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 Managing Director operating in the Social space. If you think a Managing Director 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.
Maximilian Bleyleben
Managing Director and Chief Privacy Officer of SuperAwesome
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About SuperAwesome: SuperAwesome offers kid-safe tools and technology for the children’s digital media ecosystem.
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Barry T. Whyte
FT Strategies, Managing Director of Financial Times
Ever since he was given a Nintendo Virtual Boy in the late 1990s, Barry has been obsessed with Virtual Reality. Inspired by the endless stream of people coming to his apartment to play around on his HTC Vive, he founded Veero, a location-based virtual reality centre focusing on immersive independent cinema. It will be London’s first VR cinema when it opens in 2018. Prior to Veero, Barry was a furtive entrepreneur in the corporate world, firstly in advertising at Ogilvy & Mather then in consulting at Bain & Company. In 2013 he joined Decoded as COO in early 2013, leading growth from 7 people in a cupboard to a global team of over 100 in three years, scaling through international expansion to New York, Sydney and Amsterdam. Decoded delivers technology education that changes the way businesses behave. Tens of thousands of business people now have digital skills thanks to their signature product “Code in a Day”. Barry is also a co-founder of Series Q, a non-profit with a mission to empower LGBT entrepreneurs; and sits on advisory board of EurOut at London Business School. He speaks at conferences, including Cannes Lions, London Tech Week and SXSW. Barry holds an MBA from Columbia Business School, blogs for the Huffington Post, and makes seriously good homemade soup. More important than all the above, he also spent a fabulous six months as a Starbucks barista. So if you ask him really nicely, he might make you a coconut flat white.
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About Financial Times, Series Q: Financial Times is a business news organization providing essential news, comments, data, and analysis for the global business community.
Oliver Yonchev
Managing Director, USA of Social Chain
Oliver Yonchev Social Chain is a company of 120+ like-minded individuals who are quickly disrupting the ever-changing social sphere, who pride themselves on telling a brand’s story through creating dynamic, thought provoking and engaging content which is hastened through a 350+ million strong network of social media influencers, pages and communities. With an average age of just 23 across the whole company, Social Chain know exactly how millennials think, listen, engage and share across social media.
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About Social Chain: Social Chain a social media marketing agency.
Oliver Adderley
Founder and Managing Director of Jobster
Oliver Adderley is the founder and managing director at Jobster.
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About Jobster: Jobster is an online recruitment agency based in the United Kingdom
Peter Maskell
Managing Director of Koninklijke Philips
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About Koninklijke Philips: Koninklijke Philips is a technology company that provides healthcare, consumer lifestyle, and lighting products, solutions, and services.
Daniel Couchman Kendall
Managing Director & Founder of Mission Based Media
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About Mission Based Media: Mission Based Media creates and produces audio content that depends on the organization’s goals.
Julian Miall
Managing Director of Gravity4
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About Gravity4: Gravity4 is the world’s first high-frequency machine-learning marketing OS, built to enhance the advertising and SaaS industries.
Craig Ribton
Managing Director of Proactive
Craig co-founded Proactive Investors. He is FCA regulated, an expert in financial media and advanced web design. Formerly a full-time trader, he has a passion for stock picking and a thorough understanding of the financial markets. As managing director, he runs the UK business and sits on the board of the parent company. Day-to-day he helps co-ordinate the media and investor outreach for 300 publicly listed companies. Craig is a member of the Institute of Directors, a director of Fuller Treacy Money Ltd and co-founder of StockTube.com and IScapital.
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About Brighter IR, Proactive: Proactive is an international news and media organization providing coverage of companies in the small to mid-capitalization range.
Paul Dobson
Managing Director of The Chelsea Magazine Company
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About The Chelsea Magazine Company: The Chelsea Magazine Company is an award-winning publisher of specialist magazines.
Alex White
Managing Director, Food and Parenting of Immediate Media Co.
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About Immediate Media Co.: Immediate Media Co. is a special interest content and platform company.
Kostas Alekoglu
Managing Director of Caliston
Serial entrepreneur and Managing Director of Caliston Digital, a results-driven marketing agency based in London, UK.
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About Caliston, SmartFi: ROI-driven Digital marketing agency
Richard Lamb
Managing Director, UK of Jellyfish
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About Jellyfish: Jellyfish works as a digital platform, supporting and drives digital transformation by providing strategy, technology, and training.
Nick Wakefield
Founder & Managing Director of inAsia Media
Nick has over 18 years of experience in technology, media and finance. He started his first tech business in 1999 building an e-commerce platform. He spent 7 years in London focusing on financial sales in the risk management and derivatives market, before moving to Asia to help build Euromoney’s portfolio of conferences across emerging markets. Over this period he ran teams in New York, London and Hong Kong. In 2010 he setup inAsia Media and in 2013 launched Regulation Asia, the leading regulatory information service. He still plays an advisory role in the business. His passion for technology and experience working within the financial markets partner well for Bambu in the role expanding into Europe. He holds a Diploma in Economics and is currently studying a Software Engineering MicroMasters at University of British Columbia.
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About : Online publisher headquartered in Singapore. Publishes market leading titles Regulation Asia & ESG Investor
Mark Webster
Managing Director UK and Europe of Give To Get
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About Give To Get: Social Impact
Sammy Nourmand
Managing Director & Chief Operating Officer of Keshet International
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About Keshet International: Keshet International is Keshet Media Group’s global distribution and production arm.
Patrick Herridge
UK Managing Director of MikeWorldWide Integrated Public Relations
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About MikeWorldWide Integrated Public Relations: One of the top mid-sized public relations firms & one of the 5 largest independent agencies in the US, with European headquarters in London.
James Carter
Managing Director – Digitalbox Publishing Ltd. of Digitalbox
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About Digitalbox: Digitalbox have created a ‘push media’ publishing model able to deliver large, high quality audiences in a brand-safe environment.
Adam Seogalutze
Managing Director – NetPerform Ltd. of Digitalbox
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About Digitalbox: Digitalbox have created a ‘push media’ publishing model able to deliver large, high quality audiences in a brand-safe environment.
Matthew Brown
Managing Director of Data & CRM of Karmarama
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About Karmarama: Karmarama is a full service communications agency, combining creative excellence with technology-inspired solutions
Kevin Gibbons
Managing Director of BlueGlass Interactive
A leading light in the search industry, SEOptimise founder Kevin Gibbons is a web expert with over 10 years’ experience. He has specialised in the field of search engine marketing since 2003, advising a wide range of industry sectors on increasing their online visibility by using the latest search engine marketing techniques. A highly respected expert blogger on the latest developments in search engine marketing, Kevin writes regularly for SEOptimise, Econsultancy and Search Engine Land, plus he is highly followed on Twitter. At SEOptimise Kevin oversees the search marketing team, the strategy of online marketing projects, client account management and promotes the business within the search industry.
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About BlueGlass Interactive, Re:signal, WeLoveDates: BlueGlass Interactive is a digital marketing agency providing integrated SEO, content marketing, and paid search services.
Farhad Divecha
Managing Director of AccuraCast
Farhad Divecha is the managing director of AccuraCast. He oversees all search engine marketing, advertising and technical development work. A recognised authority in the field of search engine marketing and mobile search marketing, Farhad is a regular speaker at industry conferences and is quoted in numerous popular publications including the Wall Street Journal, Business Week and CNet.
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About AccuraCast: AccuraCast is a digital marketing agency based in London, UK.
Kos Gkortsilas
Managing Director of Footy Addicts
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About Footy Addicts: Footy Addicts is a social platform that enables football players and enthusiasts to discover, organize, and join football games in the UK.
Georgina Barnett
Managing Director of Seventy Thirty Exclusive Matchmaking
Head of Global Membership at Seventy Thirty Exclusive Matchmaking Georgina has a doctorate in Counselling Psychology and has worked for fifteen years in the fields of therapy, coaching and group facilitation. She is passionate about helping people fulfill their potential and achieve their goals. Over the past five years, she has dedicated herself to the area of relationships and matchmaking and continues to coach and write on these subjects. Together with Susie Ambrose, Dr Barnett has written the book The Mottos
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About Seventy Thirty Exclusive Matchmaking: Seventy Thirty is the first exclusive luxury matchmaking company
Jake Third
Managing Director of Hallam
Jake is Hallam’s Client Services Director, where he introduces clients to Hallam’s team of experts and strives to deliver an outstanding client experience. Jake’s strengths are in consultative business development, analytical thinking, and digital marketing strategy. Jake believes that being truly customer-centric results in increased client-satisfaction, better relationships, and superior performance for both parties. Long-term success is rooted in sustainable and ethical business. As such, it is Jake’s aim that Hallam only enters into partnerships that are mutually beneficial, leading to the shared success of both parties. In 2018, Jake was made a Director of Hallam following 4 years of driving business growth. In the same year, he was Commended as Young Director of the Year by the Institute of Directors (IoD). In his spare time, Jake’s interests include meditation, charity-work, exercise, and a belief in life-long learning. He holds a BSc in Mathematics and Business.
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About Hallam: Hallam is a full service digital marketing agency providing digital campaigns and strategy, SEO, PPC, content marketing, web development.
Matt Roskill
Managing Director of Albion
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About Albion, Utility Warehouse: We are a creative business partner. We work with companies to invent and reinvent their businesses to unlock growth.
Somi Arian
Managing Director of Smart Cookie Media
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About Smart Cookie Media: Smart Cookie Media bridging the gap between digital natives and established brands.
Stephen Worn
CTO & Managing Director of DatacenterDynamics
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About DatacenterDynamics: DatacenterDynamics is a full service B2B information provider tailored to professionals that design, build, and operate data centers.
Graham Withe
Founder and Managing Director of We Influence
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About We Influence, Webtise: We Influence is a digital marketing agency specializing in search marketing and conversion rate optimization.
David Brownley
Managing Director of Digitally Brilliant Ltd
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About Digitally Brilliant Ltd: Digital Marketing & Web Design Made Simple. We build great Websites and Marketing Campaigns which Gain Quality Leads and Revenue.
Robert Stoubos
Owner & Managing Director of Odyssey New Media Ltd
With over 16+ years of experience in Digital Marketing I have become a results-driven marketer with the skills required to successfully implement cross-channel digital marketing campaigns that generate increased brand awareness, sales and ROI. In 2010 I founded Odyssey New Media – a leading full service Digital Marketing in Birmingham, UK. Specialising in SEO, PPC, Social Media, Inbound Marketing, Conversion Enhancement and more. If you want to improve your sales, increase sales leads and grow your customer base then contact us today and see what we can do to help your company acheive your goals. Call us now on 0844 500 6911.
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About Odyssey New Media Ltd: Leading full service Digital Marketing Agency, based in Birmingham, UK.
David Bryan
Managing Director of Opace Digital Marketing Agency in Birmingham
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About Opace Digital Marketing Agency in Birmingham: Opace are a results-driven Birmingham based Web Design, eCommerce SEO & Internet Marketing agency.
Maureen Corish
Managing Director of Pumpkin PR
Maureen Corish is a Managing Director of Pumpkin.
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About Pumpkin PR: Pumpkin PR is an independent PR agency specializing in public relations management for creative, tech, and media industries.
MD SenServe
Managing Director of SenServe Limited
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About SenServe Limited: SenServe offers customised IT solutions, App Development, Wi-Fi Solutions Web Solutions, IT Support Services and CRM Solutions
MD SenServe
Managing Director of SenServe Limited
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About SenServe Limited: SenServe offers customised IT solutions, App Development, Wi-Fi Solutions Web Solutions, IT Support Services and CRM Solutions
Andrius Ce
Managing Director, Executive Officer of AcEmpire
It is a one man business at the moment and unfortunately one man can`t go very far. That’s why he`s ready to expand, He is ready to build a prefessional and experienced team around me and take it to the next level. But to do so he need some funding. There would be an opportunity for a potential invester to work alongside the business and be involved in it`s growth. He knows exactly where and how to take this business but at a same time he is very open minded to a new ideas and suggestions. He hopes there are investers out there that can see the potential in this business and are passionate about it as much as he is. With the right funding they could lift this business of the ground in no time and go into much deeper waters. This is a great opportunity for investers to jump on a gold mine.
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About AcEmpire: AcEmpire has created a new e-commerce platform and put it on a global market.
Chris Paton
Managing Director of Quirk
Chris Paton A former Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Marines, with a wealth of operational experience, Chris’ military career included advising on Afghan Strategy and plans to the Cabinet Office and National Security Council, and he was responsible for the design of the drawdown of the UK presence in Afghanistan. He saw active service in a wide range of places including Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Georgia and Afghanistan. In 2010, Chris co-authored a HBR article on planning in fluid situations. This then led to him leaving the military to create Quirk Solutions Ltd. Chris has worked with BUPA, Heineken, Standard Life Investments, Shell and a wide range of SME businesses. He uses his leadership, strategy and planning experience to give organisations increased coherency, direction and efficiency. Chris is also one of the UK’s premier exponents of Business Wargaming; stress testing plans to identify risks and opportunities. Bi-lingual in French and with a Masters Degree in International Liaison and Communication, he spent 6 months of 2013 in Benin, providing French-speaking performance consultancy to a client. An avid rugby man, Chris also enjoys outdoor sports, trying to surf, and expending vast amounts of nugatory effort failing to make his garden look presentable.
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About Quirk: Quirk is a independently owned digital marketing agency.
Michela Finnis
Managing Director, Founder of Green Shoots Support
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About Green Shoots Support: Green Shoots Support are a fundraising and grant and tender writing consultancy for charities and SMEs.
