Member Article

Advanced appoints Richard Kerr Former Dennis Publishing and Guardian Media Group CFO

– Advanced, one of the UK’s largest software and services providers, has appointed Richard Kerr as its new Chief Financial Officer to lead the company’s ambitious double-digit growth as it transitions to become an international cloud software and services business.

Richard’s appointment is the third board appointment for Advanced in the last 12 months with Narinder Sahota appointed as Chief Technology Officer in September 2021 and Simon Short appointed as Chief Operating Officer in January 2021. The hire represents the organisation’s aggressive growth as it continues to accelerate and evolve its technology solutions to help its customers solve all their challenges both in the UK and internationally.

Richard was formerly CFO at Dennis Publishing where he had a key role in the growth of the group, leading the sale of the business from PE owner Exponent to Future plc. Prior to that he was CFO at Guardian Media Group where he was instrumental in the financial turnaround of the group and in building a high growth recurring revenue business model. Richard has extensive international experience, in particular at UBM (now part of Informa) where he was CFO UBM EMEA and Head of Group Development where he led the group in completing over 70 M&A transactions.

Kerr takes over the role of CFO from Andrew Hicks who joined Advanced in 2015 and has played a significant role in managing the company’s transformation and growth over the past six years securing significant re-investment from Vista Equity Partners alongside new investment from BC Partners in October 2019 which has led to the company’s impressive acquisition portfolio of 17 companies over that time.

Commenting on the new role, Kerr said: “I’m thrilled to be joining Advanced at such a pivotal point in the company’s development. I’m excited to bring my media sector experience of complex rapidly changing markets and recurring revenue business models to help drive the group’s organic growth. I am also looking forward to utilising my M&A expertise to augment the group’s successful acquisition program. Advanced’s growth ambitions represent a unique opportunity for any senior leader, and I’m eager to support the whole Advanced team with a best-in-class finance function through this next transformative phase.”

Gordon Wilson, CEO, Advanced comments: “I’m thrilled to welcome Richard to Advanced at a point where we are looking for significant double-digit growth and international expansion. Richard’s global experience will play a valuable part in that growth strategy along with his extensive M&A experience. I would also like to thank Andrew Hicks for his phenomenal contribution to the organisation over the last six years. He has played a pivotal role in our transformation, growth and acquisition strategy and leaves behind a strong business legacy.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Advanced .