This week’s London appointments

Bob Strawbridge, Exterion Media

Out-of-Home (OOH) media owner Exterion Media has appointed Bob Strawbridge as head of rail.

With management experience at firms such as startup TenNine Media and Maiden Outdoor, Bob most recently headed up his own sales and marketing consultancy firm, Strawbridge Consulting.

Bob has worked with small and large agencies and media owners across a range of industries including managing accounts for global brands such as Unilever, Tesco and P&G, and will work with Exterion’s franchise partners to productise the company’s rail offering.

Bob Strawbridge added: “With my roots firmly in sales and the OOH industry, it is a privilege to be joining the Exterion Media team.

“The agency has extensive coverage of the UK rail industry, working with some of the biggest transport businesses in the country.”

Stephen Kelly, Kimble Applications

Service automation software firm Kimble Applications have welcomed Stephen Kelly onto its board as a non-executive director.

Formerly the CEO of FTSE 100 tech firms Sage and Micro Focus, Stephen joins the company as it seeks to expand internationally after securing investment from Silicon Valley investment firm Accel-KKR last year.

After spending his early career at tech corporation Oracle, Stephen has spent time as CEO of software company Chordiant as well as chief operating officer of the UK government.

Kimble co-founder and CEO Sean Hoban commented: “It is an honour and privilege to have Stephen joining our board. Few have achieved more in the technology industry or have Stephen’s experience managing large, multinational software businesses while consistently delivering growth and market leadership.

“Stephen is joining at an exciting time because his experience will help Kimble with our goals of international expansion and accelerating growth in the USA. His experience, oversight and guidance is exactly what Kimble needs as we solidify our position as the thought and marker leader in the PSA space.”

Nikolai Varma and Rikard af Ekenstam, OakNorth Analytical Intelligence

Fintech company OakNorth Analytical Intelligence has appointed two hires onto its leadership team.

Nikolai Varma joins the firm as chief commercial officer, and Rikard af Ekenstam comes on board as managing director of corporate development.

Previously a managing director in the European financial institutions group of Morgan Stanley, Nikolai has over 20 years’ experience in mergers & acquisitions and IPOs, and will head up the OakNorth business development team globally, covering London, New York City and Singapore offices.

Rikard joins the company from Mizuho Bank where he led commercial and investment banking operations in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland.

With over 20 years’ experience working in financial services including time at Moody’s Analytics Knowledge Services and ABN AMRO, Rikard’s role focus on strategic partnerships and business development.

Joel Perlman, co-founder of OakNorth, said: “We are pleased to be welcoming both Nikolai and Rikard to OakNorth Analytical Intelligence’s leadership team.

“Both Nikolai and Rikard have an exceptional track record of working for some of the world’s largest and most well-known financial institutions across multiple markets – experience that will prove invaluable as we continue deploying our technology with more lenders around the world.”

Mike Feely and Neil Stephen, Phrasee

Marketing technology company Phrasee has welcomed two new hires to its management team.

Mike Feely joins the team as the new CFO, while Neil Stephen joins as VP of customer success.

Joining Phrasee from his former role as CFO at Dealflo and with experience in SaaS, telecoms, technology and professional services, Mike will oversee commercial operations as the company expands domestically and in North America.

Neil brings over 20 years of professional experience to his role as VP of customer success, including working with SaaS startups and managing the programme and physical infrastructure at London 2012, delivering time-critical and complex applications across several communications channels.

Parry Malm, CEO of Phrasee, commented: “I am so proud we’ve been able to attract such awesome industry talent to our management team; it’s a sign not just of how far we’ve come but also the opportunities ahead.

“Mike and Neil’s skills will attract, support and grow our client base and help us scale at a pace, in a way that sets us up for long-term success.”

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