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 COO’ operating in the Enterprise space. If you think a COO’ 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.
Kate Toumazi
Chief Operating Officer of Privitar
As Chief Operating Officer, Kate is responsible for driving an execution focus across the organisation and ensuring day-to-day operation of the business is efficient. Prior to joining Privitar, Kate held several global leadership positions in businesses geared for transformation or growth at Thomson Reuters, and has extensive experience in pricing and commercial strategy. She balances operational excellence with practical delivery and is passionate that the customer perspective is core to all initiatives. Kate started her career qualifying as a UK Chartered Accountant in professional practice at Andersen. Kate has a BSc in Economics from the University of Nottingham.
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About Privitar: Privitar offers a data privacy platform that protect their customers’ sensitive personal data and to deliver comprehensive data privacy.
Lee Perkins
Chief Operating Officer of Sage Group
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About Sage Group: Sage Group provides small and medium sized company business management software and services.
Mark Sahal
Chief Operating Officer of Unily
Mark Sahal is the Chief Operating Officer at Unily. He is an experienced COO with a demonstrated history of working in the information technology and services industry.
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About Unily: Unily is the full digital workplace solution uniting the very best of Microsoft Enterprise Technology.
Ry Morgan
Co-Founder, COO & Product Strategy of Unmind
• Entrepreneurial rapscallion with a background highly attuned to tech, product and enterprise. Founded, built and grown several successful (and less successful!) ventures to-date. x
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About Unmind, Yomp: Unmind is a B2B mental health platform providing clinically-backed tools and training.
Nick Rogers
COO & Co-Founder of Sky-Futures
Nick is Chief Regulatory and Training Officer (CRTO) and co-founder at Sky-Futures. He oversees the Training and Regulatory framework including the UK CAA National Qualified Entity (NQE) Status, ensuring that the Remote Pilot training is robust and fit for purpose. As a qualified civilian airline Captain who continues to fly Airbus A320 passenger jets, Nick’s aviation experience and understanding of the manned aviation environment have been instrumental in establishing a culture of safety and outstanding operational procedures that help enhance Sky-Futures position as a leading drone technology company.
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About Sky-Futures: Sky-Futures is a provider of drone-based inspection and data services to the industrial inspection market.
Steve Turner
Chief Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer of ITRS Group
Steve joined ITRS in November 2016 as the CFO & COO, bringing more than 30 years’ management and leadership experience from across all industries. Steve had been previously running his own company coaching leaders and executive teams on the benefits of Organisational Health. Prior to this he has led the Services division at Misys Banking, a leader in the core banking market, and several other software companies through significant growth programmes (Ariba, BroadVision and SAP). Steve is a double Olympian in the sport of rowing, entrepreneur and has passion about sport, technology and performance.
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About ITRS Group: ITRS Group is the leading provider of risk mitigation solutions to global financial institutions.
Stephen Murdoch
Chief Operating Officer of Micro Focus
As COO, Stephen is responsible for the day to day execution of Micro Focus operations. Stephen has a 25 year track record of success in the IT industry.Most recently, Stephen was the General Manager of EMEA for Dell’s Public Sector and Large Commercial Enterprise business unit. Stephen joined Micro Focus in November 2012 as General Manager of Products and Marketing Strategy.
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About Micro Focus, Micro Focus: Micro Focus is a software company with 40 years of experience in delivering and supporting enterprise software solutions.
Oliver Breach
Founder & COO of Pupil
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About MBM Capital Partners, Pupil: Pupil is changing the world of data capture, creating immersive 3D experiences through revolutionary technology.
Neil Hargreaves
Chief Operating Officer of Rusada
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About Rusada: Rusada provides Maintenance & Engineering Technology Solutions for the Aviation Sector.
Pravina Pindoria
COO & Co-Founder of Tallyfy
Pravina Pindoria is the Co-founder & COO at Tallyfy
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About Tallyfy: Tallyfy is beautiful workflow software that lets you document, track and improve all your repeatable processes
Ravinath Dasika
Co-founder, COO of Clockwork
Ravinath Dasika is the co-founder of Clockwork. He previously founded Tavaga. He has held various positions at Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, and Headstrong. Ravinath holds an MBA degree in finance and bachelor’s degree in civil engineering.
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About Clockwork: Clockwork is a virtual assistant for your team, helping you run efficient meetings, track actions and automate workflows.
Catherine Wainwright
Chief Operating Officer of RWE
Catherine is Chief Operating Officer of RWE Supply & Trading’s Principal Investments fund. RWEST Principal Investments runs a broad based portfolio of asset and equity investments across the commodity trading spectrum. Catherine has 30 years’ experience in commodity trading and related asset, M&A and Principal Investment activities. She has led a number of major commercial transactions and acquisitions for RWE and was previously head of UK Structured Origination for RWE Supply & Trading. Catherine led RWEST’s successful acquisition, biomass project development and the eventual sale of Lynemouth Power Station, including the award and EU state aid approval for a UK government contract. She acted as Chair of the Board of Directors of Lynemouth Power Limited for 3 years. Catherine holds a degree in Theoretical Physics from Durham University and a Masters in Business Administration from Birmingham University.
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About RWE: RWE is pan-European energy company.
Laura Malcolm
COO of Avanade
Laura is an experienced business and technology leader, driving industry change, diversity and inclusion with innovative and pioneering approaches. She has performed roles including COO, CTIO, Digital and Sales leadership roles, working in leading technology and consulting organisations, including Avanade, Oracle, Capgemini and IBM. She has a track record of delivering technical, operational and sales excellence, but people leadership and organisational change motivate her the most. She attributes her record of strong business results not only to a passion for technology and innovation, but mostly to her ability to get the best out of people through humility, creativity and authentic leadership.
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About Avanade: Avanade provides innovative digital and cloud services, business solutions and design-led experiences on the Microsoft ecosystem.
Paul Zimmerman
COO of Invotra Ltd
An accomplished executive in the technology sector for nearly 20 years, having joined Amazon.com in 1999. Communications & Technology Currently COO of Invotra, an enterprise Intranet-as-a-Service, used by 200,000 end users in the UK and the US. Customers include the UK’s Home Office, Department for Works & Pensions (DWP), Department for Transport (DfT) and HMRC. In America, the venerable environmental organisation Sierra Club became a customer in 2017. I’m a public speaker and guest lecturer on diverse subjects ranging from entrepreneurship to the future of communications in the workplace to accessibility to Brexit’s impact on the UK. Ecommerce CEO for online gift and gadget site Firebox.com from 2010 to 2012, and COO of Stanley Gibbons’ ecommerce operations in Jersey from 2013 to 2014. Prior to this, I served Play.com as Marketplace Director in 2010 and Head of Business Development from 2005-2010. Previously I was a senior manager at both Amazon.com’s UK division, Amazon.co.uk (4 years), and Woolworths Group (2 years), where I led the business units responsible for driving e-commerce retail sales for both physical and digital music products. Specialties digital communications strategies, ecommerce, consulting and stakeholder engagement, p&l management, general management, product management, marketplace strategies, vendor management, purchasing, user experience & web design, SEO, search technologies, content management systems, digital distribution technologies, competitive analysis and research, market analysis and research, international experience
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About : Enterprise Intranet and Portal solutions for organisations worldwide
George Thomas
Chief Operating Officer of Xeneta
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About Xeneta: Xeneta is the leading ocean freight rate benchmarking and market intelligence platform and index.
Steve Denner
Founder and COO of Adestra
Steve is highly experienced in developing and delivering email solutions, having led teams responsible for bringing five email applications to market. Since co-founding Adestra, Steve is focused on ensuring Adestra’s platform continues to be today’s best email marketing system and that Adestra’s clients receive the best support.
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About Adestra: Adestra is a trusted provider of First-Person Marketing solutions for global and growing brands.
Stephen Joseph
COO of Ocean Outdoor
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About Ocean Outdoor: Ocean is a media advertising company specialized in designing iconic landmark large-format digital banners in super-premium locations.
Pablo Vergara
COO of HUBX
Pablo Vergara is the COO at HUBX.
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About HUBX: The premier capital raising and private placement solution for professionals.
Paul Fellows
COO of Partnerize
Paul brings more than 10 years of top-level product management experience to Performance Horizon Group and is driven by client success. He was one of the co-founders of the buy.at Affiliate Network in 2002 and helped lead the company through the sale to AOL, while focusing on the platform’s technical development and customized client solutions. Paul also previously served as Global Product Director for AOL, where he formed part of its Global Leadership Team.
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About Partnerize: Partnerize is the only partnership management solution for marketers seeking high quality, scalable subsidies to primary channels.
Adrian King
Founder, CTO & COO of Q9 Elements
Adrian King is the Founder and CTO at Q9 Elements.
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About Q9 Elements: Q9 Elements is a document hub that helps in cleaning up, document, and drive adoption of Salesforce.
Chris Cater
COO of YunoJuno
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About Stride, YunoJuno: Online platform connecting freelancers and clients in the creative and technology sectors
Igors Astapchiks
COO of Forty Seven
Founder of Forty Seven
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About Forty Seven: Forty Seven is a software consulting and development company providing IT outsourcing services.
John O’Donnell
Chief Operating Officer of Achilles Group
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About Achilles Group, Achilles Group: Achilles Group provides identification, qualification, evaluation, and monitoring services for managing supply chain risk.
Simon Wheeldon
Co-Founder and COO of CloudApps
Simon is a co-founder of CloudApps and is responsible for Professional Services Delivery and Corporate Strategy. Prior to founding CloudApps, Simon spent 4 years at Salesforce.com leading the adoption of the pioneering Force.com platform across EMEA. Under Simon’s guidance the Force.com platform in Europe grew to be a multi-million dollar business. With over 20 years experience in the software industry, Simon was responsible for the widespread sales and adoption of the Force.com platform; helping numerous Salesforce.com’s customers to build and sell their very own Software-as-a-Service applications. Prior to joining Salesforce.com Simon was responsible for the financial services business at Siebel Systems in the UK. Previously, he has held senior positions at Business Objects and Accenture. Simon has a BSc in Computer Science from Bristol University. He is married with two children and lives in Oxfordshire, UK.
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About CloudApps: CloudApps increases sales performance by motivating more of your high-value, winning sales behaviours
Edwina McDowall
Chief Operating Officer of YSC Consulting
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About CIPS, YSC Consulting: YSC provides leadership strategy consulting services.
Yuriy Gnatyuk
Co-Founder & COO of KindGeek
Yuriy Gnatyuk is a Co-Founder and serves as the Chief Operating Officer at KindGeek.
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About KindGeek: KindGeek is a software development company that helps entrepreneurs with product development and technical aspects of their projects.
James Loft
COO of Rainbird Technologies
A man with his finger on the pulse of an ever-evolving marketplace, James is always looking ahead to the next ‘game-changing’ advancement in artificial intelligence. His mission: to demystify the world of ‘Applied AI’ for organisations and users alike. With a history in innovation and service design – he previously led an artificial intelligence consultancy firm that helped companies develop AI tools to fit their business needs – he possesses an in-depth understanding of the possibilities of the technology and the key part it will play in the future of industry. In his role as Chief Operations Officer, James is responsible for the daily business operations of the company. A knowledge management graduate from Loughborough University, he advocates an MVP-style approach to new technology that is designed to deliver the best results in the smartest way.
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About Rainbird Technologies: Truly intelligent automation for complex decisions and scenarios
Nigel Dahl
Interim CFO/COO, M&A Specialist of EPM Gurus
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About EPM Gurus, PYXI Group: EPM Gurus specializes in Oracle Hyperion EPM solution planning, architecture, and implementation.
Kerr MacKinnon
Co-Founder & COO of Flyte Technologies
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About Flyte Technologies: Flight planning software for commercial drone pilots
Sarah Dowzell
COO and Co-founder of Natural HR Limited
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About Natural HR Limited: Natural HR exists to bring the latest technology innovations to the world of human resources
Anthony Beaumont
COO of Loopa
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About Loopa: Private community communication and collaboration platform
Laura Baines
COO of Flowify Limited
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About Flowify Limited: Helping the hospitality industry increase revenue whilst reducing costs.
