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 United Kingdom based President operating in the Retail space. If you think a President 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.
Alejandro Betancourt
President of Hawkers Co.
Leopoldo Alejandro Betancourt Lopez currently serves as director, controlling party and the largest shareholder for the O’Hara Administration Co., S.A., an international investment group. In addition, he also serves as president of Hawkers, a Spanish sunglasses company, as well as the director of Pacific Exploration & Production Corp., a Canadian publicly held energy explorer and producer. Betancourt earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and business administration at Suffolk University. He began his career at Guruceaga Group, an international trade, finance, real estate and agriculture company. He has extensive experience in the energy sector, having worked as the Latin American commercial manager and trader for London-based ICC-OEOC, an oil exploration and drilling technology company, and as a director of BGB Energy, an affiliate of Kawasaki Heavy Industries. He founded O’Hara Administration, a leading asset management company that has investments in industry leaders across several sectors. At Pacific Exploration & Production (formerly Pacific Rubiales Energy), he has overseen the company’s expansion into Mexico, Peru and Venezuela. At Hawkers, one of the world’s largest sunglasses companies, he has focused on brand expansion, fund-raising and strategic relationships. Betancourt also serves as a major shareholder for Banque de Dakar in Senegal, working to expand banking services throughout Africa. Betancourt’s philanthropic endeavors center on community involvement, with a focus on education, including the Carmen Salles School at Ciudad Bolivar and Universidad Simón Bolívar. — Alejandro Betancourt López actualmente es director, parte controladora y accionista mayoritario de O’Hara Administration Co. S.A., un grupo de inversión internacional. Además, es el presidente de Hawkers, una empresa española de lentes de sol, así como el director de Pacific Exploration & Production Corp., un explorador y productor de energía canadiense que cotiza en la bolsa. Betancourt obtuvo su licenciatura en Economía y Administración de Empresas de la Universidad de Suffolk. Inició su carrera en Guruceaga Group, una empresa de comercio, finanzas, bienes raíces y agricultura. Tiene amplia experiencia en el sector de energía, ya que trabajó como gerente comercial y operador de América Latina en una empresa ubicada en Londres llamada ICC-OEOC, una empresa tecnología de exploración y perforación de petróleo, y como el director de BGB Energy, un afiliado de Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Fundó O’Hara Administration, una compañía líder en gestión de activos que cuenta con inversiones en líderes de la industria en varios sectores. En Pacific Exploration & Production (anteriormente llamada Pacific Rubiales Energy), supervisó la expansión de la empresa hacia México, Perú y Venezuela. En Hawkers, una de las compañías de lentes de sol más grandes del mundo, se enfocó en la expansión de la marca, recaudación de fondos y relaciones estratégicas. Betancourt es también el mayor accionista de Banque de Dakar en Senegal, trabajando para expandir los servicios de la banca hacia África. Los esfuerzos filantrópicos de Betancourt se centran en el compromiso con la comunidad, con un enfoque en la educación, incluyendo la Escuela Carmen Salles en Ciudad Bolívar y la Universidad Simón Bolívar.
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About Auro Travel, BDK Banque de Dakar, Hawkers Co.: Hawkers Co is a sunglasses company.
Kelly Kowal
Executive Vice President, Farfetch Platform Solutions (FPS) of Farfetch
As Managing Director of Farfetch Black & White, Kelly’s role is focused on leading her team to build revolutionary multi-channel e-commerce solutions and operating e-commerce sites for luxury brands and retailers. Kelly sits on the Farfetch Executive Board. Kelly joined Farfetch in 2010 to build and lead all digital marketing initiatives including customer acquisition, retention and engagement. Within her time at Farfetch, she also led the international growth and development strategy, overseeing expansion and localisation for all markets. Kelly’s background is in internet marketing and e-commerce, with her experience spanning over 15 years.
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About Farfetch: Farfetch is an online luxury fashion retail platform.
Sandrine Deveaux
Executive Vice President, Store of the Future of Farfetch
Sandrine is at the helm of Farfetch’s retail innovation vision ‘Store of the Future’ and is responsible for developing, executing and rolling out new, in-store technologies across Farfetch’s community of retail partners. Under Deveaux’s leadership, her team are focused on developing a pioneering mix of technology that will shape the retail experience of the future. Deveaux’s marketing, omni-channel and e-commerce expertise was honed in her previous roles at Harvey Nichols as multi-channel director and director of marketing and e-commerce at Matchesfashion.com. Sandrine also previously held roles at AOL and Bloomberg Media. Deveaux graduated from French business school ISC and holds a master’s degree in technology from ESSEC.
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About Farfetch: Farfetch is an online luxury fashion retail platform.
Julia van Tuyll
Vice President of Investor Relations of Lion Capital
Julia van Tuyll is a Vice President of Investor Relations at Lion Capital. Prior to joining Lion Capital, Julia was employed by Vision Capital where she was involved with the implementation of the fund raising programme including raising capital from new and existing relationships. She was previously with the European Department at the Royal Netherlands Embassy in London. Julia graduated from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne where she obtained an Honours Degree in International Politics.
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About Lion Capital: Lion Capital is a consumer-focused investor passionate about investing in brands about which people are passionate.
David Hawkings
Vice President EMEA & Global Planning & Optimisation Practice of OLR
David Hawkings is the SVP EMEA at Antuit.
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About Antuit, OLR: OLR is retail industry experience to safely take our clients into an empowered commerce world.
Yoyo Chang
Co-Founder, CEO and President of KodyPay
Yoyo is a Taiwanese born British entrepreneur who is a co-founder and the current CEO of KodyPay. Yoyo co-founded KodyPay in the final year of High School and successfully raised US$6 million over 2020/21. Hoping to build a career in investment banking, Yoyo had started to invest in the stock market at the age of 13. With returns of over 80% in Q4 2016, he led his school team to first place in a national investment competition. During Yoyo’s first year at the University of York, Yoyo self-invested £120,000 of trading profits to build a pilot product for KodyPay. Yoyo has studied at King’s College, University of Cambridge and Langwith College, University of York.
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About IIC Holdings, KodyPay, Nerd Ventures: Revolutionising in-person payments to grow your business with a trustworthy and innovative solution.
Patrick Legro
Senior Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer Staples Europe of Staples Europe
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About Staples Europe, Staples Europe: Staples Europe is an online platform that enables Staples customers to submit, track, and find rebates.
Henry Mouri
President, OEM of Glory Global Solutions
In his role as President of the Glory Global Solutions worldwide OEM business, Henry is responsible for overall strategic direction and growth with an on-going focus on manufacturing, quality and efficiency to ensure that GLORY’s OEM partners can continue to compete in the global ATM and kiosk marketplace. Henry joined GLORY Ltd in 1982 after graduating from Kobe University. With a track record of high achievement in a number of international roles across the GLORY business, Henry worked as National Service Manager at GLORY (USA) Inc. from 1985 until 1993 before serving as General Marketing Manager between 1999 and 2007. Henry has extensive knowledge across the GLORY product range from note and coin counters to casino kiosks and teller automation solutions. Henry returned to Japan in 2007 to work in a senior role in the International Sales Department.
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About Glory Global Solutions: Glory Global Solutions is a pioneer in the development and manufacture of money handling machines and systems.
Lars Munch Johansen
President of BrandHouse Holding
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About BrandHouse Holding: We connect large online and offline retailers as well as small specialist online shops and brand owners
Jon Shimp
Vice President Risk Management of Louis Vuitton
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About Avivia Health, Kin Wellness, Louis Vuitton: Louis Vuitton is a French fashion house and luxury retail company.
James Bullock
Senior Vice President & General Manager of Tacit Knowledge
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About Tacit Knowledge, Tacit Knowledge: Tacit Knowledge is a Silicon Valley-based digital commerce consultancy that develops enterprise software to address extensive data problems.
Dom Blacklock
Vice President Programmatic, International of Active International
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About Active International: Active International provides support services for businesses in utilizing organizational assets.
Tony Houldsworth
Group President of Flooid
Entrepreneurial CEO with a demonstrated history of working in the information technology and services industry. Skilled in Sales, Enterprise Software, Retail, E-commerce, and Multi-channel Retail. Strong sales professional graduated from The University of Salford.
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About Flooid: Flooid is a provider of retail systems and managed IT support services.
Mao Yingying
Vice President of Aixuedai
Partner, graduated from Zhejiang University MBA, Germany Technische Hochschule Nürnberg MBA. Former president of Shenzhen Qifei Technology Co., Ltd. and vice president of Hangzhou subsidiary, representative of ISO9000 management. Depth participation in organizational optimization and process reengineering, the creation of subsidiaries and national business management, 5 years to complete full-time rapid promotion.
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About Aixuedai: Aixuedai is an online payment platform that allows students to buy items using monthly installment plans.
Wei Jie
Financial Technology President of Aixuedai
Partner, graduated from Peking University (undergraduate), University of California, Los Angeles (MSc). He has successively held the positions of R & D Director, China General Manager and Group Vice President of Yahoo! USA and SEVEN Networks Inc. Shopping guide shopping site co-founder. He served as general manager of potatoes, soil groups, general manager of Shanghai Product Center and other positions.
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About Aixuedai: Aixuedai is an online payment platform that allows students to buy items using monthly installment plans.
Pam Charris
Vice President Global Marketing of Nualight
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About Nualight: Nualight is a LED retail lighting company specializing in illuminating refrigerated displays and fresh food displays.
