This week's London appointments

Jan Gallagher, LendInvest

Property finance platform LendInvest has announced that it has appointed Jan Gallagher as its new key account manager.

Jan, who was previously business development manager, will now be championing the day to day relationship management of LendInvest’s distribution network, including Mortgage Clubs and Networks.

Jan Gallagher joined LendInvest as a Business Development Manager in 2019 with over 30 year’s experience to source deals across the North West of England for the business.

She previously held roles at Vida Home loans, Foundation Home Loans and Masthaven.

Sophie Mitchell-Charman, sales director at LendInvest, commented: “Over the last few years Jan has been an incremental addition to our Business Development team, driving strong business in the North.

“This transition is a natural one for Jan, who already played an important role in managing relationships with our Key Accounts: this new opportunity is a perfect opportunity for her to develop our strategy in this area further.”

Jan added: “As LendInvest continues to move from strength to strength this year with product development and growth for our lending business, it’s certainly an exciting time to be taking on this new role.

“I look forward to the challenge; both in broadening our partnerships and deepening our existing ones.”

Prakash Kerai, Shoosmiths

Shoosmith has announced that it has appointed Prakash Kerai as a commercial partner at its London office.

Over the last fifteen years, Prakash has advised on technology and fintech arrangements at a top 30 UK law firm, becoming its head of fintech.

Prakash – who joins the firm from DAC Beachcroft – has a wealth of technology and fintech experience. He works with a range of clients such as technology buyers, frequently in financial services, and from technology and fintech scale-ups and SMEs – including challenger and disruptor brands. He has substantial experience as an in-house technology lawyer.

He will work closely with commercial partner and head of technology, media and commercial practice, David Jackson and commercial partner, Joe Stephenson to further boost the firm’s TMT team.

Prakash said: “It’s an exciting time to be joining Shoosmiths’ highly rated technology team – especially when the firm is launching a number of innovative projects with more being planned for the future.”

Arron Bart, Aston Chase

Estate agent Aston Chase has announced that it has appointed Arron Bart as its new lettings director.

Arron was formerly regional director of lettings for Savills in North London, staying with the company for 12 years.

In addition to helping launch the new lettings office Arron will oversee the existing lettings operation and be responsible for recruiting several new team members.

He commented: “I am delighted to join an agency that is so influential in the central and north west London residential property market.

“With 27 years working in the North West London property market I have developed some outstanding relationships and a great network of contacts which I look forward to harnessing at Aston Chase.”

Cheryl Martin, Adarma

Independent cyber security business Adarma has announced the appointment of Cheryl Martin as the new head of its security consulting practice.

Cheryl joins the firm from Gartner Consulting where, as senior managing director, she led the firm’s financial services arm.

She has more than 25 years’ experience in IT, technology and cyber security, privacy and operational resilience.

Prior to her role at Gartner, Cheryl was an equity partner in EY’s EMEA Financial Services Technology Advisory team, leading on the development of numerous technology, risk and cyber security strategies.

Alongside her role as head of security consulting, Cheryl will also be responsible for driving Adarma’s equality, diversity and inclusion ambitions, having previously been the diversity lead on the Gartner global board of directors, as well as co-chair for EY’s Women in Technology Community.

Cheryl commented: “This role really plays to my core strength of cyber security and I hope that the knowledge and experiences I’ve gained in my previous positions will aid Adarma as it continues to expand its offerings.

“The business prides itself on the strength of its relationships with clients, and the bespoke advisory services it can provide as a result. I look forward to working in partnership with Adarma’s impressive client roster as we help them navigate the changing threat landscape.”

Nigel Morris and Rob Normal, Admix

Advertising platform Admix has announced that it has appointed Nigel Morris and Rob Norman as its new senior employees.

Rob Norman joins Admix as a senior advisor focusing on the Americas, while Nigel Morris, already an advisor and investor, joins the board of the company.

Rob was formerly CEO and global CDO of GroupM will act as strategic advisor to Admix’ rapidly expanding team in the US.

He is also a director at Simpli.fi, a leading programmatic advertising platform based in Texas. A well-known voice in the ad world Twittersphere, Rob is currently a director of SaaS company Piano and a non-executive director of BBC Global News.

Nigel Morris, an investor in Admix, now joins the board of the company and will work closely with the leadership. Nigel was a central figure at the Dentsu Aegis Network for over 25 years, founding the global digital network Isobar and transforming the US Group.

He is chair of the innovation consultancy The Upside, on the board of data science business Gyana, and is also a longstanding non-executive director at the Guardian Media Group.

Rob commented:“I am delighted to join Admix as an advisor. Gaming on personal devices has become a huge part of media consumption. In-Play advertising creates revenue for publishers and reach and engagement for advertisers.

“Admix unlocks the economic opportunity with programmatic speed and precision, and does so without compromising user experience.”

Nigel said: “The video gaming domain will be the next big media channel following social media’s emergence some 15 years ago. In-Play is intrinsically engaging to audiences and brand safe for marketers at scale, and will become a key driver of sustainable growth strategies for brands.

“The Admix team is very conscious of the whole ecosystem for consumers, brands and publishers, and we have developed a pioneering and agile platform that provides a great experience and performance for all.”

Ann Johnson and Dan Burns, HUMAN

Cybersecurity company HUMAN has announced the appointment of Ann Johnson and Dan Burns to its board of directors.

Ann, corporate vice president of security, compliance & identity (SCI) business development at Microsoft, oversees investment and strategic partner strategy for security, compliance, and identity.

She commented: “I am proud to have joined the board of Ddrectors of HUMAN to assist them on their journey to help enterprises #keepithuman.

“They verify the humanity of more than 10 trillion interactions per week for some of the largest companies and internet platforms.

“Working with the team at HUMAN to protect against bot attacks and disrupting the economics of cybercrime aligns with my passion of making the digital world a safer and more secure place for everyone.”

Dan Burns has more than 28 years of business, technology and cybersecurity industry expertise. He co-founded Accuvant in 2002 and in 2015, as CEO, co-created Optiv with the merger of Accuvant and Fishnet Security.

He now serves on a select number of boards to help entrepreneurs and investors execute on their plans to create disruptive cybersecurity companies.

He said: “I am extremely pleased to join HUMAN’s board as they are solving a very hard problem that plagues every enterprise across the globe.

“They stop sophisticated human-like bots designed to take over accounts, manipulate popularity and consensus, steal sensitive data, interact with media and advertising, and snipe or scalp goods and services online.

“Current approaches to protect against bot attacks are not working. HUMAN has proven that their Human Verification Engine™ and multilayered detection methodology stands above current solutions as they verify the humanity of digital interactions with unmatched speed and accuracy.”

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