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 Founder operating in the Event Management space. If you think a Founder 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.
Follow Daniel Seal:
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.
Follow Tim Groot:
About Grip: Grip is a market engagement platform used by event organizers to create virtual and live event experiences.
Ivo Spigel
Co-Founder and Editor of Tech.eu
Co-founder of IT solutions company Perpetuum Mobile and Croatia’s premier startup program, ZIP. Former editor at The Kernel; regularly writes columns for Forbes Croatia and is working on a book with interview of European startup founders.
Follow Ivo Spigel:
About Perpetuum-Mobile, Tech.eu, ZIP – Zagreb Entrepreneurship Incubator: Tech.eu provides tech news, data, market intelligence, and insights into startup activity.
Francisco Hein
Co-Founder & CMO of Fever
Follow Francisco Hein:
About Chaze App, Fever: Fever is a global live-entertainment discovery platform, helping people discover experiences in their cities
Noor Alkhadra
Founder & CEO of WeGeek
Follow Noor Alkhadra:
About WeGeek: We are passionate geeks who take great pleasure in bringing gamers together by creating AWESOME gaming events.
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.
Follow Andrew Needham:
About HeadBox: HeadBox is an online marketplace for inspiring meeting, offsite and event spaces.
Ben Knight
Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder of Croud
Ben is the Co-founder of Croud, Google’s fastest growing agency in the UK in 2013 and 2014 Having worked within search for over ten years, Ben realised that there was a gap within the industry to deliver a more innovative and creative service to clients that could rival other agencies. In 2011, Ben, founded Croud as a new concept in digital to deliver excellence to clients expertise to help their clients grow their businesses. Prior to Croud, Ben has worked for a number of prestigious search agencies. Ben spent his first 6 years at The Search Works where he joined a small team learning his trade and later heading up the financial search vertical, Ben was a key member of the team during it’s growth from 12 to over 100 people. Following the sale at TSW, he joined Harvest Digital as Head of Search in a full service digital agency where he was responsible for paid and natural search as well as social media and analytics, in the 2 and half years he spent at Harvest he grew the size of them team 7 fold and revenues 10 fold before leaving this role in early 2011. Outside of work, Ben is an avid but often disappointed Liverpool football fan.
Follow Ben Knight:
About Croud, Croud: Croud is a digital marketing agency that provides services including SEO, PPC, content, programmatic, paid social, and analytics
Wahida Samie
Founder of Studentbase
Follow Wahida Samie:
About Studentbase: Creating the Global Student Network
Kerry Hogarth
Co-Founder & Managing Director of 3D Printshow
Kerry Hogarth is Co-Founder & Managing Director at 3D Printshow.
Follow Kerry Hogarth:
About 3D Printshow: 3D Printshow brings together key players from the entire 3D printing ecosystem.
Simon Thompson
Co-Founder & Managing Director of Conferences-uk.org.uk
Simon Thompson is Director and Co-Founder of Conferences:UK, ConferenceVenues.com and ConferencesGroup. Simon is an active member of the Hotel Booking Agents Association (HBAA) and strongly supports Accreditation in Meetings (AIM). Simon is passionate about transforming our successful UK business into the World No.1 Hotel and Conference Booking Agency.
Follow Simon Thompson:
About Conferences-uk.org.uk: Conferences-uk.org.uk (part of ConferencesGroup) is a flagship UK Expert Venue Finding Agency.
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.
Follow David Allison:
About GetMyFirstJob: GetMyFirstJob is a web-based platform that improves the speed and quality of matching young people to the right apprenticeship.
Salih Bosca
Founder of EtkinlikAlani
Follow Salih Bosca:
About EtkinlikAlani: EtkinlikAlani is an online platform that allows the user to create and join any online events to expand the user’s horizon
Ian Johnson
Founder of TechForge Media Ltd.
Follow Ian Johnson:
About TechForge Media Ltd.: TechForge Media is an established, independent publishing company based in the center of Bristol, UK.
Michaela Jeffery-Morrison
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Maddox Events
Follow Michaela Jeffery-Morrison:
About Maddox Events: Maddox Events is the world’s only B2B company exclusively dedicated to creating large-scale conferences.
Linda Agata Senya
Founder of LiveArtSocial / LAS
Linda co-founded LiveArtSocial in May 2016 with Alexa Brossard and Andreas Fux. Prior to LiveArtSocial, Linda worked in Venture Capital & several advisory roles . Previously, she worked as Structured Derivatives Sales Manager at BNP Paribas Investment Bank. She received an M.Sc. from Copenhagen Business School (2012) and B.Sc. from University Paris Dauphine (2004).
Follow Linda Agata Senya:
About ePlanet Capital, LiveArtSocial / LAS: Events Management & Networking Platform for Premium Businesses
Emeka Ogbonnaya
Founder and CEO of Zoique
Follow Emeka Ogbonnaya:
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.
Follow Maximillion Cooper:
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.
Follow Paul Wroe:
About Qflow: The leading event check-in management solution.
Anthony Sergeant
CCO & Co-Founder of Qflow
15 years experience within the Electronic music and events industry including co-founder and head of MAD, UK based music store, label collective and global music distribution.
Follow Anthony Sergeant:
About Qflow: The leading event check-in management solution.
Toby Heelis
CEO (Co-Founder) of virtuall
Follow Toby Heelis:
About : Transforming industries by creating innovative products that connect the world more sustainably and profitably.
Robin Weil
Founder & CEO of Wedding Planner
Follow Robin Weil:
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.
Carl-Erik Michalsen Moberg
Co-Founder & CSO at TicketCo Norge of TicketCo
Follow Carl-Erik Michalsen Moberg:
About TicketCo, TicketCo, TicketCo: TicketCo is an omnichannel ticketing and sales solution for live and physical events.
Neil Pollard
Founder of Ents24
Neil graduated with a MSc in Advanced Computing from Bristol University in 1997. He developed the UK’s first ever mobile website in 1999 – “The UK Entertainment Centre” – which won several awards and formed the basis of Ents24, a company that he co-founded in 2000. Ents24.com now receives 2m visitors per month, making it the third most popular destination for tickets in the UK, after Ticketmaster and See Tickets.
Follow Neil Pollard:
About Ents24: Ents24 is a live entertainment website covering live music, comedy, theatre and shows.
Nour Mouakke
Founder & CEO of Wizme
Follow Nour Mouakke:
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.
Follow Daniel Coleman:
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
Follow Yiannis Maos:
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.
Peter Ward
Co-Founder & MD of WeTrack
After completing an MSc in Biology from Oxford University and turning his back on a life in academia, Peter started his professional career at a $25 billion international mutual fund based in Bermuda. Here, as well as becoming a level 1 chartered financial analyst, he learnt to design and project-manage custom built software for the finance world. Quickly he saw that, regardless of the systems functionality, the end user must always be at the heart of the system if it is to reach its full potential. After 2 years in Bermuda and London, Peter left the finance world to learn Spanish and travel around South America. Peter was involved at The London 2012 Games where he was responsible for tracking ~4000 objectives and tasks across all the departments of the Organising Committee (LOCOG) to ensure London would be ready to host the games. It was in this role that he fused the software development skills of the finance world with the complex project management requirements of the event industry to create WeTrack. Peter has directorships at CSPW Consulting and YouSoft. In his spare time he enjoys golf, cricket, solving the cryptic crossword and was a member of the British Wakeboard Team for a number of years.
Follow Peter Ward:
About WeTrack: WeTrack provides event delivery software for major events, federations, venues and governing bodies
Eugene Shestopal
CEO and Co-Founder of Poptop Entertainment Booking Platform
Follow Eugene Shestopal:
About Poptop Entertainment Booking Platform: Poptop helps event planners find and book entertainment professionals quickly, easily and safely.
Ignat Thorovsky
CTO and Co-Founder of Poptop Entertainment Booking Platform
Follow Ignat Thorovsky:
About Poptop Entertainment Booking Platform: Poptop helps event planners find and book entertainment professionals quickly, easily and safely.
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).
Follow Brent Burkett:
About Burkett Web Solutions: Web Development, Internet Marketing and Social Media Management, Optimization and Marketing Agency.
Matthew Funge
Managing Director & Founder of Your Stand Builder
Matthew is the Managing Director & Founder of event technology company Your Stand Builder, and currently lives in London. He is a graduate from the University of Manchester who already has valuable experience of living and working in both the USA and France, in addition to various parts of the UK, which has provided him with valuable international exposure already. He is responsible for building and launching the Your Stand Builder platform in March 2019, following more than 5 years’ in an exhibition project manager role preparing 25+ worldwide events annually for his previous employer – an experience which directly led to the YSB idea being born. Matthew is passionate about making a difference in the global events industry, and is committed to continually exploring technological innovation. He has taken YSB from concept all the way through to execution and plans to build upon this in the future through gradually developing the service further.
Follow Matthew Funge:
About Your Stand Builder: SaaS, online marketplace, web platform
Charlie Lines
Events Director and Founder of The Ecommerce Club
Charlie Lines is the director and founder at Mixing Digital and The Ecommerce Club. She used to work as a freelance Marketing & Sales manager for CleanTech magazine. Charlie is a graduate of Thomas Bennett Community College & Crawley College of Technology.
Follow Charlie Lines:
About The Ecommerce Club: The Ecommerce Club is a member-led group dedicated to encouraging and supporting retailers in developing e-commerce expertise.
Charlie Lines
Events Director and Founder of The Ecommerce Club
Charlie Lines is the director and founder at Mixing Digital and The Ecommerce Club. She used to work as a freelance Marketing & Sales manager for CleanTech magazine. Charlie is a graduate of Thomas Bennett Community College & Crawley College of Technology.
Follow Charlie Lines:
About The Ecommerce Club: The Ecommerce Club is a member-led group dedicated to encouraging and supporting retailers in developing e-commerce expertise.
John Ferguson
Founder of Venuebooker
Founder at Venuebooker
Follow John Ferguson:
About Venuebooker: Venuebooker.com is a revolutionary and innovative web based company.
John Ferguson
Founder of Venuebooker
Founder at Venuebooker
Follow John Ferguson:
About Venuebooker: Venuebooker.com is a revolutionary and innovative web based company.
Petra Johansson
Founder/Director of TwistedTree
Event management and event sales professional working across business to business events in the digital, technology, creative and financial sectors. Petra runs events company TwistedTree since 2007, and is a co-founder of 2Pears. Petra holds a MBA from Lund University from Lund University in Sweden and has more than 11 years experience from the business to business events industry ranging from delegate, media and sponsorship sales at organisations including IIR Conferences, Incisive Media, and Financial News. She has managed profitable events from the concept stage researching a topic, through speaker recruitment, sponsorship sales, marketing and on-the-day event management and execution, to post-event follow up and rebookings.
Follow Petra Johansson:
About TwistedTree: TwistedTree Limited is a business to business event solutions company specialising in sponsorship sales and event management in digital,
Petra Johansson
Founder/Director of TwistedTree
Event management and event sales professional working across business to business events in the digital, technology, creative and financial sectors. Petra runs events company TwistedTree since 2007, and is a co-founder of 2Pears. Petra holds a MBA from Lund University from Lund University in Sweden and has more than 11 years experience from the business to business events industry ranging from delegate, media and sponsorship sales at organisations including IIR Conferences, Incisive Media, and Financial News. She has managed profitable events from the concept stage researching a topic, through speaker recruitment, sponsorship sales, marketing and on-the-day event management and execution, to post-event follow up and rebookings.
Follow Petra Johansson:
About TwistedTree: TwistedTree Limited is a business to business event solutions company specialising in sponsorship sales and event management in digital,
Joss Hughes
Ploxel Co-Founder of Ploxel
Follow Joss Hughes:
About Ploxel: Sell tickets online with Ploxel in minutes with everything you need from start to finish to host your event.
Saayuj Dhanak
Founder of Mayton Munro
Follow Saayuj Dhanak:
About Mayton Munro: Mayton Munro is a music events and promotions company started by Fin Munro and Si Dhanak.
Barak Chamo
Founder of You Go I Go
Follow Barak Chamo:
About You Go I Go: You Go I Go makes it a breeze to get your mates to more events!
Jose A. Blaya
Founder of Popalia
Follow Jose A. Blaya:
About Popalia: Take control of your social event with Popalia. Get offers which fit your budget from suppliers around the world.
