Founder & Group Chief Executive Officer play a crucial role in any startup. It takes an extraordinary person to fulfil the Founder & Group Chief Executive Officer role. We have selected these Founder & Group Chief Executive Officer’s for this list as they are inspiring for a variety of reasons – whether that’s pushing boundaries, creating groundbreaking products, or doing their bit to save the world.
Our analysts did their best to select be best, and most innovative Founder & Group Chief Executive Officer’s. The list is in no particular order!
Michael Spencer
Founder & Group Chief Executive Officer @ NEX Group
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Michael Spencer is Chairman of the Intercapital Private Group Ltd and a director of Bordeaux Index Ltd. Michael is the chairman of The Conservative Party Foundation Ltd and stepped down from his role as Treasurer of the Conservative Party in October 2010. Michael is 61. His interests include running, wine, art, politics and military history. He founded ICAP Charity Day in 1993 where for one day each year the Company’s global revenue, including broker commissions, were donated to charity. Over 24 years, the event raised nearly £135 million for 2,200 charities worldwide. Michael was named the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year 2010 and in April 2011, ICAP won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the International Trade category. As Britain’s most coveted business prize, the Queen’s Awards recognise outstanding achievement by UK companies. The award is formally conferred by a Grant of Appointment and is symbolised through a presentation given by Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenants as The Queen’s local representatives. This was the second time that ICAP received a Queen’s Award in this category, having been named a winner in 2005.
Learn more about Michael Spencer on Crunchbase…NEX is a technology-based services company that offers customers better ways to execute trades and manage risk. Read more about NEX Group on Crunchbase…
Matthew Crummack
Group Chief Executive Officer @ Gocompare.com
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Matthew Crummack is currently Chief Executive Officer of Gocompare.com Holdings Limited, a financial services price comparison website, forming part of esure Group plc. Previously, Matthew Crummack served as CEO of lastminute.com, the online travel and leisure retailer, from 2011 until March 2015 when the business was acquired by Bravofly Rumbo Group (subsequently renamed lastminute.com Group). He served as Deputy CEO and Chief Integration Officer until December 2015, following which he served as a member of its Strategic Advisory Committee. In addition, Matthew Crummack was formerly a Senior Vice President of Lodging at Expedia in Europe and the US, has previously worked for Nestle UK, and spent eight years at Procter & Gamble in a variety of roles. Matthew Crummack is also a Director of his own UK-based company, Interventus Limited.
Learn more about Matthew Crummack on Crunchbase…Gocompare.com is a British financial services comparison website provides comparison details for vehicle, home and pet insurance. Read more about Gocompare.com on Crunchbase…
Mike Wells
Group Chief Executive @ Prudential PLC
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Mike Wells has been Group Chief Executive of the international financial services group Prudential plc since June 2015. Founded in London in 1848 and based in the UK, Prudential provides long-term savings and protection products, retirement income solutions and asset management through its businesses on four continents – Prudential Corporation Asia and Eastspring Investments in Asia, Jackson National Life Insurance in the US, M&GPrudential in the UK and Europe, and Prudential Africa. Since becoming Group Chief Executive, Mike has overseen continued growth across Prudential’s key metrics, with the Group delivering record IFRS operating profit of more than £4.8 billion in 2018, and its assets under management reaching £657 billion. Mike joined Jackson, Prudential’s North American unit, in 1995, and became Jackson’s Chief Operating Officer and Vice-Chairman in 2003. In 2011 he was appointed President and CEO of Jackson and joined the board of Prudential. He has more than three decades’ experience in insurance and retirement services, having started his career at the US brokerage house Dean Witter before becoming a managing director at Smith Barney Shearson. Mike was born in Ontario, Canada, and earned a Bachelor of Sciences in Economics from San Diego State University.
Learn more about Mike Wells on Crunchbase…Prudential plc is an international financial services group with significant operations in Asia, the US and the UK. Read more about Prudential PLC on Crunchbase…
David O’Loan
Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer – Treasury and Investments @ Ahli United Bank
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Read more about Ahli United Bank on Crunchbase…
Paul Statham
Founder & Group Chief Executive @ Condeco
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Paul has established several successful and innovative businesses. He has helped to shape the relationship between real estate and technology, establishing Condeco as one of the foremost providers of workspace management technology. He was previously Managing Director of one of the UK’s largest electronic security companies.
Learn more about Paul Statham on Crunchbase…How tomorrow will work: Our workspace booking solutions give you everything you need to work flexibly. Read more about Condeco on Crunchbase…
Dominic Blakemore
Group Chief Executive Officer @ Compass Group
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Compass Group is a food and support services company that provides a wide range of innovative dining solutions. Read more about Compass Group on Crunchbase…
Andrew Ambrose
Group chief executive officer @ A-Gas
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World leader in the supply and lifecycle management of refrigerants, blowing agents, industrial gases, halon and fire suppressants. Read more about A-Gas on Crunchbase…
Doug Crawford
Group Chief Executive Officer @ Optionis Group
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Optionis group is a leading provider of support services to the contractors, freelancers, small businesses and staffing industry members. Read more about Optionis Group on Crunchbase…
Jozef Wallis
Group Chief Executive Officer @ Terraprima Group
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Terraprima Group specializes in design, development, marketing, and distribution of IoT solutions. Read more about Terraprima Group on Crunchbase…
Fabrice Chartier
Group Chief Executive Officer @ Simbec-Orion Group
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They offer specialist expertise in oncology, rare & orphan diseases, respiratory, dermatology and infectious vaccines & diseases. Read more about Simbec-Orion Group on Crunchbase…
Bill Winters
Group Chief Executive Officer @ Standard Chartered Bank
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Bill Winters was appointed to the Board of Standard Chartered PLC as Group Chief Executive on 10 June 2015, having joined the Group in May 2015. He is based in London. Bill has had a distinguished career in banking, having spent 26 years with JP Morgan in diverse leadership roles, becoming co-Chief Executive Officer of the investment bank in 2004 until he stepped down in 2009. Bill was the only career banker to be invited to be a committee member of the Independent Commission on Banking, established by the UK government in 2010 to recommend ways to improve competition and financial stability in banking. Subsequently, he served as advisor to the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards and was asked by the Court of the Bank of England to complete an independent review of the bank’s liquidity operations. Bill founded the hedge fund Renshaw Bay in 2011 where he was Chairman and CEO until he stepped down from the company on appointment to the Standard Chartered PLC Board. Bill was previously a non-executive director of Pension Insurance Corporation plc before stepping down in October 2015. He is an independent non-executive director of Novartis International AG. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Colgate University and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Learn more about Bill Winters on Crunchbase…Standard Chartered Bank is an international banking group. Read more about Standard Chartered Bank on Crunchbase…
Luis Zubialde
Group Chief Executive Officer @ Palletways
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Palletways is Europe’s largest provider of express palletised distribution services. Read more about Palletways on Crunchbase…
Nan Williams
Founder & Group Chief Executive @ Four Communications
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Nan Williams is one of the UK’s most senior corporate communications consultants, specialising in corporate reputation, crisis and issues management, CSR, employee communication and strategic consulting. Nan was UK chief executive of Charles Barker / BSMG Worldwide from 1997 to 2001 and also a director of the BSMG Worldwide European and global boards. Nan was one of the founders of Four in 2001. Nan has run programmes at Four for, among others, 2011 Census, the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), Grant Thornton International, Barclaycard and UK Payments. She got her MBA from the Cranfield School of Management. Nan has been listed in the PR Week Power Book since 2007.As well as her work in communications, Nan has also been a director of the London Print Studio and Centrepoint Trading.
Learn more about Nan Williams on Crunchbase…Four is a leading independent, integrated communications agency with offices in London and the Gulf. Read more about Four Communications on Crunchbase…
Andrea Orcel
Group Chief Executive Officer @ UniCredit
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Andrea Orcel was appointed Group Chief Executive Officer of UniCredit on 15 April 2021. He started his career working in Fixed Income at Midland Montagu 1987. A year later he moved to Goldman Sachs and later in 1990 he joined The Boston Consulting Group. Andre Orcel spent the next ten years working at Merrill Lynch (then Bank of America) in various senior roles including Executive Chairman of the Investment Bank and President of Emerging Markets ex Asia (2009), President of International Global Banking, Securities & Wealth Management; Head of International Corporate and Investment Banking (2009), Head of Global Origination. His positions at the Bank included also President of EMEA Global Markets & Investment Banking and member of Merrill Lynch Management Committee (2007), Head of Origination and Co-President of Global Markets and Investment Banking for Europe, Middle East & Africa (2004), Head of Global Financial Institutions Group (2003), Co-Head of Financial Institutions Group for Europe, Middle East & Africa (1999). In 2012 Andrea Orcel joined another global Bank UBS as a Member of the Group Executive Board and then President, Investment Bank where he managed diverse businesses and geographies. His positions at the Bank included CEO, UBS Limited and UBS AG London Branch (2014); Member of the Board of UBS Americas Holding LLC, senior contact for US industry regulators and Senior Officer Outside of Australia and senior contact for Australia industry regulators (2016). In addition to his corporate career Andrea Orcel was also a Member of the Board of UBS Optimus Foundation, Senior Sponsor and Leader for Diversity and Talent Development in the Investment Bank and the UK.
Learn more about Andrea Orcel on Crunchbase… Read more about UniCredit on Crunchbase…
Michel van Leeuwen
Group Chief Executive @ Hawksford
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Read more about Hawksford on Crunchbase…
Iain Conn
Group Chief Executive @ Centrica
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Iain was appointed to the Board on 1 June 2014. He is a member of the Audit & Risk, Nominating & Governance and Technology Committees.Iain Conn was appointed an executive director of BP on 1 July 2004. He joined BP Oil International in 1986, working in a variety of roles in oil trading, commercial refining and exploration before becoming, on the merger between BP and Amoco in 1999, vice president of BP Amoco Exploration’s mid-continent business unit. At the end of 2000, he returned to London as group vice president and a member of the Refining and Marketing segment’s executive committee, taking over responsibility in 2001 for BP’s marketing operations in Europe. In 2002 he was appointed chief executive of BP Petrochemicals. Following his appointment to the board in 2004, he served for three years as group executive officer, strategic resources, in which he had responsibility for a number of group functions and regions. He was appointed chief executive, Refining and Marketing on 1 June 2007. Iain Conn’s career has given him extensive knowledge of a broad range of BP’s businesses, particularly in the area of refining and marketing, which he has led since 2007. In this last period he has successfully remodelled BP’s downstream business. He has deep knowledge of safety, manufacturing, energy markets and technology. In addition to his position as chief executive, Refining and Marketing, at BP, he has regional responsibility for Europe, Southern Africa and Asia. He also has responsibility for the BP brand and related matters. Iain Conn is a non-executive director and the senior independent director of Rolls-Royce Holdings plc. He is chairman of the Advisory Board of Imperial College Business School and a member of the Council of Imperial College. Iain was born in Edinburgh, educated in Musselburgh, Scotland and subsequently studied chemical engineering and management at The Imperial College, London.
Learn more about Iain Conn on Crunchbase…Centrica is a multinational energy and services company developing innovative solutions, offers, and products. Read more about Centrica on Crunchbase…
Samuel Dennigan
Group Chief Executive Officer @ Strong Roots
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Read more about Strong Roots on Crunchbase…
Bob Dudley
Group Chief Executive @ BP
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Bob Dudley became group chief executive on 1 October 2010. Bob joined Amoco Corporation in 1979, working in a variety of engineering and commercial posts. Between 1994 and 1997 he worked on corporate development in Russia. In 1997 he became general manager for strategy for Amoco and in 1999, following the merger between BP and Amoco, was appointed to a similar role in BP. Between 1999 and 2000 he was executive assistant to the group chief executive, subsequently becoming group vice president for BP’s renewables and alternative energy activities. In 2002 he became group vice president responsible for BP’s upstream businesses in Russia, the Caspian region, Angola, Algeria and Egypt. From 2003 to 2008 he was president and chief executive officer of TNK-BP. On his return to BP in 2009, he was appointed to the BP board and oversaw the group’s activities in the Americas and Asia. Between 23 June and 30 September 2010, he served as the president and chief executive officer of BP’s Gulf Coast Restoration Organization in the US. He was appointed a director of Rosneft in March 2013 following BP’s acquisition of a stake in Rosneft.
Learn more about Bob Dudley on Crunchbase…BP delivers heat, light and mobility products and services to people all around the world. Read more about BP on Crunchbase…
Tim Livesey
Director & Group Chief Executive Officer @ Oriole Resources
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Oriole Resources PLC is an AIM-listed exploration company, operating in Africa and Europe. Read more about Oriole Resources on Crunchbase…
Eric Oakley
Group Chief Executive Officer & Executive Director @ Haynes Group
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Haynes Group Provides online sales of car manuals and automotive related sites. Read more about Haynes Group on Crunchbase…
Ady Moores
Group Chief Executive @ P2i
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Ady was appointed as Group CEO of P2i in October 2016. Having previously served eight years as the Company’s Group CFO, Ady supported P2i’s fast growth from start-up to substantive, profitable business through his leadership of a series of successful funding rounds and responsibility for P2i’s financial, legal and administrative functions. Having qualified as a Chartered Accountant, Ady joined KPMG where he specialized in advising software and hardware companies. After spending time in the automotive industry, Ady spent three years as European Financial Controller for 3DO, a NASDAQ listed video games publishing company. In 2003, he was appointed Finance Director at Bright Things plc, an innovative interactive entertainment company, which he took from inception through IPO raising in excess of £11.5m. Immediately before joining P2i, Ady was Finance Director at 1E, a Sunday Times Tech Track 100 company specializing in PC power-management software with annual revenues of £15m and 120 employees. Ady joined P2i’s main Board as Group CFO in 2008; he also serves as Chairman of all three wholly-owned subsidiaries of P2i.
Learn more about Ady Moores on Crunchbase…P2i is a provider of nanocoating technology. Read more about P2i on Crunchbase…
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