This week's London appointments

Irfan Khan, mmob

Open finance partnership platform mmob has announced the appointment of Irfan Khan as CEO.

Irfan was recognised as a ‘business big shot’ by the Times in 2017 and more recently named as one of the FT’s 100 most influential BAME leaders in UK Tech.

As a consultant for institutional banks including HSBC, Barclays and RBS, he led several technology transformation projects. Building on this expertise and experience, he founded Yielders, an FCA-authorised real estate crowdfunding platform.

Irfan commented: “Now is the time for partnerships to thrive.

“As digital financial services have matured, consumers are actively looking to engage with services that enhance their lifestyle.

“Our open finance infrastructure and platform connects digital service providers together to create value-driven e2e ecosystems that enable both consumer and company to flourish.”

“By connecting a global network of digital service providers and fintech with innovative new products and the consumer, mmob’s platform has been engineered to deliver exceptional value to everyone in the ecosystem.”

Rufus Jay and Aline Mello, Bubble Agency

Bubble Agency has announced the appointment of new account director and manager Rufus Jay and Aline Mello.

Rufus, who joins as account director, has more than twenty years of B2B communications experience. He has used his industry knowledge, journalistic experience and relationship-building skills to provide strategic PR counsel, develop PR strategies and oversee accounts for a host of clients including Microsoft, Samsung, Truphone, Trend Micro and Websense, among others.

He joins Bubble after several years at Nelson Bostock Unlimited, where he worked on both the PR and content side for clients including Canon, Toshiba, dynabook and the RIPE NCC.

He has also worked at CCgroup and 3 Monkeys Zeno, among others. Rufus started out covering the water industry as a journalist in 2000, before moving to Informa Telecoms & Media and then into agency PR in 2009.

Aline Mello has joined as an account manager. Aline has worked in B2B technology PR for six years. Over the course of her career, she has designed and implemented 360° PR campaigns across a wide range of markets, including the UK and Brazil.

Aline’s experience comprises Workday, Cloudera, Silicon Valley Bank, Ericsson, Liberty Mutual, Logitech and Adyen, amongst others. She brings PR and content marketing expertise to Bubble, but also her passion for technology, broadcast and media. Aline speaks Portuguese, English, Spanish, German and French.

Rufus and Aline will both be based at Bubble’s headquarters in central London, working on a variety of technology, broadcast and media clients.

Sadie Groom, managing director of Bubble Agency, said: “Rufus’ excellent B2B tech and telecoms experience across journalism and PR make him a valuable addition to the senior Bubble team as we continue on our growth path.

“Aline’s passion for the B2B space and excellent international, PR and content marketing experience, as well as her language skills, also boosts our offering to clients.

“I am delighted they have joined as we continue to grow and at such an exciting time in the communications sector.”

Yohan Hill, Adams Street Partners

Private markets investment management firm Adams Street Partnershas announced that Yohan Hill is joining the firm as director of ESG and responsible investing.

Yohan will develop strategies and solutions that bring further transparency to ESG risks and opportunities within Adams Street’s portfolios and investments. His expertise will be valuable for the firm’s fund managers and portfolio company management as they work to integrate ESG factors into their business activities.

Miguel Gonzalo, partner and head of investment strategy and risk management, said: “Responsible investing and the application of ESG analysis to investments has become an imperative for many private markets investors.

“Adding Yohan’s experience and leadership to the investment strategy and risk management team will accelerate the expansion of Adams Street’s approach to ESG.”

Yohan added: “There are tremendous opportunities to develop innovative ESG solutions and analytics for our clients.

“Adams Street’s breadth of relationships, proprietary data, and robust risk management framework have established a strong platform from which the firm intends to create a leading-edge ESG program.”

James Osbiston, ThinCats

Alternative finance provider ThinCats has announced the appointed of James Osbiston as its new business development manager.

James, who joins from Clydesdale Bank, has over 12 years’ experience in financial services whilst working at both BNY Mellon and Clydesdale Bank, covering credit research, securitisation and business banking, with the last 2 years spent supporting the Origination of Acquisition and Leveraged Finance clients.

James will be responsible for the execution of lending transactions within the business community and private equity backed acquisitions, alongside the London and South East team.

He commented: “I am delighted to be joining ThinCats at this time.

“I have watched from the outside and seen the kinds of businesses that ThinCats is supporting, and I am excited to be in a position to help mid-sized SMEs, when many other lenders just don’t have the ability or understanding to provide funding for them.”

Mike Hackett, head of business development, said: “We are very pleased to be welcoming James to the team.

“He joins just at the right time to help us support the huge number of businesses that are seeing light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, and really beginning to focus on growth and acquisitions.

“He will be an asset to the team, and we are looking forward to having him on board.”

Ian Reid, Shoosmiths

Real estate practice Shoosmiths has announced that it has appointed construction lawyer Ian Reid to lead the firm’s construction offering in London and the south of England.

A specialist in construction law, Ian deals with both non-contentious and contentious construction matters, offering clients a strength in depth of knowledge throughout the entire life cycle of their projects from inception through to post completion disputes.

Before becoming a lawyer, Ian trained as an architect in the UK and has worked for several of London’s leading law firms and also an Australian practice.

Ian’s experience covers a wide range of construction and development projects ranging from major urban redevelopment schemes in London’s docklands, city centre office buildings, one of the world’s largest liquified natural gas projects in Queensland Australia, oil rigs in the North Sea, rail infrastructure projects, mining projects in Australia’s outback and the development of luxury resorts in the South Pacific.

Ian currently specialises in acting for some of the UK’s leading developers on complex commercial and urban regeneration developments and super prime residential projects in and around London, the South East and nationally.

He also advises educational establishments, real estate investment companies and high net worth individuals.

Patrick Garner, partner and national head of Shoosmiths’ construction department, said: “As a highly regarded and vastly experienced construction law partner, I am very pleased Ian is joining us to work with myself and the other construction partners, alongside Joseph Mazzucca, head of our London office and Catherine Williams, head of our living sector to further develop and lead the delivery of the construction team’s London and southern strategy.”

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