This week's London appointments: Featuring Secret Sales, Ciphr & HyperJar.

This week’s round-up of London appointments includes Secret Sales, Ciphr & HyperJar. Read on to find out more…

Leon Shepherd, Secret Sales

Secret Sales, the leading premium non-full price marketplace for fashion, sportswear and beauty brands, is proud to announce Leon Shepherd as its new chief technology officer. The appointment comes as the business prepares to invest heavily in its technology offerings in line with its aggressive global growth agenda.

By leveraging his deep understanding of the retail landscape and employing an unrivalled brand mindset, Shepherd will take a hands-on role in optimising Secret Sales’ digital experience. His expertise will advance the company’s use of industry-leading technology, including making the most of its dynamic forecasting tools which help brands accelerate the sales and margins from their seasonal surplus stock.

Chris Griffin, CEO, Secret Sales said: “Technology is at the heart of what we do and plays a critical role in driving efficiencies and profitability for brands and retailers on our marketplace. So, we’re really pleased to have Leon here, taking the next step in his career with us, and accelerating our technology investment.

“Leon’s worked in almost every kind of role in tech, and with some of the biggest in the business, and his unique perspective on the industry will be invaluable as we continue to make huge leaps both in the UK and internationally.”

Leon Shepherd spoke about becoming Secret Sales new CTO: “Joining Secret Sales is a real opportunity for me to help build an industry game-changing technology platform. What the team has already done is so revolutionary, and I’m looking forward to taking it to yet another level by implementing PWA, and further industry-leading technologies for the business across Europe.”

Simon Witkiss, Ciphr

Ciphr, a leading UK provider of SaaS HR software, has announced the appointment of Simon Witkiss as its first VP of product. He joins the group’s leadership team, with immediate effect.

Prior to this, he held various product leadership roles – helping to create and build market-focused and customer-orientated product strategies and culture – across a variety of SaaS products in travel, big data, and supply chain industries. Witkiss also spent six years at IRIS Software, responsible for their accountancy products.

Sion Lewis, CEO of Ciphr, says: “We’re delighted to welcome Simon to Ciphr. He has an impressive track record of developing and delivering customer-focused products and services to the market and his strategic insights will be a huge asset to the business as we build out our product proposition. He’s a great fit for Ciphr, and I’m confident that his commercial expertise and experience are just what we need.

Simon Witkiss, VP of product at Ciphr, says: “I’m thrilled to be joining Ciphr and am looking forward to working with such an innovative and talented team. Ciphr is an ambitious, customer-centric business with a vision to help UK organisations grow by leveraging the value of their people.

“Ciphr is already well-known as a successful innovator in the UK’s HR technology market. I’m relishing the opportunity to build on that success and help shape the future of HCM software to deliver an even better experience for Ciphr customers and their people.”

Louise Chan, HyperJar

Award-winning digital wallet HyperJar has appointed Louise Chan to the role of chief operating officer. Incumbent Chris Lowrie moves up to head the firm’s new B2B offer, HyperLayer. The hire comes just a month after HyperJar won the prestigious ‘Banking tech of the Year’ award at the UK FinTech Awards, the latest in a slew of accolades for its app and proprietary technology.

Louise is HyperJar’s fourth C-suite hire in the last 10 months as it prepares for significant growth across its B2C and B2B businesses

Describing her decision to join HyperJar, Louise says: “I’ve specialised in innovative platform solutions for many years, so I’m particularly excited to be joining a business whose trailblazing tech is already recognised across the financial sector.

“It’s clear the team has built a great product, culture and outstanding customer support service in a very short space of time and I’m looking forward to playing my part as we drive for rapid domestic and global expansion.”

HyperJar CEO Rob Rooney, who was appointed CEO in January 2023, comments: “We took our time filling this role - replacing Chris as he takes on leadership of our new B2B offer was a particularly tough task. Louise has a stellar combination of experience from her years in banking and operations, perfect for her COO role and invaluable for the wider business. She’s a fantastic addition to the team.”

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By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily

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