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 Manchester based Director operating in the Information Technology 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.
Jasper van der Luijtgaarden
Managing Director of Building Blocks
Jasper van der Luijtgaarden is the managing director at Dept.
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About Building Blocks: Building Blocks helps global companies solve complex problems using digital technologies.
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Brian Robinson
Commercial Director of Building Blocks
Brian Robinson is the commercial director of Building Blocks.
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About Building Blocks: Building Blocks helps global companies solve complex problems using digital technologies.
Brian Robinson
Commercial Director of Building Blocks
Brian Robinson is the commercial director of Building Blocks.
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About Building Blocks: Building Blocks helps global companies solve complex problems using digital technologies.
Paul Hill
Director of Client Operations of Sorted Group
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About Sorted Group: Sorted Group is a global SaaS company that provides data-driven software for checkouts, warehouses, and shipping.
Andrew Hill
Sales Director of Sorted Group
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About Sorted Group: Sorted Group is a global SaaS company that provides data-driven software for checkouts, warehouses, and shipping.
Paul Vlissidis
Technical Director of NCC Group
Paul is technical director and senior advisor at global cyber security and risk mitigation specialist NCC Group. He is responsible for communicating with and advising boards on the cyber risks facing their organisation and the threats specific to the sector in which they operate. Paul has led the cyber team on Channel 4’s Hunted for the last two years, working with ex-military personnel and former police detectives in order to track down voluntary fugitives who were on the run. The programme’s cyber team was made up of NCC Group consultants including Doug Ipperciel, Chris Mayhew and Richard Warren.
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About NCC Group: NCC Group exists to make the world safer and more secure.
Lauren Steele
Director of Business Services of IT Lab Limited
Capitalising on 25 years’ experience within JMC IT, Lauren’s role encompasses business property, central services, fleet management and health and safety keeping the business on track and compliant. And as a senior touch point for HR and staff engagement, Lauren ensures that IT Lab continues to be an award-winning, great place to work.
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About IT Lab Limited: IT Lab Limited provides IT support and consultancy business.
Mark Duman
Managing Director of MD Healthcare Consultants
Mark is a rare blend of clinician, management consultant and patient advocate. He works with organisations to help them realise the full benefit of their services and products, especially through the often untapped potential of patients and the public. At The King’s Fund Mark promoted shared decision making, founded the Ask About Medicines campaign and authored ‘Producing Patient Information’. In the BBC he developed a range of behavioural change interventions to improve people’s health and lifestyle. Following roles in publishing and telecoms, Mark moved into consulting with clients including Cancer Research UK, Care Quality Commission, Pfizer and Microsoft. In addition to various advisory and mentor roles, he is a Non-Executive Director of the Patient Information Forum and a Director at Monmouth Partners. Mark is a long term condition patient (and advocate) who lives happily in Salford, England (despite being Scottish).
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About MD Healthcare Consultants: MD Healthcare Consultants
Steve Tyrrell
Co-Founder and Sales Director of FourNet
Steve Tyrrell is the Co-Founder and Sales Director of FourNet.
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About FourNet: FourNet is a cloud and managed communications service company providing cloud, collaboration, and contact center solutions.
Richard Pennington
Managing Director and Co-Founder of FourNet
Richard Pennington is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of FourNet.
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About 4NET Information Technologies, FourNet: FourNet is a cloud and managed communications service company providing cloud, collaboration, and contact center solutions.
Francis Jennings
Co-Founder and Operations Director of FourNet
Francis Jennings is the Co-Founder and Operations Director of FourNet.
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About FourNet: FourNet is a cloud and managed communications service company providing cloud, collaboration, and contact center solutions.
Frank Staiger
Founder, Managing Director of Via Studios
Frank Staiger is Managing Director and founder of Via Studios. He has over twelve years experience in online design, development and digital management with a growing and exciting client portfolio including both private and public sectors. He has worked with many art directors, studios, developers and clients during his career. Via is the engine room driving his unstoppable passion for the internet and the digital sector. What’s more, the experience he brings to projects mediates between excitement for new channels and a sound business sense of what will work to deliver on the bottom line. Before founding the company back in 1998, German-born Frank was working freelance for many years in the media industry, including production and team management for large magazine publications. He also worked in branding, graphic design, pre-production and typography for traditional advertising agencies across Manchester.
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About Via Studios: Online Design, Usability and Development
Mark Elwood
Marketing Director of TeleWare
Mark Elwood is the Marketing Director at TeleWare, an innovative software vendor based in Yorkshire. With more than 20 years’ Marketing experience. A graduate from Teesside University, Mark started his career at Home Retail Group later joined Bupa, heading the marketing communications team. Before joining TeleWare, Mark established his own Marketing consultancy, working with clients including Shell, Brother and several start-ups. During his time at TeleWare, Mark has transformed the marketing function, leading product launches including Re:Call and has led TeleWare to several award wins.
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About TeleWare: TeleWare creates software to help businesses communicate better with their customers & employees by routing communications more effectively
David Cameron
Director of Operational Intelligence Ltd
David has 30 years’ experience in the design, installation and commissioning of large scale engineering systems. Prior to joining Operational Intelligence as a Director in 2011, he spent the previous 15 years in a senior management role within a multidisciplinary, international consultancy. His specialism is high availability engineering systems and has an extensive track record in delivering complex engineering systems on time and on budget. He has extensive experience of operational risk analysis having undertaken many studies utilizing Failure Mode Effect and Criticality Analysis (FMECA), Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) and Risk Based Maintenance. He has provided independent advice to clients on energy efficiency of data centres and has been used as an independent specialist on a number of significant failure events. As a project manager he has an extensive track record in delivering projects within a team environment and has the ability to present complex issues in a non-technical way.
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About Operational Intelligence Ltd: OI offer consultancy services and training in risk and energy assessments to help clients improve critical facility performance.
Shazan Qureshi
Director of Shazaniq
Shazan Qureshi is a marketing & business consultancy professional with 18 years experience in direct marketing, advertising, business growth & development, finance and branding. Shazan has successfully worked alongside a number of leading blue-chip brands including The Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest, Newcastle Building Society, Co-operative Financial Services and Redcats Group, through his senior roles at various TBWA, Omnicom and WPP agencies. During his role as Board Director and accountable for a £30m marketing budget at TBWA in Manchester, Shazan Qureshi was responsible and delivered the global re-branding for The Royal Bank of Scotland, played a strategic part in the integration of NatWest and re-launched general insurance to deliver an additional £9m income stream within its first three months through direct channels and integrated marketing. At the current moment, Shazan Qureshi works as a freelance business consultant to support selected enterprises and start-ups with a view to growing their enterprises through bespoke strategic business development and management. In the 1990s, Shazan Qureshi served as the co-founder of Urban Logic, an off plan property investment specialist which was acquired for £7.4m and listed on AIM whilst Shazan was at the helm. Due to the experience gained here, Shazan Qureshi has subsequently been involved with other successful Stock Market floatation’s. Shazan Qureshi’s work has led to him being recognised as one of the ‘Top 42 Under 42’ entrepreneurs by NW Business Insider magazine, a finalist for MEN Small Business of the Year, nominated for the prestigious LloydsTSB Asian Jewel award, EMBF(NW) Rising Star award, Tiger Award and been awarded Regional Direct Marketing Campaign of the Year by the Royal Mail. Over the course of his career, Shazan Qureshi has sat on the EMBF(NW) Board, NW Further Education Steering Group, been an Ambassador for Enterprise UK, supported the charity Karma Nirvana and Mix-d and been a Governor for Liverpool Community College and Elton High School.
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About Knight Wolffe, Shazaniq: A leading management and business transformation consultancy specialising in growing businesses
Alex Seewald
Founder, Managing Director of Openshadow Ltd
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About Openshadow Ltd: Mobile software development. Research and Development. Project Management.
Andy Etches
Co-Founder and Director of Rezzil
Andy Etches is the Co-Founder and Director of Rezzil.
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About Rezzil: Rezzil improves resilience ,performance and reaction times across a wide range of sports, from beginner to Elite level.
Adam Dickinson
Co-Founder and Development Director of Rezzil
Adam Dickinson is the Co-Founder and Development Director of Rezzil.
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About Rezzil: Rezzil improves resilience, performance and reaction times across a wide range of sports, from beginner to Elite level.
Gareth Thatcher
Technical Director of Rezzil
Gareth Thatcher is the Technical Director of Rezzil.
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About Rezzil: Rezzil improves resilience, performance and reaction times across a wide range of sports, from beginner to Elite level.
Sam Absolom
Director, Business Development of AssetDigital
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About AssetDigital: We help companies acquire great domain names.
Stuart Houghton
Business Operations Director and Co-Founder of Planixs
Stuart was the original founder of NWCL in March 2006, the predecessor to Planixs, which delivered finance management and control services to FTSE 100 companies. Previously Stuart was a senior manager at Accenture, the global management consultancy company working in a number of sectors including financial services, government and retail. Stuart spent 10 years at Accenture and latterly focused on the setup and optimisation of the Programme and Resource Management Offices for large scale transformation engagements. Educated at University of Warwick, Stuart studied Computer Science and Business Studies. He is also a keen snowboarder and photographer with a number of his photographs displayed in companies around the UK.
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About Planixs: Planixs is a Graphite Platform Company.
Neil McMurdo
Managing Director of Godel Technologies
Neil McMurdo is the managing director at Godel Technologies.
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About Godel Technologies: Godel Technologies is an agile nearshore development company, working with clients to provide high performing software development.
William Doyle MRICS
Managing Director of Raildiary
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About Raildiary: Raildiary is a Manchester-based tech start-up
Daniel Keighron-Foster
Managing Director of Steamhaus
Daniel is our Managing Director and started Steamhaus in August 2015. Back in 2000 Daniel set up Melbourne Server Hosting and grew it to become one of the North West’s most respected and successful independent hosting companies. Melbourne’s specific focus was on customer service, resulting in the business consistently growing at a rate of 40% per year. Daniel ran Melbourne for a total of 12 years, through to its sale in 2012; at this point having a turnover of £3.5m and a team of around 40 staff. In 2012, after exiting Melbourne, Daniel decided to spend some time focusing on starting a family. His twins were born in 2014. They’ve kept him and his partner incredibly busy since. Really, really busy. Daniel realised early on in 2015 that the cloud and DevOps are where the future lies in regards to hosting. Before he knew it, Steamhaus was incorporated and he was leading a team of experts. When Daniel isn’t working or being a Dad, you’ll find him either at the gym or at his piano playing at the skill level of a five-year-old.
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About Steamhaus: Steamhaus is a cloud and devops consultancy that enables businesses to leverage the power of public cloud providers.
Sotira Trifourki
Director of Artemis Space
Sotira is Founder and CEO of Artemis Space. She leads the overall business operations and company strategy. Sotira is an innovation facilitator with expertise in convening systems of stakeholders around complex networks, building connections between companies, researchers, government agencies and NGOs throughout Europe, the Middle East, and U.K. She started her career as a research scientist and has spent 15 years supporting businesses, social enterprises and entrepreneurs with business development and new market strategies. Sotira received her BSc. in Astrophysics from The University of Manchester.
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About Artemis Space, Cyprus Space Office, European Southern Observatory: From concept to design, build and launch, we provide disruptive access to Space.
Thomas Kinniburgh
Director of Product and Monetization of Ayopa Games
With years of mobile games industry experience, Tom has been a key contributor to some of the largest mobile gaming franchises. Starting his career as a hands-on producer at Chillingo, Tom helped to establish the publishing process and worked with talented development studios such as Rovio, Zeptolab, 11-bit and Mokus Games. He worked directly with each of these previously unheralded partners to create worldwide hits and award-winning franchises. As a mobile game producer with Chillingo, Tom was responsible for helping developers to create their best content specifically for mobile platforms. As the transition into free-to-play began, Tom showcased key skills working with EA as well as helping major license-holders such as NBC and Fox Digital to move into the mobile space. Tom then sought further opportunities in the free-to-play genre, moving into a production and game management role with Wooga, the largest free-to-play development studio in Germany. There, he brought his experience and knowledge to help the company transition from Facebook to mobile. With Wooga, Tom honed his expertise specifically in game design and monetization of a variety of hit franchises, as well as immersing himself in the groundbreaking data-driven approach needed to create hit free-to-play mobile games. Tom has now decided to return to his indie game publishing roots with Ayopa Games. He’s keen to advise and collaborate with indie developers on creating and managing hit new mobile brands that really resonate with players globally. Together with Johnny Coghlan, Tom guarantees genuine publishing prowess for Ayopa Games and its indie development partners, enabling them to succeed and perform in the hugely profitable and highly competitive mobile gaming industry.
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About Ayopa Games: Ayopa Games is an independent game publisher for mobile platforms.MacGuffin’s Curse is a game developed by this company.
Lida Weng
Managing Director of OElite
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About CapitalStackers, OElite: OElite is an intelligent IT platform engineered to help SMEs administer websites, daily operations and more located in Bury.
Jonathan Ward
Managing Director of Breaking Free Online Limited
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About Breaking Free Online Limited: Breaking Free Online Limited is a digital health company focused on solutions for substance misuse.
Glyn Davies
Service Development Director of Breaking Free Online Limited
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About Breaking Free Online Limited: Breaking Free Online Limited is a digital health company focused on solutions for substance misuse.
Stephen Dyson
Director of R&D Funding Group
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About R&D Funding Group: We help companies secure and maximise R&D Tax Credits, R&D Grants and Video Games Tax Relief
Karl Gilbank
Managing Director of Insider Technologies
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About Insider Technologies: Insider Technologies Limited (ITL) is a UK-based software house and services company.
Bash Din
Managing Director of Zumzum
Bash Din has been serving as Managing Director at Zumzum since January 2007.
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About Zumzum: Zumzum helps business transform how their people work to become a real time business.
Bash Din
Managing Director of Zumzum
Bash Din has been serving as Managing Director at Zumzum since January 2007.
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About Zumzum: Zumzum helps business transform how their people work to become a real time business.
