This week's London appointments

David Halsey, Crowdcube

Online investment marketplace Crowdcube has appointed David Halsey as chief technology officer.

David, who was previously CIO at Moneysupermarket joins to lead Crowdcube’s engineering team at a hugely important moment in the company’s growth strategy.

He brings over 20 years of technology experience to Crowdcube and first worked in online marketplaces when he joined Autotrader.

David commented: “I’m delighted to be joining the team at Crowdcube, who have been pioneers in equity crowdfunding and continue to successfully innovate in this area.

“What really appeals is the true product innovation that Crowdcube is bringing to retail investment - the idea that you sign up to one platform for an investing experience throughout a company’s lifecycle.

“I’m excited to bring my experience of building marketplaces to Crowdcube as it scales to become the European marketplace for investment in companies from startup to IPO.”

Darren Westlake, Crowdcube co-founder and CEO, said: “We’re building the European marketplace for retail investment into private and public companies and need the absolute best talent to do that. This is where David comes in.

“With his wealth of experience in building and scaling marketplaces at Moneysupermarket and ebay, we’re incredibly excited to welcome him to the team.”

Niamh McLaughlin, WorkLife

WorkLife by OpenMoney has announced the appointment of Niamh McLaughlin as managing director.

Niamh has 15 years’ experience in the financial services sector, gained most recently at legal services firm ME Group, where she was managing director of its litigation funding business. Prior to this she held a number of senior roles at Bibby Financial Services, including head of operations.

As managing director, Niamh will lead on the future development and growth of the firm. The news comes as Robert Marshall moves into the newly created role of Head of Product and Proposition at WorkLife, after first joining OpenMoney as Head of Workplace in 2019. Both developments are demonstrative of a commitment to further expanding WorkLife’s offering in order to meet the ever-changing needs of small firms and the corporate advisers who serve them.

Anthony Morrow, founder of OpenMoney, commented: “This is a pivotal time for WorkLife as we keep driving forward our mission of making financial advice and employee benefits accessible and affordable to every UK business.

“Top of the range financial wellbeing services are at the absolute core of our proposition, and we believe the need for these have never been greater than in the current climate.

“Bringing someone of Niamh’s experience and calibre is therefore a fantastic result for us – her input will be invaluable as we further expand our offering and work towards becoming a recognised and deserving leader in the SME benefits market.”

Niamh said: “The pandemic has put huge pressure on UK SMEs and their employees, making this a really a crucial time for the employee benefits market.

“WorkLife has been doing some fantastic work since coming onto the scene last year, and I see huge potential to keep driving this forward to build something truly special for smaller businesses, enabling them to return their workers’ hard work and loyalty with benefits and support that will make a genuine difference to their lives.”

Richard Hannah, Imagination

Global experience design company Imagination has announced Richard Hannah’s appointment as managing director for Imagination UK.

In this role, Richard will report to Imagination’s CEO, Patrick Reid, and will oversee all client and business needs for the UK, focusing on driving growth in Imagination’s core offers – Consulting, Destinations, Content and Live.

Richard will be supported by the senior management team that includes several new positions from within the business; Georgina Crichton as director of operations, Christophe Castagnera as director and head of strategy, and Matt Rose as head of live production.

Joining Imagination 17 years ago, Richard initially worked on projects for Jaguar Land Rover and Ford North America before moving to focus on new business development.

After a period consulting in the construction sector, Richard returned to Imagination in 2014 as business director leading all new business efforts.

In his most recent role as client services director, EMEA, Richard has been instrumental in winning and delivering programmes of work for a diverse range of new clients, including: Costa Coffee, Coca-Cola, Turkish Airlines and, more recently, Visa and the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

Richard said: “This has been a challenging 18 months for our whole industry and I’m super proud to be leading such an innovative, dedicated and creative group of people forward as we redefine the power and impact of experiences for our clients.”

Patrick Reid, CEO, Imagination added: “I am delighted to promote Richard to the role of managing director.

“Richard and his senior leadership team will be responsible for expanding and diversifying the UK business through new and existing growth opportunities in our four core offers, creating world-class experiences for our clients.

“He will also focus on the development of our people, attracting new talent and shaping our culture. Richard has been an invaluable asset to Imagination over the years, and I’m excited for the future of the UK business with Richard at the helm.”

Sandy Cowan, Mazars

International tax, audit and advisory firm Mazars has appointed Sandy Cowan as partner in its forensic and investigation services team.

Sandy joins from Grant Thornton and will focus on growing Mazars’ 40-strong forensic team in the area of disputes, with a particular emphasis on international opportunities arising from current uncertainty in the market as a result of both COVID-19 and Brexit.

Sandy has a wealth of forensic and investigations experience, and holds extensive professional memberships and accreditations including Fellowship of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and the position of Accredited Counter Fraud Specialist. He has been recognised in Who’s Who Legal as an Expert Witness in International Arbitration.

Chris Drewe, partner and head of the forensic and valuation services team at Mazars, said: “We are delighted to welcome Sandy to the team and, indeed, the partnership. His expertise, in particular within international arbitration, will be a huge asset to Mazars and our clients.

“I know Sandy strongly believes in putting people at the core of everything he does, an ethos which fits perfectly with the strong focus on employees and clients we have here at Mazars.”

David Eagleman and Sophie Scott, ProQuo AI

Brand management platform ProQuo AI has announced the launch of the its new advisory board.

In line with the launch, ProQuo has appointed its first two members, namely industry pioneers David Eagleman, neuroscientist at Stanford University and internationally acclaimed author of The Brain: The Story of You, alongside Professor Sophie Scott, Director of the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience to lead the charge.

David and Sophie join the newly formed Advisory Board to help ProQuo further refine its understanding of consumer behaviour and applied psychology science, through the application of their industry knowledge and scientific expertise; helping brands on the platform to grow with certainty. The pair will soon be joined by other industry heavyweights across the Technology and Marketing sectors.

David is best known for his work on sensory substitution, time perception, brain plasticity, synesthesia and neurolaw, joining ProQuo to deepen the understanding of what happens in the brain when people have a deep relationship with a brand. With over 130 peer reviewed academic papers published, Sophie will apply her studies in psychology and cognitive science to unpick the role of neuroscientific technique in accessing people’s real feelings, versus their claimed opinions. Both will create video based content, host pioneering events and produce thought leadership content on brand management through a neuroscientific lens.

David commented: “Our brains make decisions based on many factors at once: in a sense, we are each a ‘team of rivals’. ProQuo is the first company to take on this framework to understand consumer behavior in a way that is compatible with modern neuroscience. I’m thrilled to be joining ProQuo and look forward to driving brand growth through scientific development.”

Sophie Scott, director of the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, added: “ProQuo have been implementing psychological research in a thoughtful and important way, and I am really pleased to be part of this work. A significant, real-world application of relevant and important neuroscience.”

Rowan Taylor, Tink

Open banking platform Tink has appointed Rowan Taylor as its chief revenue officer (CRO).

Rowan joins Tink from AWS, where he spent more than five years leading global financial services sales teams. His 26 years’ experience in banking technology also includes roles at Gartner, KPMG and Accenture.

In the newly created role of CRO, Rowan will be responsible for driving integration between all revenue related functions at Tink, including sales, marketing, customer support and pricing.

Rowan said: “The Swedish technology sector has a strong reputation for producing some of the leading, most cutting edge fintech propositions.

“I’m looking forward to helping Tink continue its expansion across Europe, building high-performance teams who can serve complex customers, enabling them to develop rich propositions for their end users.

“Open banking is still in its infancy, and has been transforming the financial services industry in bites.

“But now is the time to turn this change into a wave, by being able to work with the largest organisations at scale – and cementing Tink’s position as the predominant open banking platform in all of our chosen markets.”

Daniel Kjellén, co-founder and CEO of Tink, added: “Rowan brings valuable experience of creating and growing high-performing teams, combined with a deep understanding of our customers, and the transformation that’s evolving in financial services across Europe. I’m proud to have someone of Rowan’s calibre joining Tink for the next exciting phase of our journey.”

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