Top Influencers: 42 UK Head of Finance’s To Follow in 2022

2 years ago

Head of Finance & Analytics play a crucial role in any startup. It takes an extraordinary person to fulfil the Head of Finance & Analytics role. We have selected these Head of Finance & Analytics’s for this list as they are inspiring for a variety of reasons – whether that’s pushing boundaries, creating groundbreaking products, or doing their bit to save the world.

Our analysts did their best to select be best, and most innovative Head of Finance & Analytics’s. The list is in no particular order!

Alexander Kossmann

Head of Finance & Analytics @ Tifosy

FollowAlexander Kossmann on Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin.

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Half-Uruguayan, half-German, and with finance qualifications from both LSE and LBS plus an accounting background and fierce analytical skills, Alex leads both the finance and data analytics functions, on the latter working closely with the tech team. Before moving to London, he worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Julius Baer Group and in the reporting team of a large multinational in the oil drilling industry. Learn more about Alexander Kossmann on Crunchbase…

Tifosy helps sports clubs raise funds online by connecting them with a global fan and investor base Read more aboutTifosy on Crunchbase…

Rahul Raswant

Head of Finance (Europe) @ Wayfair

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Rahul Raswant is the Head of Finance (Europe) at Wayfair. Learn more about Rahul Raswant on Crunchbase…

Read more aboutWayfair on Crunchbase…

Netsai Mangwende

Head of Finance for Great Britain @ Willis Towers Watson

FollowNetsai Mangwende on Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin.

Willis Towers Watson is a global advisory and solutions company that helps clients around the world turn risk into a path for growth. Read more aboutWillis Towers Watson on Crunchbase…

Howard Kagan

Head Of Finance And Administration @ Fjord Capital

FollowHoward Kagan on Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin.

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Howard is a “Big Four” trained accountant with successful finance and operational control experience who joined Fjord in 2012. Prior to Fjord, Howard gained considerable CFO/COO experience at Audley Capital, a $1 billion alternative investment manager. His role covered all areas of finance, administration, tax and legal across these products, which consisted of over 20 entities. Howard stated his career at Ernst & Young, first at the audit practice within the Banking & Capital Markets group, and then as a senior manager focusing on managing relationships with key non-audit clients. Howard holds a BBusSc in Finance from University of Cape Town, South Africa, and is a ICAEW, ACA chartered accountant. Learn more about Howard Kagan on Crunchbase…

Read more aboutFjord Capital on Crunchbase…

Colin MacLaughlin

Head of Finance & Business Intelligence @ Crowdcube

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Crowdcube enables individuals to invest in small companies in return for equity or an annual return. Read more aboutCrowdcube on Crunchbase…

Clare Turner

Portfolio, Head of Finance @ Sandbox & Co

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Clare qualified with a top 10 London firm and has 8+ years of experience in various finance roles across the media, education and technology industries. She most recently acted as Group Financial Controller at Badoo – ‘the largest social network for meeting new people with over 100m users’. Prior to that, she was Director of FP&A at Pearson where she worked in the English and Venture Markets division. She also serves on the board of Tada Kids, a Sandbox portfolio company. Learn more about Clare Turner on Crunchbase…

Read more aboutSandbox & Co on Crunchbase…

Richard Cawthra

Head Of Finance @ Zoological Society of London

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Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is an international scientific, conservation and educational charity. Read more aboutZoological Society of London on Crunchbase…

Runjit Bhopal

Head of Finance @ LANDBAY

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Runjit joined Landbay in 2014 and has held a number of senior finance positions in telecoms, IT and retail banking. A qualified Chartered Accountant, he spent 9 years at Santander UK where he focused on mitigation, analysis and review of credit losses across the company’s entire UK mortgage portfolio, including buy-to-let loans. Since then, he has built and managed a successful property investment and development company. Learn more about Runjit Bhopal on Crunchbase…

Landbay is a specialist Buy to Let mortgage lender using peer-to-peer technology to fund its loans. Read more aboutLANDBAY on Crunchbase…

Zani Mathoo

Head of Finance @ Wefarm

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Wefarm is a farmer-to-farmer digital network that enables users to share information via SMS. Read more aboutWefarm on Crunchbase…

Nick Smith-Saville

Head of Finance @ Ideal Flatmate

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Ideal Flatmate is the first UK website dedicated to helping its users find the right flatmates. Read more aboutIdeal Flatmate on Crunchbase…

Maris Liigmann

Head of Finance and Operations @ BridgeU

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Maris leads finance and operations at BridgeU. Before joining BridgeU, she was Head of Finance at Streetbees, an Octopus Ventures and BGF backed tech start-up. Prior to finding her passion for helping to scale start-up businesses, Maris worked as a Deals Manager at PwC with a focus on retail and consumer diligence projects globally. She started out at PwC Assurance, working on global audit and business transformation projects, and qualified as a chartered accountant with the ICAEW. Maris comes from Estonia originally, and moved to the UK to get her degree in Finance, Accounting and Management from the University of Nottingham. Learn more about Maris Liigmann on Crunchbase…

BridgeU helps young people around the world realise their potential, through empowering schools to provide smart, modern university. Read more aboutBridgeU on Crunchbase…

Annabelle de Saint-Quentin

Head of Finance @ ETF Partners

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ETF Partners supports talented entrepreneurs and management teams with investment capital and experience. Read more aboutETF Partners on Crunchbase…

Mark Siney

Head Of Finance @ Sandfield Capital

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Sandfield Capital provides funding services to legal claiming issues. Read more aboutSandfield Capital on Crunchbase…

Meera Depala

Finance Director and Head Of Finance @ Native

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Native specializes in service apartments, corporate housing, graduate and large program housing, holiday lets, and property management. Read more aboutNative on Crunchbase…

Catherine Barker

Head of Finance @ Bethnal Green Ventures

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Catherine is a chartered accountant who started her career at EY. She went on to be the second financial hire at Deliveroo, helping to set up and scale their finance, now in charge of finance at BGV. Learn more about Catherine Barker on Crunchbase…

Read more aboutBethnal Green Ventures on Crunchbase…

Peter Golby

Global Head of Finance @ eNett

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Peter joined eNett in 2015, as Global Head of Finance. In this role, he is responsible for eNett’s financial planning, risk, analysis and reporting. Amassing over 16 years of experience in finance, Peter spent ten years at Deloitte in London before joining Travelport. Whilst there, Peter held a variety of financial leadership roles within Controllership, Investor Relations, Financial Planning and Reporting. Every Wednesday Peter swaps balance sheets for hymn sheets, and sings in the same church choir he joined at the age of eight. Learn more about Peter Golby on Crunchbase…

Read more abouteNett on Crunchbase…

Rosanna Colangeli

Head of Finance & Operations @ Amati Global Investors

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Rosanna joined Amati in December 2011, prior to this she was Head of Finance for a small accounting team at NCM Finance Ltd providing accounting services for all internal trading and general partner companies and all fund accounting for clients. Rosanna worked as the Group Accountant for Noble Group for 3 years where she oversaw the accounting for all the companies within the Investment Management division. Rosanna is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. After qualifying, she worked as a Project Accountant at Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Garden and then at the National Health Service. After graduation, she worked as a scientist in the field of conservation before training as an accountant. Learn more about Rosanna Colangeli on Crunchbase…

Amati Global Investors is a specialist fund management business based in Edinburgh. Read more aboutAmati Global Investors on Crunchbase…

Graham Tester

Head of Finance @ Lion Capital

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Graham Tester is Head of Finance at Lion Capital. Prior to being appointed to this role, Graham served for three years as Lion Capital’s Financial Controller. Before joining Lion Capital, Graham spent five years in Montagu Private Equity’s finance and investor relations teams and four years with Northern Trust in Guernsey where he managed the administration of BC Partners’ funds. Graham is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. Learn more about Graham Tester on Crunchbase…

Read more aboutLion Capital on Crunchbase…

Rob Myerscough

Head of Finance @ Bink

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Bink develops a mobile application that links card payment to loyalty schemes. Read more aboutBink on Crunchbase…

Carla Rio Alves

Head of Finance @ Flubit.com

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Flubit’s Head of Finance and a member of the Chartered Management Institute. Carla has more than 9 years’ experience managing SME’s Finance departments, from Tyler Engineering where Carla was responsible for the general management of the company, to setting up structures and systems for start-up companies like Babuki Ltd. Learn more about Carla Rio Alves on Crunchbase…

Read more aboutFlubit.com on Crunchbase…

Antonia Whitecourt

Head of Finance @ Seedcamp

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Antonia Whitecourt joined Seedcamp as Head of Finance in early 2017. In addition to supporting the investment team, my responsibilities lie across investment portfolio tracking & analysis, fund operations, finance and regulation. I am excited about the power of technology to democratise knowledge and systemise processes. At Seedcamp, I get to work with visionary people every day that are making that happen and to combine finance and creativity. My initial career in investment banking and being expansion & operations lead at an early stage start-up have shown me that closing multi-million pound deals can be as exciting as getting your first repeat user. I am a true European having grown up in Luxembourg to a German mother and English father. I speak English, German, French and Luxembourgish, love backcountry skiing and making new friends. Learn more about Antonia Whitecourt on Crunchbase…

Seedcamp is a European seed fund that identifies and invests early in founders attacking global markets. Read more aboutSeedcamp on Crunchbase…

Billy Byam-Cook

Head of Finance @ Ocean Outdoor

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Billy Byam-Cook is a Head of Finance at Ocean Outdoor. Learn more about Billy Byam-Cook on Crunchbase…

Ocean is a media advertising company specialized in designing iconic landmark large-format digital banners in super-premium locations. Read more aboutOcean Outdoor on Crunchbase…

Chris Wilson

Head of Finance @ Shieldpay

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Shieldpay is a settlement engine and escrow facility that secures high value transactions between individuals and entities. Read more aboutShieldpay on Crunchbase…

Claire Hollinghurst

Head of Finance @ Plum Guide

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Claire has a background in Biochemistry and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1999. She worked in practice in the City for 17 years, latterly as a partner, advising businesses from startups through to multi-million pound international groups. Until recently she worked as CFO at Swoon Editions, helping them to achieve significant revenue growth over four years. Claire is a keen cook, an avid reader and a long suffering supporter of Liverpool FC. Learn more about Claire Hollinghurst on Crunchbase…

Plum Guide is the definitive list of the world’s best vacation rentals. Read more aboutPlum Guide on Crunchbase…

Peter Edenholm

Head of Finance @ tomato pay

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Peter Edenholm is a CFO at Fractal Labs. Learn more about Peter Edenholm on Crunchbase…

tomato pay is a QR-code based payments and invoice app used by businesses and sole traders. Read more abouttomato pay on Crunchbase…

John Butler

Head Of Finance @ Firefly Learning

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Firefly Learning is an edtech company that develops a SaaS learning and teaching support platform for schools. Read more aboutFirefly Learning on Crunchbase…

Carolyn Hicks

Head of Finance and Operations and co-founder @ Brill Power

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Carolyn Hicks is the head of finance and operations and co-founder of Brill Power. Learn more about Carolyn Hicks on Crunchbase…

Brill Power is a clean-tech platform that develops cutting-edge battery management technology. Read more aboutBrill Power on Crunchbase…

John McKinley

Head of Finance @ Pip&Nut

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Pip & Nut Makers of delicious all-natural nut butter. Read more aboutPip&Nut on Crunchbase…

Hilary Harrison

Head of Finance, Administration & Company Secretary @ Advantage Property Lawyers

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Hilary has worked in legal firms for over 25 years. She is an Associate Member of the Institute of Legal and Financial Management and received the Wilfred Owen prizes for both Part and Full Associate. As well as being head of day to day financial administration Hilary has responsibility for HR, Money Laundering, Compliance and the day to day running of the office. Hilary is also one of the firm’s founding members. Learn more about Hilary Harrison on Crunchbase…

Advantage Property Lawyers is an independent business led by conveyancing specialists with vast experience in the marketplace. Read more aboutAdvantage Property Lawyers on Crunchbase…

Amanda Sears

Head of Finance @ what3words

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Amanda graduated from the University of Cambridge with a degree in Natural Sciences before studying to be a chartered accountant within audit. Since qualification she has worked in rapidly-growing technology startups, including being one of the early employees at SwiftKey, which she saw through to its acquisition by Microsoft. Outside of work, Amanda enjoys running, badminton and visiting far-flung areas of the world to scuba dive or see wildlife. Learn more about Amanda Sears on Crunchbase…

what3words is a mapping technology startup that creates a proprietary geocode system for logistics firms. Read more aboutwhat3words on Crunchbase…

Michelle Neaves

Head of Finance @ Abzena

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Michelle joined Abzena in October 2016 after 19 years’ experience at PwC Cambridge where she qualified as a Chartered Accountant. Michelle was a senior manager specialising in the life science sector with extensive capital markets experience, including fund-raising, Class 1 acquisitions and disposals and bond issues for main-market and AiM listed groups, as well as working with private equity backed businesses and UK private companies. Michelle holds a BSc in Biology from the University of York. Learn more about Michelle Neaves on Crunchbase…

Abzena provides complementary services to organizations involved in the development of bio-pharmaceuticals. Read more aboutAbzena on Crunchbase…

Hannah Brown

Head of Finance @ Praetura Ventures

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With a background in law, Hannah began her accountancy training at BDO before moving to Grant Thornton’s auditing department. She now combines her role of Head of Finance at Praetura – which include purchase ledger, payroll, pensions and cost management – with being the FD of portfolio firm Mobedia. Learn more about Hannah Brown on Crunchbase…

Read more aboutPraetura Ventures on Crunchbase…

Katherine Nicolet Vanrenen

Head Of Finance @ Pollen VC

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Pollen VC provides credit facilities to app and game developers Read more aboutPollen VC on Crunchbase…

Frances Hemingway

Head of Finance @ Tech Nation

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A CIMA qualified Accountant (10 years post qualified) with a decade of Business Partnering experience across NFP, Retail, Banking and Media. My key strength is in relationship building and communication to ensure that Finance is a valued and trusted member within Business Teams. I am organised and analytical, with good Excel skills and experience using a variety of accounting systems. Learn more about Frances Hemingway on Crunchbase…

Tech Nation is focused on accelerating the growth of digital businesses across the UK. Read more aboutTech Nation on Crunchbase…

Peter Lourensz

Head Of Finance @ Balderton

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Peter joined Balderton in 2017 as Financial Controller. He is responsible for supporting the CFO in all aspects of the financial function at Balderton, specifically focusing on the fund entities. Prior to joining Balderton Peter was CFO and COO at a natural resources private equity fund. Peter holds a BA (Hons) in English from Southampton University and is a qualified Chartered Accountant. Learn more about Peter Lourensz on Crunchbase…

Balderton is a venture capital firm focused exclusively on backing European-founded startups. Read more aboutBalderton on Crunchbase…

Diane Unwin

Head of Finance @ Zaha Hadid Architects

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Diane joined us as Head of Finance in 2012, bringing more than 25 years’ experience leading the finance function, implementing successful growth strategies and negotiating complex mergers and acquisitions for a number of high-profile companies. She began her career with Ernst & Young in London, where she was quickly promoted to Senior Manager, before becoming Group Financial Controller for The Tote. She went on to work as Finance Director for Cameron Taylor Group, which was acquired by Scott Wilson in 2006. In 2010 Scott Wilson was acquired by URS and she became Finance Director for the UK Buildings & Infrastructure Sector, where she was responsible for financial reporting and improved the firm’s margins by identifying additional work and assisting with client negotiations.She studied a degree in French and German at the University of Exeter, before qualifying as a chartered accountant in 1987. Learn more about Diane Unwin on Crunchbase…

We work at all scales and in all sectors. We create transformative cultural, corporate, residential and other spaces . Read more aboutZaha Hadid Architects on Crunchbase…

Mark Parsons

Head of Finance and Accounting @ University of Cambridge Enterprise

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As Head of Finance and Accounting, Mark is responsible for the accounting function of Cambridge Enterprise, including effective recording, accounting and reporting, as well as meeting annual audit and other compliance obligations. In addition to traditional finance and accounting duties, the Finance Team is responsible for the accurate and timely distribution of income received from commercialisation activities to parties including academics, departments, research funders and third parties. Mark has been instrumental in automating the quarterly close process and implementing new accounting systems to better serve the business units and support functions of the organisation. Mark is the Assistant Company Secretary for the organisation, carrying out company secretarial duties on behalf of the Registrary of the University of Cambridge, and is also the Cambridge representative LLP Committee Member for Apollo Therapeutics LLP. Mark has held a variety of accounting, reporting and financial compliance roles for UK, US and European companies of varying sizes, in head office as well as subsidiary environments. Mark has over 20 years’ accounting experience, working in public practice and industry for a variety of companies including capital equipment manufacturing, healthcare, agrochemical and dot com. Mark is a Fellow Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) and graduated with a BSc Hons in Business Information Systems. Mark joined Cambridge Enterprise in 2009. Learn more about Mark Parsons on Crunchbase…

Cambridge Enterprise helps the University of Cambridge’s researchers & academics to commercialise their ideas for the benefit of society. Read more aboutUniversity of Cambridge Enterprise on Crunchbase…

Pauline Chandler

Head of Finance & Administration @ Millstream Associates

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Pauline provides the leadership and infrastructure which allows other departments to exercise creative abilities and deliver excellent customer service. She manages company accounting, reporting, facilities and administrative services. Learn more about Pauline Chandler on Crunchbase…

Millstream provides a range of eProcurement systems and services to purchasers in the public sector. Read more aboutMillstream Associates on Crunchbase…

Melanie Cantle

Head of Finance @ Hireserve

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Melanie heads up the Finance department, ensuring that all monetary matters run as smoothly as possible. Learn more about Melanie Cantle on Crunchbase…

Hireserve a thriving UK recruitment technology company. Read more aboutHireserve on Crunchbase…

Nish Patel

Head of Finance & Credit @ Crowdstacker

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Crowdstacker is a curated debt based investment platform. Read more aboutCrowdstacker on Crunchbase…

Andrew Pearson

Interim Head of Finance @ VPS Holdings

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Andrew Pearson is an interim head of finance at VPS (UK). Learn more about Andrew Pearson on Crunchbase…

The vacant property specialists Read more aboutVPS Holdings on Crunchbase…

HM Nayak

Head of Finance & Administration @ Intense Technologies Limited

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Mr. H.M. Nayak has more than 20 years of experience in Finance and Administration, specifically with respect to listed companies. He is a Bachelor of Commerce, Accounts, Finance & Business Organization from Osmania University. He is an expert in giving advice on new businesses, formation of corporations and business structures, drafting privacy policies and structuring commercial transactions. Learn more about HM Nayak on Crunchbase…

Intense Technologies provides software products, solutions, and related services. Read more aboutIntense Technologies Limited on Crunchbase…

David Friedland

Bit of a gear addict.

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