Senior Management

John was appointed to the Board on 22 July 2019 as Non-Executive Chairman Designate and subsequently Chairman on 5 December 2019. He chairs the Nomination Committee.

John brings to the Board strong leadership skills along with considerable business and senior board level expertise. He has extensive experience in helping businesses develop their digital capabilities and advising global businesses on how best to position themselves for growth. This enables John to contribute wide-ranging global, strategic and advisory knowledge and insight to the Board.

John has gained valuable insight and experience through his trustee roles on charitable boards and position as Managing Partner of Innovation and Talent, Deloitte, strengthening his ability to facilitate Board discussions that consider a wide range of stakeholders and their interests in an equitable manner.

John previously acted as Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte Consulting, leading the creation of Deloitte Digital, the first dedicated digital consulting business. He grew the business organically and by strategic acquisition. John holds a BA from the University of Strathclyde and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.

John is Chairman of LC Financial Holdings Limited and is a Non-Executive Adviser to Travers Smith LLP. He also serves as a Trustee of Plan International UK and as a Non-Executive Director of two of its subsidiaries, Development Works Limited and Social Development Direct Limited.

Helen was appointed Independent Non-Executive Director on 1 May 2012 and was appointed Senior Independent Director in January 2019. She is a member of the Audit, Nomination and Remuneration Committees.

Helen served as Chief Marketing Officer UK at Yell Group plc from 2006 to 2012 and, prior to this, served as Lloyds TSB Group Marketing Director. Helen started her career with Mars Inc where she spent 19 years, culminating in her role as European Marketing Director, leading category strategy development across Europe.

Having served on the Board as a Non-Executive Director for eight years, Helen has developed in-depth knowledge and understanding of the Company and its governance allowing her to provide strong support to the Chairman and Board as a whole. Helen has considerable marketing and digital experience and has held numerous board positions in various sectors. This varied experience provides her with a strong customer focus, enables the contribution of a unique perspective on matters and makes her well suited to the role of Senior Independent Director.

Helen currently holds Non-Executive Directorships with IG Group Holdings plc and the Skipton Building Society; she is the Senior Independent Director of Reach plc. Helen also serves on Henley Business School’s Strategy Board and is a Governor of Wellington College.

Nigel was appointed Independent Non-Executive Director on 1 June 2016. He chairs the Remuneration Committee and is a member of the Audit and Nomination Committees.

Nigel has strong, relevant and current commercial experience at a senior management level in a variety of global digital businesses, ranging from global e-commerce to financial technology. He previously acted as Executive Sponsor of Moneysupermarket’s Employee Resource Group focused on diversity and inclusion, which enhances the contribution he makes as the Non-Executive Director appointed to our Workforce Advisory Panel. He currently serves as Chair of the Remuneration Committee. Nigel’s experience gained from his membership of that committee for over two years prior to being its chair, combined with his understanding of employee and investor viewpoints, make him well suited to chairing the Remuneration Committee.

Nigel is Chief Executive Officer of Good Energy Group plc, the UK’s first supplier of 100% renewable electricity and a leading player in digital energy products and services. Prior to joining Good Energy, he served as Chief Commercial Officer of Moneysupermarket.com Group plc.

David was appointed Independent Non-Executive Director on 4 August 2018. He is a member of the Nomination Committee.

David served as Chief Executive Officer of two of the world’s largest advertising marketing services ‎companies, NYSE listed True North and Interpublic Group. He was also CEO of Bozell Worldwide, which he helped grow to a top-ten global agency. From 2006 to 2009, David was a senior advisor to Google and has held a similar position with AOL/Oath since 2009. David was elected by his peers into the Advertising Hall of Fame in the USA in 2007 and in 2013, the Hall of Fame established the David Bell Award which is given to one inductee who has best demonstrated this level of service. David was an independent director at Time Inc. between 2014 and 2018 and has previously served on numerous other US listed company boards, as well as many growth stage companies in the marketing and media technology sectors.

David’s extensive experience in digital media is an asset to the Board, contributing to the development and implementation of its digital transformation growth strategy. He also has deep knowledge of the US market which is a key geography for the business.

David is currently an independent director of Creative Realities Inc.

Michele was appointed Independent Non-Executive Director on 15 May 2019. She chairs the Audit Committee and is a member of the Nomination and Remuneration Committees.

Michele is a chartered accountant and provides the Board and the Audit Committee with relevant financial expertise, gained through an established career in senior finance and management roles across a range of business sectors. This comprehensive experience makes her ideally suited to chair the Audit Committee and to act as its financial expert, a position she took on in October 2019.

Michele most recently served as Chief Financial Officer of Hogg Robinson Group plc. She trained with KPMG and held various positions at technology solutions company, Dell. Michele is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and holds an Executive MBA from Cranfield.

J was appointed Chief Executive Officer on 4 August 2018. He is a member of the Nomination Committee.

J has been at the forefront of digital transformation throughout his career and has a proven track record of delivering high levels of growth. His deep understanding of the digital transformation sector and substantial entrepreneurial expertise are assets to the Board.

J is the Founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Solstice, a digital innovation firm that is now embedded in our Create pillar. He grew Solstice to 400 employees at a 25% CAGR without any external investment until its sale to the Company in 2015. Solstice continued to scale at the same growth rate under J’s leadership for the following three years. During his tenure, Solstice was also continually recognised as a Best Place to Work by Forbes and Fortune. In 2018, J became the Chief Executive Officer of the Company and has led its transition into a global leader in digital transformation services.

J has been inducted into the Chicago Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame, is an EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist, was awarded the University of Illinois College of Engineering Young Alumnus of the Year award and is a recipient of Tech Week 100.

He received his Bachelors in Materials Science Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and began his career at Accenture.

J serves on the Foundation Board of Lurie Children’s Hospital.

Chris was appointed Chief Financial Officer on 17 June 2019. He is a member of the Nomination Committee.

Chris is a seasoned executive with proven financial leadership in the technology sector. He brings to the Board broad financial expertise and a strong history of managing effective relationships with the institutional investor community and media.

Chris has led finance organisations spanning billion-dollar operations, venture capital investing and strategic sales functions. He most recently served as the Investor Relations Officer of a global Fortune 500 technology firm. Chris holds an MBA in Strategy and Finance from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Chris serves as a board director to First Light USA, LLC, a privately held technology development company.