This week's London appointments

This week’s round up of London appointments includes Gerald Edelman, First Hydrogen, Fabrix, and Beam. Read on to find out more.

David Horowitz, Gerald Edelman

Gerald Edelman has appointed David Horowitz, as director of Gerald Edelman Wealth.

Horowitz brings with him a vast amount of expertise, having initially qualified as a Chartered Accountant within the Big Four, and then progressed into wealth management where he qualified as a Chartered Financial Planner.

He has offered financial advice to individuals and families from a broad range of backgrounds including; entrepreneurs, retirees, city professionals, high-net-worth-individuals as well as working in the media and entertainment sector, for over 9 years.

David particularly specialises in pension planning including complex technical pension issues, cashflow modelling, investment management and estate and succession planning.

David’s appointment comes at an opportune time for Gerald Edelman. Through Gerald Edelman Wealth and David’s expertise, an application has already been made for Gerald Edelman Wealth Ltd to carry out regulated activities.

Richard Kleiner, managing partner at Gerald Edelman said: “This is a major development for Gerald Edelman wealth management and will further enhance the service offering to our existing clients and future clients.

“We expect that David’s appointment will act as a huge boost to our Financial Planning and Wealth Management Services and his immense expertise will prove invaluable to both our clients and colleagues”.

David Horowitz added: “Gerald Edelman have an amazing team, and as a mid-tier firm, top 50 accounting and advisory firm and are well placed to serve their clients through financial planning and wealth management, offering them all-encompassing advice and services.

“I very much look forward to helping the firm to further strengthen this offering and to adding value to our clients”.

Dr Peter Williams, First Hydrogen

First Hydrogen has appointed Dr Peter Williams as a non-executive director of First Hydrogen UK.

His appointment will help grow First Hydrogen’s UK subsidiary, which is focused on delivering the first hydrogen-fuelled and zero-emissions utility vehicles, green hydrogen production and distribution. Peter is currently Group Technology Director and Head of Investor Relations at global chemical company INEOS.

Prior to INEOS, Peter worked at BP for more than two decades holding senior positions in business, technology and strategy.

He also serves as Non-Executive Director for V-Carbon, a company that is creating a circular economy for carbon fibre and delivers engineered and sustainable carbon fibre solutions for the automotive, aviation and aerospace industries.

He also sits on the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council in the UK. Peter will bring to First Hydrogen his considerable experience of technology built up over 40 years with BP and INEOS.

Nicholas Wrigley, Chairman of First Hydrogen comments: “We’re delighted to welcome Peter on board and know he will be a fantastic asset to our team. As a trained chemist and material scientist he brings great insight on improving use of hydrogen and sustainable materials, particularly in the automotive sector.

“His expertise will prove particularly invaluable as we develop the first hydrogen-fuelled commercial fleet vehicles and refuelling solutions. The First Hydrogen team is also developing green hydrogen production in the UK and elsewhere to be able to provide its mobility customers with a full service, to include the fuel.”

Dr Williams, said: “I’m delighted to join such a forward-looking company as it develops the potential of hydrogen for transportation. Successfully switching to zero-emissions fuels will help us to dramatically cut carbon and is an important component of the drive to a climate neutral economy.”

Debbie Whitfiled, Fabrix

Fabrix, the investor and developer behind London’s Roots in the Sky, has hired Debbie Whitfield as part of its commitment to driving positive urban change for London.

Debbie has more than 20 years’ experience in connecting business, government and communities within the built environment. Prior to joining Fabrix, she spent 15 years at New London Architecture (NLA), where she has been since its inception in 2005, becoming Managing Director in 2019.

She has also sat on the Mayor’s Fund Built Environment Steering Group, which supports low-income young Londoners into the industry, and has championed diversity through the NLA’s Inspiring Women and Diverse Leaders programs.

As Urban Impact Director Debbie will oversee the company’s contribution to urban environments. This will include managing external affairs as well as the delivery of Fabrix’s social and environmental impact strategy, strengthening its position as London’s most progressive developer.

She will use her extensive experience to build partnerships with other organisations, unlocking further opportunities for Fabrix to implement their creative placemaking agenda.

Fabrix’s current projects include a radical reimagining of the former Blackfriars Crown Court into Roots in the Sky, a workspace with a 1.4-acre rooftop forest of over 100 established trees. It will be the UK’s first office building to deliver an urban forest rooftop and will provide extensive access for the local community and the public.

This February, Fabrix announced the tenth acquisition of its i2 property fund in 12 months: the 1960s-built former offices of Southwark Council - Chatelain House - which the developer is now planning to repurpose for a mix of uses.

Debbie Whitfield, Urban Impact Director at Fabrix, said: “I couldn’t be more excited to join Fabrix – a company that is absolutely committed to developing in a way that has a positive impact on both people and planet.

“At NLA I had the privilege of driving change across the industry through facilitating discussion amongst some of the built environment’s best minds and practitioners. I am now relishing the opportunity to get closer to development first-hand and apply that thinking and experience with a developer and investor as progressive as Fabrix.”

Rachel Astall, Beam

Social impact start-up, Beam, has hired GoCardless director of global partnerships Rachel Astall as its first chief of staff.

Astall joins Beam on March 7 and will report into founder and CEO Alex Stephany.

Working closely with the People and Talent team, Astall will be charged with scaling Beam’s team from 40 to over 100 people by the end of 2022. She will also work with Beam’s operations team to improve processes across the business and lead on special projects.

Astall joined leading fintech brand GoCardless in 2017 as the first partner manager and quickly moved into senior leadership, most recently as Director of Global Partnerships. In this role she led a global cross functional team to build an ecosystem of 350 integrations with major software platforms.

This ecosystem is now used by close to half of GoCardless’s customer base and drives substantial revenue growth in the fast-growing business. During her five years there, the organisation grew from 80 to 800+ staff worldwide.

Prior to GoCardless, Astall held various partnership roles at major charities including British Heart Foundation, Macmillan Cancer Support and The Prince’s Trust.

Rachel Astall, incoming Chief of Staff at Beam said: “Beam combines the speed and scale of a tech company like GoCardless, with the added bonus of making huge progress on massively important social problems. Beam has an incredible startup culture and I’m excited to join such a smart and experienced team.”

Alex Stephany, Founder and CEO of Beam, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Rachel, a senior leader from one of the UK’s most impressive fintechs, to support Beam with our next phase of growth. Our goal is to become one of the most positively impactful companies in the world, and building an exceptional team is a huge part of that.”

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