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 Surrey based Director operating in the Software 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.
Pascal Wheeler
Creative Director of Digime
Highly innovative, creative, and passionate about design, usability and the user journey, Pascal is responsible for all of digi.me’s application and user interface design, as well as the design of supporting websites and marketing material.
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About Digime, iBundle: Digi.me allows consumers to gather their personal data and share it with businesses in a mutually beneficial value exchange.
Roger Llewellyn
Managing Director & Founder & CEO of Kognitio
Llewellyn joined Kognitio in April 2003, having previously been Managing Director of Arelon for two and a half years – a company acquired by Cedar Software. Roger instigated the Management Buy-Out of Cedar and the formation of the Redac Group with Alchemy in May 2002. Roger has started a number of American companies in Europe, including WICAT Europe, where he was Managing Director for 6 years and Vice President USA Sales, and Macromedia, where he was Managing Director Europe for 5 years from start-up to IPO. Roger then took the helm at VINCA Europe for 4 years, until it was purchased by Legato, now EMC. He was also Vice President of Elevon Inc. He trained as an Electronic Engineer before taking his first job for Hewlett Packard. He then held senior positions in Digital Equipment and Prime Computers, before becoming Managing Director of Prime Sweden. After two years in this role Roger took the Managing Director role for Prime in Switzerland.
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About AB Electronics, Kognitio: Kognitio is an in-memory analytical software platform that supports BI, OLAP and analytical applications on large and complex data.
Christos Malliaros
Product Management Director, Leadership Solutions of SHL
Christos Malliaros is an Organisational Psychologist with over 20 years of HR experience. He holds a master’s degree in Organisational Psychology from London’s City University, a Diploma in Human Resource Management from London Metropolitan University and Advanced Certification in Executive Coaching from Bristol Business School. He is a member of the British Psychological Society and a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (UK). Christos has a varied background of in-house HR and Recruitment roles with private and public sector organizations in the UK. Over his career, he has worked and delivered consulting services in Hong Kong, China, and Singapore, especially in the areas of Executive Assessment, and Leadership Development Centres. Since 2016, Christos has exclusively focused on developing new Leadership Solutions for SHL, with the largest and most ambitious product being SHL Leader Edge. Leader Edge is an innovative Leadership assessment and development solution based on SHL Research findings on the importance of context in leadership performance. SHL Leader Edge won the 2018 SIOP M. Scott Myers Award for Improving the Accuracy of Identifying and Developing Best-Fit Leaders.
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About SHL: SHL, the global leader in talent innovation, helps companies transform productivity through deeper people insight.
Christos Malliaros
Product Management Director, Leadership Solutions of SHL
Christos Malliaros is an Organisational Psychologist with over 20 years of HR experience. He holds a master’s degree in Organisational Psychology from London’s City University, a Diploma in Human Resource Management from London Metropolitan University and Advanced Certification in Executive Coaching from Bristol Business School. He is a member of the British Psychological Society and a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (UK). Christos has a varied background of in-house HR and Recruitment roles with private and public sector organizations in the UK. Over his career, he has worked and delivered consulting services in Hong Kong, China, and Singapore, especially in the areas of Executive Assessment, and Leadership Development Centres. Since 2016, Christos has exclusively focused on developing new Leadership Solutions for SHL, with the largest and most ambitious product being SHL Leader Edge. Leader Edge is an innovative Leadership assessment and development solution based on SHL Research findings on the importance of context in leadership performance. SHL Leader Edge won the 2018 SIOP M. Scott Myers Award for Improving the Accuracy of Identifying and Developing Best-Fit Leaders.
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About SHL: SHL, the global leader in talent innovation, helps companies transform productivity through deeper people insight.
Paul Boanas
Director of Sales (EMEA & LATAM) of Catapult
Paul Boanas as Head of Europe, responsible for driving sales and business development in the key UK and European markets. Boanas is one of the key pioneers in athlete analysis, delivering innovative ways of assessing performance during his 13-year tenure with Prozone Sports as Head of Analysis Services, UK Account Manager and, most recently, Senior Account Manager.
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About Catapult: Catapult is a developer of wearable sensors to monitor athletes’ sport demands.
Mark Adorian
Member of the Board of Directors of Statpro
Mark was previously Managing Director of Standard & Poor’s Fund Services. Mark co-founded Micropal, the global fund performance analysis company in 1986, becoming their Sales & Marketing Director in 1987. In 1992 he became Managing Director of Micropal, and subsequently in 1997 negotiated the sale of Micropal to Standard & Poor´s, a division of the McGraw-Hill Companies. Between 1999 and 2001, Mark was Managing Director of Standard & Poor’s Fund Services. Mark chairs the Group’s Nominations Committee. Mark’s career in the asset management industry and experience in business growth adds value to the StatPro Board. His understanding of market data in this industry supports the business and strategy.
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About : StatPro is a business that helps investors combine data on performance and risk analytics together to streamline asset management.
Chris Whitley
Channel Sales Director – Europe & U.K. of IRONSCALES
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About IRONSCALES: IRONSCALES is the fastest growing email security solution in the world. Powerfully simple email security.
John Yeomans
Director of Wazoku
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About Beacon Capital, Sharedband Limited, Wazoku: An Enterprise Innovation Platform comprising: Idea Management, Open Innovation Marketplace, Innovation Consulting, Portfolio Management
Jan Larsson
Senior Marketing Director EMEA of Siemens Digital Industries Software
Jan Larsson is the Senior Marketing Director responsible for marketing the NX Product Engineering Software solutions at Siemens PLM Software across all industries in EMEA. Jan and his team is also responsible for the product, industry and channel marketing of the complete Siemens PLM Software portfolio across all EMEA countries. Prior to joining Siemens PLM Software in 2006 Jan held various international positions within the hardware and software industry focusing on CAx and PLM solutions and have 20+ years’ experience in the industry.
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About Siemens Digital Industries Software: Siemens Digital Industries is a world-leading provider of product lifecycle management and manufacturing operations management software.
Li Wang
Managing Director of Biosite Systems
Li is a founding member of the Biosite team. Li oversees strategic direction and commercial operations, ensuring value is delivered to all clients. Li has a strong background in algorithm system design and development.
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About Biosite Systems: Biosite delivers biometric fingerprint technology solutions to the Construction sector.
Andy Holmes
EMEA Channel Director of Digital Shadows
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About Digital Shadows: Digital Shadows identifies unwanted exposure, protect against external threats, and minimize digital risk.
Keith Watson
Director of DevOps of ADP
Keith has 30 years experience at all levels of software development, test, infrastructure and customer support. Keith currently manages a team which provides IT infrastructure provisioning services to internal software development teams at Ordnance Survey. Over the past two years, he has led a DevOps project to effect business change using a combination of culture change, DevOps principles, Open Source tools and changes to business processes. This project has dramatically improved the efficiency and effectiveness of the provisioning service and has resulted in the infrastructure team being seen as leading the way in business IT transformation. He has also spoken at various DevOps conferences and user groups.
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About ADP: ADP provides business outsourcing solutions that facilitate businesses in HR, payroll, and administration processes.
Natalie Keightley
Senior Director Global Solutions Marketing of Avaya
Natalie Keightley is the Senior Director Global Solutions Marketing at Avaya.
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About Avaya, Avaya: Avaya provides business communications and collaboration systems, applications and services.
Michael Howard
Founder and Managing Director of Frontier Software
Michael founded Frontier Software in 1983 to deliver Human Resource and Payroll software from the first office in Melbourne, Australia. Michael concentrates on worldwide expansion that now includes offices in 7 countries. In May 2014, Michael celebrated the 31 year company anniversary in Melbourne, Australia.
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About Frontier Software: Frontier Software is Provider of integrated Human Capital Management & Payroll software/services.
Karen Fryatt
Associate Director of NCC Group
With years of experience in the defence and security industry and a lifelong passion for science and technology, having previously worked for almost 18 years at a multinational defence company, Karen is an expert in implementing sustainable and innovative approaches to the use of technology. Throughout her career, Karen has focused on driving a collaborative, people-first approach to working.
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About NCC Group: NCC Group exists to make the world safer and more secure.
Steve Gallagher
Director and Chief Executive Officer of Dotmatics
Steve obtained a first degree in biochemistry and a doctorate in biophysics and molecular modelling. After completing his post-doc at Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, Steve joined Merck in 2000. While at Merck, Steve was responsible for delivering global applications in data-mining, information management, decision-support tools and text-mining. Steve left Merck in 2005 to found Dotmatics Limited.
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About Dotmatics: Dotmatics is a scientific informatics software and services provider that offers automation of laboratory workflows.
Stephen Johnston
Director, Business Development of DSG Global
Founding Partner Of Global Golf Advisers
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About DSG Global: DSG Global Inc. is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company that is dominating the IT industry and the new Internet of Things (IoT).
James Singerling
Director, Marketing of DSG Global
Former CEO of Club Managers Association of America CMAA
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About DSG Global: DSG Global Inc. is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company that is dominating the IT industry and the new Internet of Things (IoT).
James Allum
Managing Director, EMEA of Kitewheel
James is a marketing software veteran, having started his career at DoubleClick Software. His first foray into the world of campaign management took him to various clients in Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and Malaysia – a trend that was to continue while helping to build the Asia Pacific partner network for Alterian/SDL. After moving to Pitney Bowes, James met Neil Skilling and Mark Smith – joining them for the last 4 years at Kitewheel. James mixes detailed technical knowledge with sound business acumen to support existing Kitewheel partners as well as providing support for new partners to flourish. He has over 20 years of experience in a distinguished career covering marketing automation, campaign management, predictive segmentation, database marketing and real-time engagement platforms. An all-rounder, James is comfortable in a range of roles from client relationship management, architecting systems, building business cases, briefing analysts or providing thought leadership through publishing his own thoughts on the Kitewheel blog. In his spare time, James is a keen ultra-runner, cook, gardener and father. He is married and lives on the banks of the Thames in Berkshire.
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About Kitewheel: Kitewheel is the world’s only cloud-based Customer Journey Hub built to support Journey Orchestration, Mapping, & Analytics.
Robert Newry
Managing Director and Co-Founder of Arctic Shores
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About Arctic Shores: Arctic Shores pioneer behavioural assessments combining neuroscience, AI and game technology to generate data-driven people insights.
Rod Crawford
Co-Founder & Technical Director of Zennor Petroleum
Rod’s wide experience includes the use of seismic inversion, attributes and reservoir characterisation over the whole range of geological environments: rifts, fold belts and forelands; both clastic and carbonate reservoirs; post/sub salt and sub basalt targets. Additionally, Rod has been an active member of several multi-disciplinary teams looking at projects as diverse as frontier exploration, prospect definition, field development studies and equity determinations. Rod graduated from the University of Wales with a BSc in Geophysics.
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About Zennor Petroleum: Zennor Petroleum is an oil and has E&P company focused on the UK North Sea.
James Quickfall
Commercial Director, Europe of The ai Corporation
James Quickfall is the Global Accounts Director at The ai Corporation
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About The ai Corporation, The ai Corporation: The ai Corporation is a provider of advanced products for fraud detection.
John Clelland
Managing Director, Founding Partner and Owner of Proteus-Cyber
John is the Managing Director, founding partner and owner of Proteus-Cyber Ltd. He is an expert in encryption and security systems with over 25 years’ experience architecting specialist IT systems.
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About Proteus-Cyber: Proteus-Cyber Ltd are specialists in Integrated Risk Management software.
Keith Brown
Director – Strategic Partnerships EMEA & LATAM of HCL Software
Keith Brown is a Board of Directors at TAO Foundation.
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About HCL Software: HCL Software is an information technology company that specializes in the software business.
Caroline Tonkin
Sales Director of Opsmatix
Caroline specializes in complex and sophisticated high value consultancy and technology solutions for the Financial Services industry (banks, hedge funds, asset managers, insurers…) – organizations both global and niche throughout Europe and on occasion beyond, frequently in challenging jurisdictions.
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About Opsmatix: Opsmatix develops software and online tools using artificial intelligence to assist with customer services.
Charlotte Chadwick
Managing Director of OSMO Data Technology
Charlotte has a background of working for IBM in project and systems management roles covering the financial services market. Prior to joining the firm she was Managing Director of a start up Insurance company acquired by a Lloyds of London publicly quoted insurance vehicle. She leads the project and client delivery functions and has overall responsibility for customer service.
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About OSMO Data Technology: OSMO Data Technology is a provider of automated data extraction services.
Mat Heritage
Operations Director of OSMO Data Technology
Mat is an invoice finance, credit insurance and credit management expert with 8 years experience as a Risk and Operations Director of a specialist credit risk underwriting company. He has responsibility for client development and retention.
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About OSMO Data Technology: OSMO Data Technology is a provider of automated data extraction services.
Colin Christianson
Director & Chief Product Architect of Aqilla
His early career was spent working for Smiths Industries where he was responsible for the implementation of a variety of mainframe and mini-computer systems covering manufacturing, distribution, accounting, and payroll. After a spell as a senior consultant with Hoskyns, Colin joined Systems Union as a founding member and director of R&D, leading the development of SunSystems, the mid-market accounting systems leader, from its early inception in the early eighties. In 1999, Colin recognised that solutions based on emerging web technologies offered an exciting new opportunity and left to setup ncSoft to develop a set of web based applications covering time recording, expense management, and procurement. In 2004, Infor (Systems Union) purchased ncSoft and now offers these products as part of their SunSystems procurement and productivity portfolio of products.
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About Aqilla: Aqilla is the developer of web-based accounting solutions designed for medium-sized businesses and organisations.
Jonathan Sharp
Sales & Marketing Director of Britannic Technologies
Jonathan Sharp is a communications visionary and established technology business leader with 20 years’ proven excellence in driving business innovation and transformation. Sales & Marketing Director at Britannic Technologies, he puts enthusiasm into technology adoption, helping businesses to connect with their customers and staff in the most efficient and intuitive ways. Jonathan encourages technology and business leaders to think bigger and, working closely with key strategic partners and major customers alike, regularly shares ideas and strategies to leverage the many benefits of evolving technologies, applications and business models through customer workshops, seminars and conferences. Throughout his tenure he has introduced a number of technology innovations and led large technology deployments for both private and public sector organisations.
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About Britannic Technologies: A highly innovative, focused and capable ICT partner, helping our customers realise the many business benefits of unified communications.
Nik Chotai
Director of Finance & Operations of HomeFlow
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About HomeFlow: HomeFlow a privately funded, entrepreneurial and fast-growing business.
Michael Rapley
Managing Director of Mediatron
Michael Rapley is a managing director of Mediatron for the last 18 years.
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About Mediatron: Mediatron Ltd is a leading European Specialist Distributor of Computer Control Equipment.
Sue MacLure
Director of Data of CACI Limited
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About CACI Limited: CACI offer marketing solutions and information systems to a wide range of industries across both private and public sectors.
Paul Mather
Operations Director of Voyager Software
Paul joined Voyager Software in 1999 with a degree in Physics having previously worked for the Police Scientific Development Branch. After managing the Support & Customer Service teams, Paul took the role of Director of Operations in 2002. Paul has championed Voyager’s next generation products, including the highly successful Mid-Office package. Over the years he has expanded the Voyager portfolio taking the company into new markets – allowing him and his team to deploy the Voyager product suite to hundreds of recruitment agencies and outsourcing payroll bureaus since he joined the company. Paul lives in Hampshire with his wife and young child.
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About Voyager Software: Voyager Software is an employment and recruitment software design to help permanent, contract and temporary employment companies.
Neil Hughes
Director of Enertech Consulting Ltd
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About Enertech Consulting Ltd: Enertech Consulting Ltd is research,Consultants Software, Instruments, Consulting specializes in applied research.
