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 VP’ operating in the Automotive space. If you think a VP’ 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.
Mark Cooper
Vice President and Managing Director, Avery Europe and Asia Pacific of CCL Industries
Mark Cooper is a Vice President and Managing Director, Avery Europe and Asia Pacific at CCL Industries.
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About Avery, CCL Industries: CCL is the largest label company in the world and provides innovative solutions.
Jamie Robinson
Vice President and Managing Director, Home & Personal Care Europe of CCL Industries
Jamie Robinson is a Vice President and Managing Director, Home & Personal Care Europe at CCL Industries.
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About CCL Industries: CCL is the largest label company in the world and provides innovative solutions.
Wendy Tan White
Vice President of X, the moonshot factory
Wendy Tan-White is Founder and CMO of fast growth software company Moonfruit which provides small businesses with a simple but powerful DIY website builder giving them total design control. She founded www.moonfruit.com in 1999, as CEO raising significant venture capital from Macromedia and LVMH. Moonfruit was sold to Gandi Group in 2005 where Wendy became Marketing Director but catalysed by high growth it was spun back out as a separate company, raising $2.25m from Stephens(US) in Sept 2010 to scale internationally. A BEng in Computer Science from Imperial College, London led her to a career in IT and finance. She was part of start-up team which set up www.egg.com, the UK’s first Internet bank. Wendy was also part of the team who set-up www.zopa.com in 2004, the first European peer to peer lending website. Wendy mentors for 500startups, silicon valley based seed fund and incubator, she’s on the investment panel of Mobius Lifesciences incubator and a mentor for Astia Women Entrepreneur’s Programme. She has an MA in Design for Future Textiles from Central St. Martins and is a smart textile designer for fun. She works with her husband Joe White who is CEO, Moonfruit and they live in West London with their 6 yr old son and 3 yr old daughter.
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About Business Growth Fund, Moonfruit, X, the moonshot factory: X, the moonshot factory invents and launches breakthrough technologies and radical solutions.
Juha Seppa
SVP, Product Delivery of Secondmind
Juha is a SW engineer with over 20 years of experience in product development. He is originally from Finland and moved to the UK with his family in 1999. He is responsible for heading up our product delivery and engineering activities. He is a keen classic rock fan and loves going to concerts with his wife. He seems to have a large collection of band t-shirts, and a somewhat questionable sense of style.
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About Secondmind: Machine learning for automotive innovators
Sami Salomaa
VP, Business Development and Planning & VP, Commercial and General Counsel of Secondmind
Sami is an applied mathematics engineer with more than twenty years experience building innovative and complex business models at the crossroads of finance and technology. Originally from Finland, Sami has spent much of his life as an expat around the world. He heads our initiatives in the financial sector. In his spare time, he prefers to build solid things that solve simpler problems, like huge natural light sky panels to help his family cope with winters in the far north.
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About Secondmind: Machine learning for automotive innovators
Jakub Kamecki
VP Business Development and Partnerships of TG0
Experienced Business Development Manager with a demonstrated history of working in software and technology industries. Skilled in Sales, Partnerships and Alliances, Management, Strategic Leadership, and Product development. Holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from University College Dublin Smurfit Business School.
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About TG0: TG0 is an R&D start-up creating novel 3D controls.
Ben Heubl
VP Europe of MedStartr
Ben is our EU Lead, advancing the MedStartr Model into Europe. A well-connected, avid networker with mad marketing skills AND is fluent in six languages, Ben is the “full package” and a perfect fit for the EU Lead role. Ben’s ability to forge collaborations, his experience, and knowledge in EU regulatory strategy aid his efforts. He also has been actively building out a Health Innovation Ecosystem in Europe, not only starting Health 2.0 Copenhagen, but also acting as a mentor for the Kairos Society K50, HealthXL StartupBootcamp Accelerator, and organizing TEDMED live events. Prior to MedStartr, Ben co-founded a health-tech startup while at Lund University and worked as a consultant for ICG. Ben has been innovating and creating a vibrant health innovation ecosystem in Europe and beyond and we are very pleased that he has chosen the MedStartr model for the next stage of his efforts. “My goal is to work and collaborate with partners and like-minded people to create and implement innovation, facilitate great innovation concepts and contribute value in successful and exciting companies that drive positive change for societies and create a better place for all of us.” – Ben
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About Institution of Engineering and Technology, MedStartr: MedStartr is a crowdfunding platform designed for the healthcare industry.
David Bailey
Vice President, Global Merchandising of SmartThings
David Bailey, Vice President, Marketing Communications at SmartThings
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About SmartThings: SmartThings, a smartphone app, allows its users to monitor and control their domestic affairs even when they are out of their home.
Vincent Bonnet
Chief Commercial Officer, SVP, International Sales & Strategic Partnership of Octo Telematics
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About Octo Telematics: Octo Telematics researches, develops, and manages telematics applications and systems for the insurance and automotive markets.
Jess Brown
Vice President and Chief Information Officer of RelaDyne
Jess Brown is responsible for RelaDyne’s Information Technology platform, including all IT services and support. Under Brown’s leadership RelaDyne has leveraged leading-edge technology to install a common computing platform throughout the organization and has integrated the new computing system into all of its business units to foster common operating procedures and capitalize on economies of scale. Other technology highlights include the deployment of a CRM system, a demand planning and forecasting system, and an industry leading B2B customer-facing website. Prior to joining RelaDyne, Brown spent nearly 24 years with Wolseley PLC, holding positions at group companies Ferguson Enterprises and Stock Building Supply and at Wolseley’s head office. Ferguson, located in Newport News, Va., is the nation’s leading plumbing, HVAC and building supply distributor. There, Brown held a variety of technical and business operations positions. He began his career at Ferguson in 1987 as an IT Support Analyst and was promoted into programming, analyst and IT management roles; he steadily rose through the ranks to Ferguson’s Director of IT. In 2004, Brown assumed international responsibility for all Wolseley companies’ software as Director of Software Applications. In addition to creating and deploying technology during his Wolseley group tenure, Brown held roles in business reengineering and optimization, programs to gather market intelligence and gauge customer service, and business restructuring for operational efficiency. During his tenure at Stock Building Supply, he was Director of Business Operations. In this role he developed common business processes to facilitate system utilization. Brown received a B.S. Degree in Management Information Systems from Christopher Newport University. He has completed executive development programs at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland, and management development at the Gallup School of Management.
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About RelaDyne: RelaDyne is a supplier of comprehensive equipment reliability products and value added services.
Amanda Groty
SVP / GM WW Marketing Communications of Nissan Motor Corporation
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About Nissan Motor Corporation: Nissan Motor Corporation is a Japanese automobile maufacturer.
Roger Vidal
Vice President Of Engineering, Inventory Software Solutions of Cox Automotive
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About Cox Automotive: Cox Automotive is a digital marketing, software, e-commerce for consumers, manufacturers and the overall automotive ecosystem worldwide.
Russell Alexander
Vice President of Legal of CDK Global
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About CDK Global: CDK Global is transforming how cars, trucks, and vehicles of all kinds are marketed, sold, and serviced around the world.
David Green
VP EMEA & LATAM – CDK International of CDK Global
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About CDK Global: CDK Global is transforming how cars, trucks, and vehicles of all kinds are marketed, sold, and serviced around the world.
Warren Butland
Co- founder and EVP, Global Sales of Evolved Vehicle Environments
With over twenty years experience in software/hardware and solutions industry sales and business development, Warren has deep expertise in working closely and strategically with a range of companies, while continuously focusing on his passion for customer service excellence. As a part of the EVE team, Warren looks for opportunities to propel EVE on to the world stage, focusing on company growth initiatives, strategies and global alliances. In his previous roles, Warren has spent many years working with top Fortune 100 companies like Microsoft, GM, MTV, Nickelodeon, BBC, ABC Disney, Hit Entertainment and more. He has also worked extensively with local and federal governments across North America within the software and hardware industries. More recently, Warren entered in a Mobile Application Design & Development course and opened his own mobile development company, offering a series of apps, for iOS and Android, and custom web solutions across industries.
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About Evolved Vehicle Environments: Evolved Vehicle Environments is a software company that transforms he connected car experience and evolves Digital LifeStyle into the car.
Julian Hughes
Senior Vice President, US of Intelligent Energy
Julian is based out of our San Francisco Bay Area office and heads up the Group’s Commercial activity as well as US operations. Prior to joining Intelligent Energy, Julian held senior positions within the automotive industry at General Motors (Vauxhall) and TWR Group (Tom Walkinshaw Racing) which then led into the Cleantech sector with Microgen Engine Corporation where he held the position of CEO. Microgen developed and manufactured Stirling engines for the CHP, Military and Solar markets. In addition to his role as Group Corporate Development Director, Julian is also a Non-Executive Board Member for IECHP Ltd, which is a subsidiary of Intelligent Energy.
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About Intelligent Energy: Intelligent Energy is a clean power systems company offering fuel cell and hydrogen generation technologies.
Dan Benhardus
SVP/CFO of Haynes Group
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About Haynes Group: Haynes Group Provides online sales of car manuals and automotive related sites.
Ramchander S.
Vice President of Global Marketing of Castrol
Ramchander A.S. is a Vice President of Global Marketing at Castrol.
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About Castrol: Castrol is a worldwide leader in high performance lubricants for the automotive, industrial, marine and aerospace industries.
Chris West
VP of Engineering of Toyota Connected Europe
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About Toyota Connected Europe: Toyota Connected Europe uses the power of data science to develop and deliver new mobility solutions for consumers.
