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 CEO’ operating in the Event Management space. If you think a CEO’ 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.
Daniel Seal
Founder & CEO of Unbound Global
Daniel Seal is the Founder & CEO of unbound (formerly called AcreWhite). unbound is a platform connecting corporates and brands with start ups & disruptive technology to fuel innovation & growth. Together with Yossi Vardi, he is the co-host of Island Innovators and co-creator of unbound. Daniel was previously CEO of UK Israel Business, which under his leadership turned it from a dormancy into one the largest business networking organisations in Europe. Prior to joining UK Israel Business he was Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer of Bedside Manner, a healthcare software company, which provided crowd feedback to medical professionals. From 2010 – 2015, he was a Councillor representing Garden Suburb Ward in the London Borough of Barnet and sat on the investment committee of the Barnet Pension Fund, a £980 million fund investing in equities, bonds and alternate assets. Daniel was listed number 24 in ’40 Under 40 Future Leaders’ which featured in the UK national press. He has a BSc (Hons.) in Biochemistry and an MSc Business Management from the University of London. He is a mentor for the Plug & Play, SPH and H Farm Acceleration Programmes. In his spare time, he is a keen skier and golfer.
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About Unbound Global: Unbound connects founders, entrepreneurs, and start-ups through a global series of tech festivals.
Tim Groot
CEO and Co-Founder of Grip
Tim is an entrepreneur at heart, having started his first company at the of age 17. He graduated with a BBA in International Management from the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His passion for the app development space eventually lead him to co-found Grip in 2014. Tim is also a member of Founders of the Future.
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About Grip: Grip is a market engagement platform used by event organizers to create virtual and live event experiences.
Ignacio Bachiller
CEO of Fever
Ignacio studied Mechanical Engineering at MIT, with a minor in Energy, and a year abroad at Cambridge University. After graduating, Ignacio worked at McKinsey for a year, where he was involved in insurance, banking and energy projects. Soon after, he joined Fever as Head of Expansion, and after spending some time in NYC and then launching London, took on the responsibility of COO, and finally CEO.
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About Fever: Fever is a global live-entertainment discovery platform, helping people discover experiences in their cities
Kasper Kjaerbye Larsen
CEO of Evendo
Serial entrepreneur since 2001, where he co-founded the growth phenomenon Sitecore, acquired by EQT in excess of €1 billion. Since then, he has founded or co-founded a series of successful companies, typically tech-oriented – and all with global scaling potential. Kaspers focus is primarily on the earlier stages of a company, bringing them from zero to international and/or global presence.Originally started his career at AP Møller, then switched to the IT industry in 1995.
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About Evendo: Evendo is the worlds biggest marketplace for Event-related products, experiences and services.
Noor Alkhadra
Founder & CEO of WeGeek
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About WeGeek: We are passionate geeks who take great pleasure in bringing gamers together by creating AWESOME gaming events.
Jeremy Basset
CEO of CO:CUBED
Jeremy has built his career by helping large corporates define and build their future organisation. Through CO:CUBED, he works with some of the worlds largest businesses to re-think their organisational approach to innovation and helping them build and execute their collaborative innovation capabilieis. Prior to launching CO:CUBED, Jeremy spent 13 years at Unilever where he was responsible for launching and then leading the Unilever Foundry, Unilever’s platform to engage with startups and innovative companies who can help Unilever pioneer the future. Through the Foundry, over 1500 of Unilever marketers have worked with over 150 startups, brining innovative technology and an entrepreneurial culture to Unilever. Originally Australian, Jeremy’s career has taken him from Australia to New Zealand, Singapore he now resides in the UK. Jeremy has a marketing and commercial background, with a degree in Accounting & Marketing, he’s CPA qualified and has an MBA from London Business School.
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About CO:CUBED: CO:CUBED helps FTSE100 companies to embrace the startup revolution, by defining and executing their collaborative innovation capabilities.
Andrew Needham
CEO & Founder of HeadBox
n the last 20 years Andrew Needham has successfully set up and managed companies across the fields of publishing, consumer research and social technology working as both an entrepreneur and a corporate leader within blue chip business environments. He is currently the CEO and Founder of HeadBox (www.headbox.com), the UK’s first on-line marketplace for inspiring, creative and off-site spaces allowing guests to search, book and pay for amazing spaces, all in one place. With over 1,500 venues on the platform already, HeadBox has one of the largest collection of venues in London, unlocking value from their under-utilised space as well as providing many spaces with an extra revenue stream. His mission is “to bring people and spaces together to make brilliant things happen” not just in the UK but all over the world and to do for under-utilised business space what Airbnb and Uber have done to other parts of the collaborative and sharing economy. In December 2015 HeadBox was one of Startups.co.uk’s 12 new businesses to watch in 2016.
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About HeadBox: HeadBox is an online marketplace for inspiring meeting, offsite and event spaces.
Greg Lawless
Group CEO of Arena Events Group plc
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About Arena Events Group plc: Arena Events provides event overlay services, designing and delivering complete temporary environments for sporting and cultural events.
Simon Foster
CEO of Comexposium
Simon Foster is a 25 year veteran of the exhibitions and media industry. He joins Comexposium from UBM plc, a leading global B2B events organization, where he previously was CEO of UBM EMEA. Simon has a deep knowledge of the global events Industry, international business development, and leadership in Europe, the United States, and Asia. He notably was CEO of both UBM Americas and of UBM EMEA during his time at UBM plc. Some highlights of his time with UBM include launching and building businesses in Brazil, Turkey and Mexico, many successful acquisitions and integrations, most notably the $1bn Advanstar deal. Simon will lead the Comexposium Group strategic development and implementation across the Globe, managing existing products and teams, optimizing products’ performance, as well as overseeing new business launches and acquisitions integration. All Division Managing Directors in France and Regional CEOs in the US and in APAC will report to him. Simon will also manage HR, Business Solutions, Operations and Strategy & Integration teams.
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About Comexposium: Comexposium is an event organizer.
David Allison
Co-Founder and CEO of GetMyFirstJob
David is the Co-Founder and CEO of GetMyFirstJob Limited. He is passionate about improving access to opportunities for young people and helping business access the next generation of talent. Following a career with Ford where, after a number of roles from advanced product development to European product planning, he discovered his passion for organisational and people development. David was instrumental in setting up and running Ford’s partnership with Loughborough University and was Director of the Henry Ford College. Having gained an MBA, David left Ford to focus on Learning and Development. Following a number of senior roles at specialist training and L&D businesses, he co-founded GetMyFirstJob in 2011. David has served as a Trustee / NED of NCFE, one of the UK’s leading awarding organisations, and was designated a National Leader of Governance in 2014 following his work with schools. He remains a visiting lecturer at the School of Business and Economics at Loughborough University.
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About GetMyFirstJob: GetMyFirstJob is a web-based platform that improves the speed and quality of matching young people to the right apprenticeship.
Michaela Jeffery-Morrison
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Maddox Events
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About Maddox Events: Maddox Events is the world’s only B2B company exclusively dedicated to creating large-scale conferences.
Emeka Ogbonnaya
Founder and CEO of Zoique
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About Zoique: A marketplace to discover and book wellness-themed team-building activities, connecting corporate teams to a variety of fitness experiences.
Maximillion Cooper
Founder & CEO of Gumball 3000
Maximillion Cooper is a Founder & CEO at Gumball 3000.
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About Gumball 3000: The Gumball 3000 is an annual British 3,000-mile international motor rally which takes place on public roads.
Paul Wroe
CEO & Co-Founder of Qflow
A career spanning 16 years of development, team leader and CTO roles in the software industry. Paul has brought to market numerous mission critical and high profile projects.
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About Qflow: The leading event check-in management solution.
Toby Heelis
CEO (Co-Founder) of virtuall
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About : Transforming industries by creating innovative products that connect the world more sustainably and profitably.
Robin Weil
Founder & CEO of Wedding Planner
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About Music Students for hire, Wedding Planner: Wedding Planner has helped over 275,000 brides to realise their dreams – they would love to help you to plan your BIG day.
Vidhya Alakeson
CEO of Power to Change
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About Power to Change: Power to Change is an independent charitable trust
Nour Mouakke
Founder & CEO of Wizme
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About Wizme: Wizme makes meetings and events management magical through superior ease of use and smart technologies.
Daniel Coleman
Founder and CEO of FTE Innovation & Startup Hub
Daniel Coleman is the founder and CEO at Future Travel Experience.
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About FTE Innovation & Startup Hub: FTE Innovation & Startup Hub is an air transport innovation network that connects corporate innovators with air transport specific startups.
Yiannis Maos
Founder & CEO of Birmingham Tech (Birmingham Tech Week)
I’m the Founder of Birmingham Tech Week, a collaborative series of events that celebrate our region’s technology scene. The week is government-backed, highlights new and emerging innovation and inspires people from all walks of life to get involved in technology. Prior to this, I was Co-Founder of Hyve, a SaaS platform that helps brands to collaborate with their customers and help turn their loyal customers into word of mouth advocates. The first 10 years of my career I was spent at Rant & Rave, where I was responsible for the marketing strategy, helping them go from a challenger brand to a well established, multi-million pound SaaS company. I have over 15 years of experience in technology, marketing and CX – specialising in helping innovative brands achieve fast-growth by developing strategic customer relationships. During my career, I’ve been named Central England’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year, spoken at some of the UK’s top business schools and mentored young marketers as part of Google’s Squared programme. Highlights: • Currently a mentor for Google’s Squared Digital Marketing programme where I’m helping young marketers understand, and how to take advantage of future technologies and trends • Recognised as one of the country’s most promising marketers through the Marketing Academy, where I’ve been coached and mentored by some of the world’s top Marketing Directors from companies including; Facebook, Google, BT and Twitter • Selected to judge at the DMA Awards (Best Digital Destination), Digital Experience Awards (Best Mobile Experience), Shell Livewire Awards (Digital Innovation) and Customer Experience Awards (Global Experience Programme) • Presented at Henley Business School (Customer Experience), Coventry Business School (Inbound Marketing), The Media Trust (Mobile Marketing and Social Media), Warwick Business School (Innovative Marketing) and The International Institute of Innovation (Digital Marketing) • Awarded Central England Young Entrepreneur of the Year for achievements in Digital Marketing – Shell UK PLC
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About Birmingham Tech (Birmingham Tech Week), Bruntwood: Birmingham Tech is a not-for-profit organisation that supports the growth of the Birmingham (UK) and West Midlands Technology Sector.
Eugene Shestopal
CEO and Co-Founder of Poptop Entertainment Booking Platform
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About Poptop Entertainment Booking Platform: Poptop helps event planners find and book entertainment professionals quickly, easily and safely.
Clemi Hardie
Head of Pencils (CEO) of Noodle Live
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About Noodle Live: We’re an event technology company.
Tom Starley
CEO and founder of emble
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About emble: The easiest way to plan awesome events with your friends.
Remi Majekodunmi
FOUNDER/CEO of PinEventz
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About PinEventz: PinEventz offers a platform for Event organisers not to just promote or sell tickets but to continue the conversation where its stop.
Brent Burkett
Founder and CEO of Burkett Web Solutions
I founded Burkett Web Solutions (BWS) in 2013. We mainly focus on Web Development, Internet Marketing and Social Media Management, Optimization and Marketing. We have some pretty large clients in the UK and across Europe. Former to founding BWS, I gained extensive web experience at Facebook for 6 years and Yahoo! for 6 years. I learnt a lot (gross understatement) working for both of these Internet giants. At Facebook in particular and as a Senior Software Engineer, I gained great insights into how Facebook and by extension social media works (seen from an insider perspective).
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About Burkett Web Solutions: Web Development, Internet Marketing and Social Media Management, Optimization and Marketing Agency.
