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 Director operating in the Advice space. If you think a 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.
Lionel Assant
Senior Managing Director of Blackstone Group
Lionel Assant is Senior Managing Director and European Head of Private Equity for Blackstone, based in London. Since joining Blackstone in 2003, Lionel Assant has been involved in various European investments and investment opportunities. Before joining Blackstone, Lionel Assant worked for seven years at Goldman Sachs in the Mergers & Acquisitions, Asset Management and Private Equity divisions. Lionel Assant graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique with a Master’s degree in Economics. He serves as a Director of Tangerine, Intertrust and Alliance Automotive Group. Lionel Assant served on the boards of Gerresheimer, Mivisa and United Biscuits. He is also a Trustee of Impetus-PEF, a charitable foundation which provides resources to improve the lives of children and young people living in poverty.
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About Blackstone Group: Blackstone is an investment and advisory firm providing financial solutions for investors and clients.
Kenneth Caplan
Sr. Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of Blackstone Group
Kenneth A. Caplan is a Senior Managing Director and Global Chief Investment Officer of the Real Estate Group. Since joining Blackstone in 1997, Kenneth Caplan has been involved in over $100 billion of real estate acquisitions and initiatives in the United States, Europe and Asia. These include major acquisitions such as Equity Office Properties, Hilton Hotels, Trizec Properties and La Quinta. Prior to his current role, Kenneth Caplan was Head of Real Estate Europe. Before joining Blackstone, he was at Lazard Frères & Co. in the real estate investment banking group. Kenneth Caplan received an A.B. in Economics from Harvard College, where he graduated magna cum laude, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and was a John Harvard Scholar. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Prep for Prep.
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About Blackstone Group: Blackstone is an investment and advisory firm providing financial solutions for investors and clients.
Caroline Hill
Managing Director, Real Estate ESG of Blackstone Group
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About Blackstone Group: Blackstone is an investment and advisory firm providing financial solutions for investors and clients.
Nick Tansley
Managing Director of Blackstone Group
Nick Tansley is the Managing Director at PJT Partners.
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About Blackstone Group, PJT Partners: Blackstone is an investment and advisory firm providing financial solutions for investors and clients.
Andrew Vincent
Co-Founder and Director of BJSS
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About BJSS: BJSS is an award winning delivery-focused IT Consultancy.
Osman Mardin
Managing Director of Sardis Capital
Managing Director at Sardis Capital
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About Sardis Capital: SARDIS is a regulated and independent advisory firm specialised in financial transactions
Martin Gill
VP, Research Director – Digital Strategy and Experience of Forrester Research
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About Forrester Research: Forrester is a research and advisory firm that provides businesses with business and technology-related consulting services.
Julian Mosquera
Director of BearingPoint
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About BearingPoint: BearingPoint offers management and technology consulting services that transforms businesses by creating customized solutions.
Michel Van de Veegaete
Director retail and operations of BearingPoint
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About BearingPoint: BearingPoint offers management and technology consulting services that transforms businesses by creating customized solutions.
Alexander Dale
Client Director of Oystercatchers
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About Oystercatchers: Oystercatchers are accelerating marketing performance; provide a wide range of specialist consulting services.
Benjamin Todd
CEO, Co Founder & Executive Director of 80,000 Hours
In under three years with Ben’s leadership, 80,000 Hours has grown from a student society, to an Oxford affiliated charity, featured on TED, the Washington Post, the BBC Today Programme and more. Ben has a 1st from Oxford in Physics and Philosophy, has published in Climate Physics and speaks Chinese. Before 80,000 Hours, he was the first undergraduate to intern as an analyst at a top investment fund. Rather than taking the job, he persuaded the Chairman to donate £60,000 to 80,000 Hours.
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About 80,000 Hours: 80,000 Hours is an evidence-based advice on careers that make a difference.
Robert Wiblin
Director of Research of 80,000 Hours
Rob won a scholarship to study genetics and economics at the Australian National University, graduating top of his class and being named Young Alumnus of the Year in 2015. He worked as a research economist in various Australian Government agencies, before moving to the UK to work at the Centre for Effective Altruism, where he was Research Director and then Executive Director, before moving to 80,000 Hours. He was also a founding board member of Animal Charity Evaluators and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community.
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About 80,000 Hours: 80,000 Hours is an evidence-based advice on careers that make a difference.
Niel Bowerman
Director of One-on-one Programme and Job Board of 80,000 Hours
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About 80,000 Hours: 80,000 Hours is an evidence-based advice on careers that make a difference.
James Cook
Associate Director of 150BOND
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About 150BOND: Global Advisory
Nick James
Managing Director of Lazard
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About Lazard: Lazard is a financial advisory and asset management firm focused on income strategies, alternative investments, and private equity funds.
Jonathan Dawson
Managing Director of Lazard
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About Lazard: Lazard is a financial advisory and asset management firm focused on income strategies, alternative investments, and private equity funds.
Luke Thomson
Director, Venture & Growth Banking of Lazard
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About Lazard: Lazard is a financial advisory and asset management firm focused on income strategies, alternative investments, and private equity funds.
Graham Bell
Global Business Transformation Project Director of Dentons
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About Dentons: Dentons is a global law firm driven to provide you with the competitive edge in an increasingly complex
Roy Vella
Managing Director/Founder of Vella Ventures
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About Vella Ventures: Vella Ventures is an executive consultancy delivering strategic advice and commercial services to digital leaders.
Zac Williams
Founder and Operations Director of GradTouch
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About GradTouch: A fast growing graduate careers platform helping 18-24 year olds transition from university life into a young professional.
Joe Twigg
Co-Founder and Commercial Director of GradTouch
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About GradTouch: A fast growing graduate careers platform helping 18-24 year olds transition from university life into a young professional.
Gareth Hagan
Deputy CEO/Commerical Director of OCO Global
Gareth Hagan is the Deputy CEO/Commerical Director @ OCO Global.
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About OCO Global: OCO Global is an economic development advisory firm, working with governments and companies worldwide.
Alisdair Ferguson
Director of Caber Partners
Prior to joining Caber Financial, Alisdair was a Senior Investment Associate at Cambridge Associates, an investment consulting firm focused on providing investment advice to institutional investors, foundations and endowments, and private clients. Alisdair supported the construction and ongoing monitoring of client portfolios in the US and Europe and conducted due diligence on investment managers across multiple asset classes. Alisdair previously interned at Faber Capital, a Dubai-based boutique investment bank specializing in renewable energy, metals & mining and real estate transactions. He also spent a summer in Shanghai as an intern at E.J. McKay, a leading Chinese cross-border M&A advisory firm. Alisdair graduated cum laude from Williams College with a B.A. in Economics and Chinese. As part of his course, Alisdair studied abroad at the London School of Economics and the Minzu University of China in Beijing.
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About Caber Partners: Caber Partners is a Singapore-based investment firm, focused exclusively on the intersection of finance and technology.
Will Curley
Managing Director of DIP
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About DIP: DIP is a global advisory that focuses on payments (credit, debit, infrastructure, and digital) and sales force management.
Rob Janering
VAT Director – Crowe UK of Crowe LLP
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About Crowe LLP: Crowe LLP is a public accounting, consulting, and technology firm.
Mike Nugent
Director of Hitachi Consulting
Mike Nugent is a business development director responsible for the manufacturing and fleet management sectors at Hitachi Consulting. A solution engineer, Mike specialises in developing digital strategies and solutions with clients to deliver improved business outcomes for clients such as increased fleet utilisation, improved operational uptime, lower maintenance costs, improved quality and the delivery of a single version of the truth through data presentation and visualisation. With over 25 years in industry, a range of technology and consulting roles, as well as his own IoT business, Mike is passionate about delivering operational efficiency and effectiveness through the right combinations of people, process, technology and data.
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About Hitachi Consulting: Hitachi Consulting offers its clients management consulting, technology solutions, and business innovations services.
Matthew Whiting
Managing Director and Head of Financial Restructuring of G2 Capital Advisors
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About G2 Capital Advisors: G2 Capital Advisors provides executive led investment banking and advisory services to middle market institutional investors and companies.
Charlotte Bearn
Managing Director of Art Republic
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About Art Republic: Art Republic is an online store that provides artworks, gifts and magazines including art advice services.
Nadia Hutchinson
Global HR Operations Director of Kantar
Nadia Hutchinson is an international human resources leader with wide experience in transformation, change management, shared services and M&A. She joined Kantar at the end of 2018 leading HR Operations globally specifically to embed SaaS technologies, transform payroll and professionalize the HR service delivery model across the group. Her experience at British American Tobacco plc. as part of their global HR transformation team saw her leap into the changing world of digital technologies and data management. Prior to this Nadia led the HR Shared Service function for Standard Chartered Bank across Europe with a focus on risk and compliance that has continued in her career. Nadia is English, holds degrees in History, Spanish and Business Administration whilst also speaking Spanish. Her experience has spanned the data consultancy, media, financial services, management consultancy and magic circle legal organizations management. Otherwise, Nadia is passionate about travel and her young family. In addition, she has been a school governor and is a co-founder of a not-for-profit brokering targeted volunteering to support youth engagement and improve social mobility.
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About British American Tobacco, Kantar: Kantar is the data investment management division of WPP, is a global insight, information, and consultancy network.
José Francis
Founder and Managing Director of Hamilcar Capital Limited
José is an Investment Advisor. His main role is to screen the African market (Private and Listed Equity) to find the best investment opportunity on behalf of a consortium of selected investors Partner. José Solange Francis founded Hamilcar Capital Limited which is a regulated London Investment Boutique mainly dedicated for investment across the African continent. As a Principal Investment and Advisor Partner, he is surrounded with highly talented Expert Advisors. Mr J.S.Francis is global coordinator for deal sourcing, analysing and execution of direct equity investments. José brings to the growing business in Africa his 20 years’ extensive experience in financial markets on Equity and Derivatives products. He has a strong academic background in Finance and Economics. Prior to Hamilcar Capital Limited, he worked in London and Paris for well established financial institutions such as Paribas Asset Management, Natixis, Société Générale, GFI Group, Integra Capital. He covered different roles such as Fund Manager, Trader and Sales. Through his long experience, Mr J.S. Francis covered very large international institutions and also hedge fund clients by arranging deals on industrial participations and special situations. His responsibility was covering deals on IPO, Secondary Offerings, Block Trades, Repo Trade, Stocks Lending. He was also responsible for identifying attractive investment opportunities on equity event driven, M&A situations, distressed and restructuring stocks, large discounted stocks, managing equity and derivatives exposure. Mr J.S. Francis holds a Masters Specialized in Finance (ISG Business School, Paris) and a Bachelor degree in Economics, specializing in Mathematics and Statistics (University of Toulouse, France). Mr J.S. Francis is registered CF1 (Director) and CF30 (Customer) by the Financial Conduct Authority. He is trilingual in English, French (mother tongue) and Italian. He is currently learning Arabic. His motto “Never Give Up, just Carry On”
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About Hamilcar Capital Limited: Hamilcar Capital is an independent investment boutique focusing on private and listed equity in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.
Tim Wilson
Founder / Director of 3P Strategy
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About 3P Strategy: 3P Strategy specializes in providing management consultancy services in the supply chain sector.
Alberto Lopez Maganto
Managing Director of Akira Partners
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About Akira Partners: Akira Partners offers financial advice, merger and acquisitions services to telecom, media and technology sectors.
Jason Andrews
Director of Operations of Student Roost
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About Student Roost: Student Roost is an online platform that provides accommodation for students with designed facilities and a personal level of service.
Mark Taylor
Sales and Marketing Director of BHIB Insurance Brokers
Mark has over 30 years experience in the insurance industry and has been with BHIB for over 20. He previously worked for Allianz and RSA. Marks responsibility is for ensuring BHIB provide the highest possible quality of service to our clients, whilst reinforcing our core value proposition. His specialist areas are Logistics, Food Manufacturing and Pharmaceuticals.
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About BHIB Insurance Brokers: BHIB Insurance Brokers provides insurance brokerage services.
Julie Walker
Managing Director of BHIB Insurance Brokers
Julie’s passion is about looking after the customer, and focusing on our customers’ needs and requirements. She is experienced in all aspects of General Insurance from SME to Corporate clients, covering a wide range of industrial and commercial sectors. Her career began with Eagle Star Insurance Company in Nottingham as an office junior, and she has worked her way up to the position she holds with BHIB today.
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About BHIB Insurance Brokers: BHIB Insurance Brokers provides insurance brokerage services.
Andy Underwood
Operations Director of BHIB Insurance Brokers
Andy has been in the insurance industry for 35 years – He initially joined Brett and Randall (Now part of BHIB) straight from school. Andy moved into the Commercial team and has been involved in all aspects of the business during his time. Although more recent roles have been operations and managerial, he still enjoys working with customers & Insurers to maintain strong relationships and his focus is to ensure that client service is at the forefront of the business at all times.
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About BHIB Insurance Brokers: BHIB Insurance Brokers provides insurance brokerage services.
Andy Underwood
Operations Director of BHIB Insurance Brokers
Andy has been in the insurance industry for 35 years – He initially joined Brett and Randall (Now part of BHIB) straight from school. Andy moved into the Commercial team and has been involved in all aspects of the business during his time. Although more recent roles have been operations and managerial, he still enjoys working with customers & Insurers to maintain strong relationships and his focus is to ensure that client service is at the forefront of the business at all times.
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About BHIB Insurance Brokers: BHIB Insurance Brokers provides insurance brokerage services.
Dean Bubley
Founder and Director of Disruptive Analysis
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About Disruptive Analysis: Disruptive Analysis is a technology-focused business advisory firm focusing on the mobile marketplace.
Roger Esler
Owner and Director of Dow Schofield Watts Corporate Finance
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About Dow Schofield Watts Corporate Finance: Dow Schofield Watts Corporate Finance provides investment, equity finance, advisory, forensic valuation and wealth management services.
Joe Kim
Managing Director/Partner of UPIN Fund Management
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About UPIN Fund Management, XnTree: UPIN is an investment and management consulting firm that helps to optimize its clients’ business solutions and meet its goals.
Philip Barker
Director of M&A of Oaklins
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About Oaklins: Investment banking and financial advisory firm that provides M&A, corporate finance, debt advisory, growth equity and ECM services.
Daniel Nash
Co-Founder and Director of IC Resources
Daniel Nash is the co-founder and director of IC Resources.
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About IC Resources: IC Resources develops and delivers insightful and relevant recruitment solutions to the technology community.
Neil Dickins
Co-Founder and Director of IC Resources
Neil Dickins is the founder and director of IC Resources.
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About IC Resources: IC Resources develops and delivers insightful and relevant recruitment solutions to the technology community.
James Galloway
Co-Founder and Director of IC Resources
James Galloway is the co-founder and director of IC Resources.
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About IC Resources: IC Resources develops and delivers insightful and relevant recruitment solutions to the technology community.
Rachel Bridge
Founder and Managing Director of Froglet Productions
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About Froglet Productions: Froglet Productions is a consulting firm that provides digital and offline content, events and advice for all sizes of businesses.
Mark Lockie
Managing Director, Landmark Identity, Strategic Advisor, Science Media Partners of Landmark Identity
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About Landmark Identity: Landmark offers knowledge in the identity sector and offers marketing, events, community building, research and content services.
David Bellingham
Managing Director of HCF International Advisers
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About HCF International Advisers, MINEXIA: HCF International Advisers is an investment firm that focuses on global natural resources and infrastructure sectors.
David Bellingham
Managing Director of HCF International Advisers
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About HCF International Advisers, MINEXIA: HCF International Advisers is an investment firm that focuses on global natural resources and infrastructure sectors.
Laure Claire Reillier
Co-founder and Director of Launchworks & Co
Laure Claire Reillier is a Director at Launchworks Ventures and specialises in marketing, product development and e-commerce. She has 20 years experience in developing, managing and marketing products and services for e-commerce, telecom and software companies. Laure Claire has deep expertise in B2B, B2C and C2C marketing. Before joining Launchworks, Laure Claire worked for 4 years at eBay where she was head of proposition development for sellers in Europe. She was in charge of product strategy and roadmap, positioning, customer experience (online and off-line), pricing and marketing communications. Before eBay, Laure Claire managed the P&L and development of VoIP and e-commerce services at BT Retail in the UK. She was responsible for the commercial development and launch of new services as well and the management (strategy, marketing and pricing) of existing services. She was previously Marketing and Business Development Director, at Goodman Blue, a VoIP software start-up, where she repositioned the company and its suite of products prior to its acquisition by American investors in 2006.
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About Launchworks & Co: Launchworks provide strategy and innovation advisory services to companies of any size.
Benoit Reillier
Managing Director of Launchworks & Co
Launchworks Ventures’ Managing Director, Benoit Reillier, specialises in strategy, training and innovative business models and ecosystems such as multisided platforms. He has been advising the boards and top management teams of many blue chip companies as well as regulators and Governments for the past 20 years. Prior to founding Launchworks Benoit was Director of Economics and Regulation at KPMG where he focused on strategic assignments for Telecommunications, Media and Technology clients globally. Benoit was previously Director of the TMT practice of expert firm LECG Europe (now FTI) and also worked as business development director of Telia Mobile International UK, the leading Nordic telecommunications group. Throughout his career Benoit has had the opportunity to work on and lead key strategic assignments that shaped the communications sector. He was instrumental in the development of regulatory frameworks in a number of countries and participated in large scale strategic assignments leading to the separation (or merger) of activities. Benoit also provided expert advice in the context of several multi billion dollar litigations and arbitrations. Benoit started his career under the aegis of the French government as a special advisor on telecom-related issues and was part of the team preparing the liberalisation of the French telecom sector in the 1990’s.
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About Launchworks & Co: Launchworks provide strategy and innovation advisory services to companies of any size.
Steve Laurenson
Managing Director of Laurensons Consulting
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About Laurensons Consulting: Laurensons Consulting offers consulting services to mobile comms and semiconductor industries.
Matthew Rippon
Director of Particular Legal
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About Particular Legal: Particular Legal specialise in the legals involved in taking an idea from the drawing board to the marketplace.
