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 CFO’ operating in the Manufacturing space. If you think a CFO’ 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.
Adrian Hennah
CFO of Reckitt
Adrian joined the Company in January 2013 as Chief Financial Officer Designate, and was appointed as CFO in February 2013. He joined the Company following six years at Smith & Nephew plc, as CFO. Previously he was CFO for four years at Invensys, the international engineering company. Adrian also spent 18 years at GlaxoSmithKline plc, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, holding a number of senior management and financial roles. He has previously worked at PwC (then Price Waterhouse) for four years in both audit and consultancy, and also for Stadtsparkasse Koeln, the German regional bank. He is a Non-Executive Director of Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV.
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About Reckitt: Reckitt Benckiser Group is a consumer goods company makes health, hygiene and home products.
Nitesh Shah
CFO of Metalysis
Nitesh Shah is the Group CFO, Power Resources Group of Metalysis.
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About Metalysis: Metalysis, a manufacturer of metals and alloys, offers both economic and environmental benefits over traditional metal production methods.
Graeme Pitkethly
Chief Financial Officer of Unilever
Graeme joined Unilever in 2002 and was previously Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Unilever UK and Ireland business. Prior to this he held a number of senior financial and commercial roles within Unilever, including Senior Vice President of Finance for Global Markets, Global Head of M&A, Head of Treasury, Pensions and Tax and Chief Financial Officer of Unilever Indonesia. Graeme brings considerable internal and external experience to the role having spent the earlier part of his career in senior corporate finance roles in the telecommunications industry and at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Graeme is a Chartered Accountant and holds a bachelor’s degree in Applied Chemistry from Strathclyde University.Graeme is married with two children with whom he enjoys skiing and golf. With a passion for blues music, he is also an enthusiastic, but poor, guitarist. In a personal capacity, Graeme is Vice-Chair of the Financial Stability Board Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (“TCFD”).
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About Unilever: Unilever produces and supplies fast-moving consumer goods in food, home, and personal care product categories worldwide.
Kenneth Gregor
Chief Financial Officer of Jaguar Land Rover
Kenneth Gregor is Chief Financial Officer of Jaguar Land Rover, a position he was appointed to in June 2008. As a member of the Executive Committee of Jaguar Land Rover, his focus is on the financial management of the business to deliver shareholder value and support the company’s growth ambitions. His direct responsibilities include corporate finance, treasury, financial reporting, accounting, tax and internal control as well as providing business partnering support to all areas of Jaguar Land Rover’s global operations. Kenneth joined Jaguar Cars in 1997 and before his appointment as CFO held a number of roles within the Jaguar and Land Rover businesses including Group Financial Controller and financial control roles within Marketing, Sales and Service and Product Development. Ken was also one of the executives responsible for leading the transition of the worldwide commercial activities of Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Company to Tata, following the latter’s acquisition of the business in 2008. Between 1989 and 1996 Ken worked for HSBC Samuel Montagu in London advising on mergers, acquisitions and privatisations. Kenneth holds a BSc (Hons) in Applied Maths from the University of St Andrews and an MBA from Cranfield University. Based in Kenilworth, Warwickshire Kenneth’s interests include cycling and hill walking.
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About Jaguar Land Rover: Jaguar Land Rover manufactures and sells high-performance luxury saloons, specialist sports cars and four-wheel drive off-road vehicles.
Karam Hirji
CFO of Polymateria
Karam Hirji is the Chief Financial Officer of Polymateria.
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About Polymateria: Polymateria is a London-based startup advancing science to help nature deal with plastic pollution.
Philipp Prince
Chief Financial Officer of Enecsys
Philipp has 18 years’ experience as a chartered accountant, having qualified with Stoy Hayward (now BDO LLP) in 1995. In 1997, Philipp moved into Corporate Finance, where he spent 16 years, becoming a partner in 2002; this included two years building BDO’s Government & Infrastructure team. During his time at BDO LLP, Philipp led over 50 capital market transactions, which raised, in aggregate, approximately £4 billion and the due diligence process on numerous M&A transactions. Philipp has an MA in Natural Sciences from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University. He is also a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales.
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About Enecsys: Enecsys manufactures grid-connected solar micro inverters and monitoring systems that offer a value proposition for solar PV systems.
Nik Jhangiani
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Coca-Cola Enterprises
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About Coca-Cola Enterprises: Coca-Cola Enterprises is a marketer, producer, and distributor of non-alcoholic drinks.
Neville Evans
Chief Financial Officer of Lumene
Neville Evans is the chief financial officer at Lumene. He is also a chief financial officer at Langholm Capital LLP.
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About Lumene: Lumene is a Finnish manufacturer of cosmetics.
Paul Hughes
Chief Financial Officer of Plan B Energy Storage
Paul Hughes has extensive expertise within the renewable energy, alternative fuels and biochemical sector. His career includes senior management roles in both start-ups and established energy companies. Paul has co-founded energy companies in Europe and North America, has led an energy company from start-up through to IPO.
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About Plan B Energy Storage: Plan B Energy Storage manufactures high power energy storage systems.
Duncan Kennedy
Chief Financial Officer of BTG International
Duncan Kennedy joined BTG in December 2005 as Group Financial Controller and in April 2012 he joined the Leadership Team as Group Director of Finance, with management responsibility for the global finance function. Duncan led BTG’s Interventional Oncology business from May 2015 until he began as CFO in January 2018. Prior to joining BTG, Duncan spent six years in the group finance function of Wembley plc, an international leisure group, gaining wide-ranging experience in all aspects of listed company financial reporting and significant involvement in corporate transactions. Duncan qualified as a Chartered Accountant at Arthur Andersen and holds a BSc in Mathematics from Durham University.
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About BTG International: BTG is a global healthcare company focused on Interventional Medicine.
John Seal
Chief Financial Officer of OCEANIUM
John Seal is the Chief Financial Officer at OCEANIUM.
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About OCEANIUM: Oceanium develops innovative, all-natural products from sustainably-sourced seaweed.
Simon Boddie
Chief Financial Officer of Coats plc
Simon has over 30 years experience of working in finance with extensive knowledge of international operations, emerging markets and digital. Previously he was Group Finance Director for 10 years at Electrocomponents plc, a FTSE250 industrial distribution business, where he focused on international growth, e-commerce channel expansion, cost reduction, cash maximisation, financing and investor relations. Prior to Electrocomponents, Simon worked for Diageo, the leading international drinks business, for 13 years where he held a variety of senior finance positions. Simon’s career started at Price Waterhouse, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant, before spending six years in the Corporate Finance Team of Hill Samuel Bank. Simon is currently a Non-Executive Director of PageGroup plc, a specialist recruitment company, where he is also Chairman of the Audit Committee. He has an MA in Economics from the University of Cambridge.
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About Coats plc: The world’s leading industrial thread manufacturer and a major player in the Americas textile crafts market.
Graham Screawn
Chief Financial Officer of Ultimate Products
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About Ultimate Products: Ultimate Products is a brand and product development house in the UK that specializes in house-ware and electrical goods.
William Harris
CFO of Senseye
William Harris is a Chartered Accountant with over 30 years’ experience of working in publicly quoted and private companies in the Technology, Media and Telecoms (TMT) sector. He has been working with Senseye since its formation.
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About Senseye: Senseye is a cloud-based software for predictive maintenance.
Chris FitzGerald
CFO of Surface Generation
Chris is a highly experienced accountant with over 30 years’ experience of operating in small, medium and large companies across a broad range of sectors.
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About Surface Generation, vfdnet: Surface Generation is a privately-owned high technology and manufacturing company.
Lorne Vary
Chief Financial and Business Development Officer of Brompton Bicycle
Lorne Vary is the chief financial and business development officer at Brompton Bicycle.
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About Brompton Bicycle: Brompton Bicycle are the manufacturers of the Brompton folding bike, designed and built in their factory in West London, England.
Iain Silvester
Co-CEO / CFO of Plessey Semiconductors Ltd
Iain has over 20 years’ experience in private and public growth stage technology companies. Most recently, he was CFO of picoChip Inc. and Finance Director of Motion Media PLC, where he managed its IPO on the LSE in 2000. Iain holds a B.Sc. degree in Chemistry and is a qualified Chartered Accountant with Ernst & Young where he specialised in corporate finance.
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About Plessey Semiconductors Ltd: Plessey is a British high-tech company operating in the field compound semiconductors.
Peter Fosh
CFO EMEA of Optoma USA
Peter Fosh is CFO EMEA at Optoma. He once with Samsung Semiconductor as finance director.
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About Optoma USA: Optoma is a designer and manufacturer of projection and audio products for business, professional audio/video, and home entertainment.
Gregor Goodwin
Chief Financial Officer of MB Aerospace
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About MB Aerospace: MB Aerospace is a engine component manufacturer and repair business.
Steve Chamberlain
CFO of Sepura
Steve was appointed Chief Financial Officer in 2012, joining Sepura from Autonomy, where he spent seven years as the VP Finance with worldwide responsibility. During that time, Steve played a pivotal role in key acquisitions with a combined value of $2 billion. He has over 15 years of experience in the technology sector, including time in practice at Arthur Andersen and Deloitte.
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About Sepura: Sepura is a global leader in the design, manufacture and supply of digital radio products
Paul Buddin
Chief Financial Officer of TopHat.Io
Paul Buddin is the Chief Financial Officer at TopHat.
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About McLaren Group, TopHat.Io: TopHat.Io is a technology-driven modular housing manufacturing.
David Masters
Chief Financial Officer of Aqualisa Products
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About Aqualisa Products: Aqualisa Products provides designs and manufactures digital, mixer and electric showers and accessories.
Peter Worrall
CFO of Rex Bionics
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About Rex Bionics: REX is a hands-free, self supporting, independently controlled, robotic mobility device.
Fraser Welham
Chief Financial Officer of Invinity Energy Systems Plc
Fraser Welham is the chief financial officer at RedT. He was previously at the Green Investment Group (formerly the Green Investment Bank) where he was managing director of finance. He also served as a group CFO at Element Power and group FD at Shanks Group Plc.
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About Invinity Energy Systems Plc: Invinity Energy Systems Plc is a company which has created a method by which electrical energy can be stored in liquid form.
Mattew Enright
Chief Financial Officer of Metamark
Matt Enright is the chief financial officer at Metamark. He is a former interim consultant at Coveris UK.
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About Metamark: Metamark is a manufacturer and distributor of self-adhesive materials for signs, digital print, and decor applications.
Julien Cotta
CFO of Inion
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About Inion: Inion is a medical devices company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative biodegradable applications.
Christopher Leigh
Chief Financial Officer of Versarien
christopher leigh joined Versarien Plc as Chief Financial Officer in 2013.
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About Versarien: Versarien is an engineering materials company, provides engineering solutions for various industry sectors.
Andy Boteler
CFO of Gooch & Housego
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About Gooch & Housego: Gooch & Housego is a global leader in photonics technology.
Mike Marrison
Chief Financial Officer of SRL Traffic Systems
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About Kirona, SRL Traffic Systems: SRL Traffic Systems is a manufacturer of portable and temporary, pedestrian and traffic light systems.
