of managing growth companies, especially those supplying complex solutions and services to business customers and the development of leadership teams. He previously held senior executive positions at Thales Group, Lucent Technologies and Hewlett Packard, and was non-executive chairman of Intec Telecom Systems plc, a non-executive director of Chloride Group plc and the Vitec Group plc. Until 2015 he was executive chairman of Sepura plc. In 2016 he stepped down as executive chairman of Telecity Group plc. Non-executive chairman of Just Eat plc. Non-executive director of CSG International Inc. and Equinix Inc. (both NASDAQ-listed companies). Ambassador for the Alzheimer’s Society.
Follow John Hughes:
About : Spectris is a supplier of productivity-enhancing instrumentation and controls.
Clive Watson
Group Finance Director of Spectris
Clive Watson has considerable finance experience, having previously been chief financial officer and executive vice president for business support at Borealis. Prior to this, he was group finance director at Thorn Lighting Group and group finance director Europe at Black & Decker. Clive is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the Chartered Institute of Taxation. Non-executive director and chairman of the audit committee of Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc.
Follow Clive Watson:
About Spectris: Spectris is a supplier of productivity-enhancing instrumentation and controls.
David Tupman
Member of the Board of Directors of Cirrus Logic
Tupman is a long-time innovator and technology executive, most recently serving as vice president of iPhone and iPod Engineering at Apple from 2001-2011 where he led the development of numerous hardware products. Tupman previously served as hardware engineering manager at Psion Computers from 1995-2001 and his career also includes key engineering positions at Schlumberger and Caterpillar Ltd. Dr. Tupman, who is a citizen of both the UK and United States and holds more than 30 U.S. and worldwide patents, received his bachelor of engineering degree, and an honorary doctorate in science, from Salford University and his HTEC in electrical engineering, with distinctions, from De Montfort University in Leicester.
Follow David Tupman:
About : Cirrus Logic, Inc. is a premier supplier of high-precision analog and digital signal processing components for audio and energy markets.
Alberto Spinelli
Director – Digital Services Business, Europe of Canon
Follow Alberto Spinelli:
About Canon, Fing: Canon is a manufacturer of business and consumer imaging products.
Jonathan Woolf
Program Director, Intelligent Journey Orchestration of O2
Jonathan Woolf serves as the Program Director, Intelligent Journey Orchestration at O2.
Follow Jonathan Woolf:
About O2: O2 provides services such as non-voice services, including text, media messaging, games, music, and video, as well as data connections.
Colin Roughan
Managing Director, Asia Pacific of SquareTrade
Follow Colin Roughan:
About SquareTrade, The Natural Edition: SquareTrade is an independent warranty provider for consumer electronics and appliances.
Lilian Lin
Director of FP&A of dealmoon.com
Follow Lilian Lin:
About dealmoon.com: Dealmoon is the largest Chinese shopping and lifestyle advisory site in the U.S. with offices in U.K., Australia, France and China.
Cristina Data
Director of Insight and Analysis of Ofcom
Cristina is the Director of Spectrum Information and Analysis at Ofcom, Cristina and her team are responsible for providing insight on market trends and their impact on spectrum demand across all sectors. Cristina is also overseeing Ofcom commitment to promote further spectrum sharing in the UK. Before joining Ofcom Cristina worked for Red Bee Media (now Ericsson) heading market intelligence and research within Strategy, and prior to that she held group strategy/performance management positions at both Orange UK (now EE) and Telefonica. Cristina started her career joining the graduate management programme of the FIAT Group (Fiat Grade) working in the UK and Belgium. Cristina holds a degree in Engineering from the Politecnico di Torino and a Post graduate in international relationships.
Follow Cristina Data:
About Ofcom: Ofcom is the UK’s communications regulator.
Ian Macrae
Director of Market Intelligence of Ofcom
Ian currently works as Ofcom’s director of market intelligence.
Follow Ian Macrae:
About Ofcom: Ofcom is the UK’s communications regulator.
Ilya Feige
Director of Artificial Intelligence of Faculty Science
Ilya Feige is the head of data science and the head of research at Faculty. He ensures that cutting-edge machine learning is used across all Faculty’s commercial data science projects. Previously, Ilya worked at McKinsey & Company, helping to deploy artificial intelligence for some of the world’s largest brands. He’s also an honorary senior research fellow in artificial intelligence at UCL. Ilya was awarded the Goldhaber prize for the best PhD in theoretical physics from Harvard University, and the Governor General’s award for the single highest ranked undergraduate student at McGill University.
Follow Ilya Feige:
About Faculty Science: Faculty provides data science and engineering training services.
Mike Warren
Operations Director of Nextbase
Follow Mike Warren:
About Nextbase: Nextbase design and manufacture dash cameras.
Eamonn O’Hare
Independent Non-Executive Member of the Board of Directors of Dialog Semiconductor
Eamonn joined the Board in May 2014 as an independent non-executive Director. He was appointed as Chair of the Audit Committee in December 2014 and was replaced by Alan Campbell in July 2015. Eamonn has spent over two decades as CFO of some of the world’s fastest-growing consumer and technology businesses. From 2009 to 2013, he was CFO and main board member of the UK’s leading entertainment and communications business, Virgin Media Inc. and led its successful sale to Liberty Global Inc. in 2013. From 2005 to 2009, he served as CFO of the UK operations of one of the world’s largest retailers, Tesco plc. Before joining Tesco he was CFO and Board Director at Energis Communications and led the successful turnaround of this high profile UK telecoms company. Prior to this Eamonn spent ten years at PepsiCo Inc. in a series of senior executive roles in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Eamonn spent the early part of his career in the aerospace industry with companies that included Rolls-Royce PLC and BAE Systems PLC.
Follow Eamonn O’Hare:
About : Dialog Semiconductor makes energy-efficient, highly-integrated, and mixed signal ICs for mobile, IoT, and solid state lighting applications.
Merrion Edwards
Director, Global Market and Technology Development of Corning
Merrion Edwards is currently the director of market and technology development, optical fibre and cable, for Corning Optical Communications. She has over 25 years of experience in the field of telecommunications and is the author of 60 papers in industry journals, covering a broad range of applications: Core, Metro, Access, DataCenter, Transport and Photonics. During her career at Corning, Dr. Edwards has become a knowledge expert on emerging telecommunications trends and synergetic innovation of optical fibre, cable and components to enable advancement of telecommunications transport systems. Prior to joining Corning, Edwards conducted research into photonic devices for telecommunications and sensing. Edwards holds a PhD from the Optoelectronics Research Centre, University of Southampton in the United Kingdom.
Follow Merrion Edwards:
About Corning: Corning is a manufacturer of building materials including glass, ceramic, related materials and technologies, and more.
Nigel Pusey
Director of essDOCS
Follow Nigel Pusey:
About essDOCS: essDOCS enables paperless trade; focusing on digitizing paper-heavy shipping, trade and logistic processes.
Jimmy Kyriacou
Founder & Director of Unbox
Jimmy Kyriacou is the creator of #BehindTheFace and UNBOX, which is a collective of like minded entrepreneurs, creatives, scientists, artists and film makers with a shared vision of the future. UNBOX merges art, music & cutting edge technology with a specific focus on Augmented Reality. Enquiries & INFO : hello@unboxlondon.com
Follow Jimmy Kyriacou:
About Unbox: Unbox is a blog site about electronics and the way they work and operate.
Christine Adshead
Non Executive Director of Ultimate Products
Christine Adshead is a Partner at PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers).
Follow Christine Adshead:
About Ultimate Products: Ultimate Products is a brand and product development house in the UK that specializes in house-ware and electrical goods.
Gopal Das
Managing Director/co-founder of Karnataka Hybrid Micro Devices Limited (KHMDL)
Follow Gopal Das:
About Das & Co., Karnataka Hybrid Micro Devices Limited (KHMDL): KHMDL is a diversified electronics company specializing in design, development and manufacture of custom-built hybrid micro circuits
Chris Fuller
Director, Solutions Engineering – Shape of F5
Follow Chris Fuller:
About F5: F5 Networks provides application security and delivery tools.
Gary Newe
Technical Director of F5
Follow Gary Newe:
About F5: F5 Networks provides application security and delivery tools.
Chris Fuller
Director, Solutions Engineering – Shape of F5
Follow Chris Fuller:
About F5: F5 Networks provides application security and delivery tools.
Ollie Marshall
Managing Director of Maplin Electronics
Follow Ollie Marshall:
About Maplin Electronics: Maplin Electronics is an online retailer of consumer electronics.
Prem Rajalingham
Managing Director of Frontier Smart Technologies
Follow Prem Rajalingham:
About Frontier Smart Technologies: Frontier Smart Technologies is a supplier of digital audio solutions.
Dmitro Khroma
Director Of Engineering of Swytch
Dmitro is an exceptional team member and essential Swytch component. He studied Engineering Design at the University of Bristol, specialising in Mechanical Engineering. Claiming to have been cycling before he was walking he loves being able to combine his advanced mechanical engineering practical experience with his passion for cycling and electric transport. Dmitro is a Royal Academy of Engineering Leaders Scholar and worked at Cambridge Consultants, a world leading engineering firm, where he developed ground-breaking electro-mechanical products with some challenging and exciting technical problems. None of which he will reveal to us, although there were rumours of a fruit-picking robot and a precision delivery drone so we’ll have to take his word for that. It was good enough for us and we are exceptionally lucky he has been such a big part of the Swytch product development and will be with us in the future for our next adventures.
Follow Dmitro Khroma:
About Swytch: Instantly convert any bike into an eBike (electric bike)
Hayley Bishop
Founder & Technical Director of Swytch
Hayley came onto this project right at the beginning – practically for the first heartbeat of the product after joining the team during the Shanghai Bike Fair in 2016. With 12 years’ experience in Software Development and Design she is responsible for the management and delivery of all of our online content, branding, and marketing material. She has worked on a number of large high profile internal software development projects whilst running her own Design and Development company for the past 5 years which makes project managing such an exciting project, a necessary skill for us to take full advantage of. In almost exactly the same way as our customers, business aquaintences, friends and family members, Hayley reacted to electric bikes and in particular the Swytch bike; she wanted to be part of this movement and to get her hands on a Swytch bike as soon as possible. And what better way to do that then join the team!
Follow Hayley Bishop:
About Swytch: Instantly convert any bike into an eBike (electric bike)
Richard May
Director of Legrand
Richard May is the Data Centre Power SME and Country Manager for Raritan, a brand of Legrand. With over 20 years’ data centre experience, specialising in white space monitoring, metering and control, Richard works to support Raritan customers and partners; helping to maximise the efficiency of their existing data centres, and developing strategies for their new facilities.
Follow Richard May:
About Legrand: Legrand is the global specialist in electrical and digital building infrastructures.
Marcus Perrett
Managing Director of Instinet
Follow Marcus Perrett:
About Instinet: Instinet, along with its subsidiaries, provides online security brokerage and electronic trading services.
Mili Tharakan
Director of Technology of Tilt Textiles
Mili John Tharakan loves all things textile and has been practicing in the field of e-textiles over the last decade. Her interest lies especially in the merging of electronics with textile materials and techniques, creating products that lie at the intersection of textiles and gadgets. A post graduate from Manchester Metropolitan University, Mili has held research positions with the Mixed Reality Lab at the National University of Singapore and the Smart Textiles Design Lab at the Swedish School of Textiles, researching on various smart and e-textile topics. In 2014, under the mother company Welspun, Mili set up TILT, a company developing Smart Home Textiles for the consumer market with a focus on developing e-textiles solutions for the home. Her current interest lies in understanding and resolving the challenges of scaling e-textiles for production, and designing great smart home textile experiences for the consumers. TILT launched its first products, SpinTales Enchanted Duvet and SpinTales Jungle Rug, during Holiday 2016 in the US.
Follow Mili Tharakan:
About Tilt Textiles: An innovative smart home company
James Turley
Board Of Director of Emerson
James S. Turley is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ernst & Young, a leading global professional services organization providing audit, risk advisory, tax, and transaction services. With approximately 130,000 people in 140 countries, Ernst & Young is one of the largest professional services organizations in the world. Jim began his career with Ernst & Young in 1977 in the US firm’s Houston office. Over the last 31 years, he has held a series of leadership positions throughout Ernst & Young. Jim was named Metropolitan New York Area Managing Partner of Ernst & Young LLP in 1998 and was appointed Deputy Chairman in 2000. In July 2001, he became Chairman & CEO. Based in New York and London, Jim serves as senior advisory partner for many of Ernst & Young’s largest global clients. As Chairman, Jim sets a clear and strong tone from the top, focused on quality, integrity, and professionalism. He has worked to create a high-performance work environment with a highly visible leadership commitment to “Quality in Everything We Do.” Ernst & Young has been consistently recognized by Fortune magazine as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. Jim is actively engaged with many stakeholders as part of Ernst & Young’s commitment to enhancing the public’s trust in professional services firms and in the quality of financial reporting. He has encouraged dialogue with key stakeholders across the globe regarding the many changes facing the world capital markets, including the advent of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the United States, the introduction of International Financial Reporting Standards in more than 100 countries throughout the world, and the overall movement toward greater convergence of global accounting standards and global governance. Throughout his career, Jim has actively supported numerous civic, cultural and business organizations. He co-chairs the Russia Foreign Investment Advisory Council. He is on the Board of Directors for Boy Scouts of America, Catalyst, the National Corporate Theater Fund and on the Board of Trustees for Rice University. He is also a member of the Business Roundtable, Transatlantic Business Dialog and IBLAC (International Business Leaders’ Advisory Council for the Mayor of Shanghai). In October, 2007, was appointed Chair for the Governing Board of the U.S. Center for Audit Quality. Jim holds a Master’s and a BA in Accounting from Rice University in Houston, Texas. He enjoys sports, including golf and tennis. Jim and his wife, Lynne, have a 24-year old son.
Follow James Turley:
About : Emerson is a global technology & engineering company providing innovative solutions for customers in industrial and residential markets.
Thomas Arundel
Co-Founder & Director of Precision Microdrives
Follow Thomas Arundel:
About Introversion Software, Precision Microdrives: Precision Microdrives is a manufacturer of miniature electric motors.
Anjola Awofisoye
Director of Education of Mazedon
Follow Anjola Awofisoye:
About Mazedon: Mazedon Inc. is an American start-up technology company focused on the development of intelligent shopping and sales of consumer goods
Keith Hamilton
Managing Director of Veluba
Keith Hamilton serves as the Managing Director at Veluba.
Follow Keith Hamilton:
About Veluba: Veluba is an app-hailed eco-cab service that aims to be a cheaper, faster, and zero-emission transport solution.
Josh Gallagher
Technical Director of Matchnet
Follow Josh Gallagher:
About Matchnet: Matchnet offers an electronic settlement matching (eSM) service to the energy trading companies through software as a service.
Tim Hadley
Communications Director of ROXi
Tim Hadley is the Communications Director at ROXi.
Follow Tim Hadley:
About Captini, ROXi: ROXi is a Music Entertainment System compay.
Olly Tagg
Founder & Director of Corporate Mobile Recycling
Olly Tagg is Founder & Director at Corporate Mobile Recycling.
Follow Olly Tagg:
About Corporate Mobile Recycling: CMR Ltd is a mobile phone recycling company trading for over 10 years reselling and recycling 70,000 mobile phones and electrical devices
Tom Hamilton
Creative Director of Hamilton+Kidd
Follow Tom Hamilton:
About Hamilton+Kidd: Genre-defining virtual reality experiences that you will remember for a lifetime.
Adrian Drewett
Director of GridLocate Ltd
Follow Adrian Drewett:
About GridLocate Ltd: GridLocate – Creating affordable end-to-end LoRaWAN IoT Solutions and GPS Tracking solutions for consumers and SME’s.
Steve Miller
Managing Director of Insulin Angel
Follow Steve Miller:
About Insulin Angel: Insulin Angel is World smartest medication tracker.
