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 Telecommunications 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.
Len Padilla
Vice President Product Strategy of NTT Communications
Len is a highly knowledgeable IT professional with considerable experience in a variety of areas from scientific super-computing to shared and dedicated hosting to selective outsourcing. Len has worked in all technical aspects and management levels of IT: supercomputing and financial systems programing, administration of large server and content delivery networks, PCI-DSS certification, management of international operations teams, product engineering and strategy.
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About NTT Communications: NTT Communications is a provider of network management and security services.
George Rigby
Vice President of Sales – Managed Cloud & Infrastructure Services (EU) of NTT Communications
George deals primarily with end user IT clients, advising on strategy and consultancy for digital transformation across financial and manufacturing industries. Over the last ten years he has helped companies achieve major gains for their businesses and describes how their aims translate into actions for the industry, focusing on value as part of ROI rather than pure cost calculations.
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About NTT Communications: NTT Communications is a provider of network management and security services.
Lisa Clark
Vice President – Contact Centre PM of 8×8
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About 8×8: 8×8 offers secure and reliable cloud-based, enterprise-class business phone systems, unified communications, and contact center solutions.
Nick Jeffery
CEO and President of Frontier Communications
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About Frontier Communications: Frontier Communications Corporation is an independent provider of telecommunications services that offers voice, data, and video services.
Michelle Teufel
Vice President, Digital Technology of Arrow Electronics
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About Arrow Electronics: Arrow Electronics designs, manufactures and distributes electronic components for industrial and commercial sectors.
Maggie Parry
Vice President of Sales, Carrier & Wholesale of Aqua Comms
Maggie is Vice President of Sales, Carrier and Wholesale, responsible for driving revenue growth through this vertical. Maggie joined Aqua Comms in 2015 and has more than three decades of telecommunications experience, including fifteen years in the submarine cable arena. She has worked for companies including ITT WorldCom, Telstra UK, MFS, Level 3 Communications, and Apollo Submarine Cable System Ltd. Prior to her role at Aqua Comms, Maggie spent eight years as a Sales Director at Hibernia Atlantic. She has a B.A. in International Relations and Affairs from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and is based in Bromley, UK.
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About Aqua Comms: Aqua Comms provides capacity networking solutions to content providers, cloud based networks, data centres, IT companies & the global media.
Alan Flower
Senior Vice President – CTO EMEA & Global Head, Cloud Native Labs of HCL Technologies
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About HCL Technologies: HCL Technologies is a global IT services company, working with clients in the areas that impact and redefine the core of their businesses.
Holger Aschke
President – Europe, Middle East & Africa of EnerSys
Aschke has served as President – Europe, Middle East and Africa since January 2016. From April 2010 to January 2016, he was the Vice President Sales and Marketing Reserve Power – Europe. Aschke joined a predecessor company in 1996 and has held a wide range of operational and sales roles of increased responsibility in the Company’s EMEA business.
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About EnerSys: EnerSys is the global leader in stored energy solutions for industrial applications. We complement our extensive line of motive power,
David Shaffer
Director, President & Chief Executive Officer of EnerSys
Shaffer was appointed Director, President and Chief Executive Officer effective April 2016. He served as our President and Chief Operating Officer from November 2014 through March 2016, and our President – Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) from January 2013 through October 2014. From 2008 to 2013, Shaffer was President – Asia. Prior thereto he was responsible for EnerSys’ telecommunication sales in the Americas. Shaffer has worked in various roles of increased responsibility in the industry since 1989. Shaffer received his Masters of Business Administration degree from Marquette University and his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois.
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About EnerSys: EnerSys is the global leader in stored energy solutions for industrial applications. We complement our extensive line of motive power,
Joe Marsella
Vice President PLM – Routing & Switching Portfolio of Ciena
Joe Marsella works as EMEA CTO at Ciena Corporation. With more than 20 years of experience in the software and telecoms industry, Marsella has expertise in both packet and optical networking, including detailed knowledge on SDN, NFV, photonics, dense wavelength division multiplexing, optical transport networks, Carrier Ethernet and control planes. Prior to this new role, Marsella served in several capacities within Ciena; most recently as the senior director of Product Line Management, responsible for the software strategy of Ciena’s Agility software portfolio, now part of Ciena Blue Planet. He also held leadership positions in Ciena’s product line management and R&D organisations, providing expertise and direction in key vertical markets and product portfolios. He worked as Principal Member Technical Staff and Engineer at Siemens Stromberg Carlson.
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About Ciena: Ciena collaborates with customers to unlock the strategic potential of their networks and and change the way they perform and compete.
Alan Afrasiab
President and CEO of Talia
Alan Afrasiab is President, CEO, and a founder of Talia Limited. An experienced senior executive with more than 20 years in the information technologies and communications networking industries. He has also held many other executive and advisory roles and served as a member on several boards of directors. Mr. Afrasiab graduated from Manchester with a B.Eng. degree in Biomedical and Bioelectronic Engineering.
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About Talia: Talia is a top-tier provider of Internet, voice, and video services
Zankar Sevak
Co-Founder and Vice President of Sensewhere
Zankar Sevak serves as Vice President of Engineering at sensewhere Limited. Zankar Sevak is responsible for designing and developing the main GNSS application and support software for GNSS devices. He is the Principle Inventor of sensewhere proprietary Assisted GNSS technology and has worked at sensewhere for three years.
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About Sensewhere: Sensewhere provide hyper-local indoor positioning technology and applications for mobile devices.
Teemu Sorvisto
Senior Vice President – EMEA of JUNO TELE
Teemu brings over 15 years of professional experience in Business Development, Sales and Marketing from Mobile, Apps, Information Technology and Software businesses across markets globally. He has been in leadership positions in multinational mobile and cloud solutions companies such as Nokia, BlackBerry and F-Secure, being responsible for business development, partnerships and operator channel sales in mobile application ecosystem and VAS divisions. Teemu has a thorough understanding of various mobile solutions, related technologies and modern business models. He comes with a broad experience in leading and developing business across regions in EMEA, Asia Pacific, Latin America and North America, while he has been living in the UK, Singapore and Finland.
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About JUNO TELE: JunoTele is a mobile payments technology company.
Mark Herbert
President of Call2Teams
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About Call2Teams: Call2Teams specializes in cloud-based telephony, VoIP solutions, unified communications, office 365, skype for business, PBX, and Microsoft.
Barry Dahan
Executive Vice President, Global Sales of DragonWave
Barry Dahan is the Executive Vice President of Global Sales at DragonWave. Barry has 30 years’ experience in the International Telecom industry in various roles. Prior to joining DragonWave in 2011, Barry was tasked with building the business and infrastructure for Starent Networks. Barry was employed with ALU and Nortel in various Executive / Leadership roles. Since 2010 Barry is investing in private growth companies. Barry holds a Business Degree in Finance as well as a Bachelor in Engineering from Polytechnique in Canada.
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About DragonWave: DragonWave Inc. (DragonWave) is a provider of high-capacity Ethernet microwave solutions for Internet protocol (IP) networks. Its
Giordano Albertazzi
President – Europe, Middle East and Africa of Vertiv
Giordano Albertazzi is the President of Vertiv in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Giordano began his career at Emerson Network Power, now Vertiv, as Materials Planning Manager for Liebert Europe in 1998 and held positions with increasing responsibility, including Plant Manager, EMEA Marketing and Product Management Director, and Managing Director for the Italian market unit. In 2006, he was promoted to Vice President Services for the Liebert Europe business. In 2011, Giordano was appointed Vice President Services for the broader Europe, Middle East and Africa region, and in 2014 became Vice President Sales. Since 2016 he serves as President of Vertiv in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Giordano holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Milan as well as a master’s degree in Management from Stanford University.
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About Vertiv: Vertiv designs, builds and services critical infrastructure that enables vital applications for data centers, communication networks.
Justin Kearney
Vice President of Human Resources of Logicalis
Justin Kearney joined Logicalis Group in August 2013 as Vice President of Human Resources with responsibility for providing people management leadership within Logicalis Group. Prior to this, Justin was the HR Director for the Corporate function leaders at Invensys, the engineering and technology business. He has also held international HR business partner roles within the aviation and financial service industries with General Electric, and in retail, with Sainsburys in the UK. Justin has an honours degree in Psychology and a Masters degree in Leisure Management, as well as being a Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management.
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About Logicalis: Logicalis is a platform that provides IT solutions and managed services.
Joanne Nelson
Vice President of International Marketing of Logicalis
Joanne Nelson was appointed to Vice President of Marketing in August 2004, to head up the UK marketing department, and in addition, take responsibility for the corporate marketing function of the Logicalis Group. In January 2008, she became VP International Marketing with responsibility for corporate strategy, branding and analyst relations across the organisation. Joanne brings over fifteen years of ICT marketing experience to her role having previously worked at Ericsson Enterprise, and then its spinoff, Damovo, where she was VP Marketing & Communications, across the Group. She had sole responsibility for re-branding the multi-million dollar global Communications Provider (then ranked 36th top global brand, Interbrand, Citigroup, August 2001) and managing the global corporate marketing function across 20 markets worldwide. Joanne has first-hand international experience, having studied at the Institut Universitaire de Technologie (IUT), Nice, Côte d’Azur, France, and at Haarlem Business School, in The Netherlands, and worked in Antibes, South of France.
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About Logicalis: Logicalis is a platform that provides IT solutions and managed services.
Simeon Coney
Senior Vice President, Security Practice of AdaptiveMobile
Prior to joining AdaptiveMobile in 2006, Simeon established a management consultancy business, undertaking portfolio and business restructuring for US and European VC portfolio companies. Building the company at AdaptiveMobile since formation, Simeon now works closely with Service Providers on the protection of their subscribers and network. Simeon has over 20 years’ experience within the mobile, fixed line and IT infrastructure markets, providing strategic guidance and operational execution to European & US companies. With a career spanning Marketing, Product Management, Business Development and Operations, Simeon has brought award winning products to market in Europe and the US, created high growth business units for Infrastructure suppliers and built Service Provider networks across the globe. He has worked with leading operator groups and networks including Vodafone, T-Mobile, SITA, BT, USAF, Cable & Wireless and Bharti Airtel whilst establishing new technology companies in the UK & US, and with key accounts teams at Nortel and Ericsson.
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About AdaptiveMobile: AdaptiveMobile operates as a mobile security provider for enterprises and individuals.
Simeon Coney
Senior Vice President, Security Practice of AdaptiveMobile
Prior to joining AdaptiveMobile in 2006, Simeon established a management consultancy business, undertaking portfolio and business restructuring for US and European VC portfolio companies. Building the company at AdaptiveMobile since formation, Simeon now works closely with Service Providers on the protection of their subscribers and network. Simeon has over 20 years’ experience within the mobile, fixed line and IT infrastructure markets, providing strategic guidance and operational execution to European & US companies. With a career spanning Marketing, Product Management, Business Development and Operations, Simeon has brought award winning products to market in Europe and the US, created high growth business units for Infrastructure suppliers and built Service Provider networks across the globe. He has worked with leading operator groups and networks including Vodafone, T-Mobile, SITA, BT, USAF, Cable & Wireless and Bharti Airtel whilst establishing new technology companies in the UK & US, and with key accounts teams at Nortel and Ericsson.
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About AdaptiveMobile: AdaptiveMobile operates as a mobile security provider for enterprises and individuals.
Yann L’Huillier
President of Enyx
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About : Deliver smart, ultra low-latency network solutions for the financial industry
Yann L’Huillier
President of Enyx
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About : Deliver smart, ultra low-latency network solutions for the financial industry
Phil Harvey
Vice President, Partner Management – Aviation of Inmarsat Government
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About Inmarsat Government, Sporting Mouth: Inmarsat Government is a Telecommunications Company.
