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This month's London appointments

Tom McArthur, upday

As it sets its sights on UK expansion, news app upday has announced two high-profile appointments this month.

The first is Tom McArthur who joins as the media firm’s new Head of Editorial in a newly-created role where he will oversee the UK editorial strategy and manage the team of upday journalists curating market-specific content.

He has over nine years’ experience as a digital journalist, working for the likes of MSN and NBC News, as well as ITV news in his most recent role.

Robin Hough, upday

The second appointment at upday is Robin Hough as Managing Director, who has previously headed up the Guardian’s Media & Technology Network and has over a decade’s experience working in global media and publishing.

He will be responsible for the media brand’s seven-strong London-based UK team, spearheading growth, product development.

Robin commented: “upday is a game-changer for news consumption and I’m delighted to join the UK team ahead of further exciting developments for the platform.

“upday’s unique combination of human and algorithm-generated news is a proven success and we’re looking forward to driving upday’s reach and market share in the UK, where there’s huge potential.

“Tom’s appointment as head of editorial in the UK is invaluable for ensuring our UK audience is consistently receiving high quality, relevant and insightful breaking news content.”

Hannah Davies, RICS Strategic Facilities Management Board

Faithful+Gould’s Hannah Davies has been appointed to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Strategic Facilities Management (FM) board.

Hannah, who is associate director at the project and programme management consultancy, will be tasked with promoting the Strategic Facilities Management service and help organisations better understand their needs and requirements.

Following her appointment, Hannah said: “I’m honoured to have been appointed to the FM board and am looking forward to promoting this vital service.

“At our conference I showcased the ‘FM Maturity Matrix,’ a self-assessment tool that will be launched later this year and is designed to help organisations understand where they are in terms of facilities management maturity and the next steps they should be thinking about.”

Jon Sealy, Managing Director UK and Europe, Faithful+Gould added: “This is a great opportunity for Hannah to influence the way the FM industry develops.

“We are excited about supporting the RICS focus on the strategic potential of FM and hopefully our FM Maturity Matrix will be a useful tool in helping organisations look at their FM arrangements and identify where improvement can be made.”

Mike Nuttall, LendInvest

Online specialist mortgage lender LendInvest have appointed their first VP of Engineering this month, with former VP of Technology at Moo.com, Mike Nuttall, assuming the role.

Mike will be responsible for managing the direction of the technology team, which accounts for over 40% of the FinTech firm’s workforce, with a particular focus on implementing Agile working methods.

He brings over 15 years’ of senior management experience at fast-growing technology companies in the e-commerce, payments and gaming sectors, for companies including fantasy gaming site FanDuel and Doctors.Net.uk.

Christian Faes, Co-founder and CEO of LendInvest, commented: “We took our time to find the best person to drive our technology strategy. During that search every road led us back to Mike.

“Since meeting Mike and talking to him about our own tech challenges and goals, it’s been clear that he’s a great fit and a natural tech leader.

“As LendInvest continues to make a substantial investment in the development of its technology, it is great to have someone of Mike’s calibre leading that part of the business.”

Mike Nuttall, VP of Engineering of LendInvest, added: “I’ve always been driven by the idea of taking something traditional and finding a whole new, modern way to make it better. Mortgages are a great example of that. Anyone who has bought - or tried to buy - a property has a bad story to tell about their mortgage application. It’s an experience that is ripe for improvement with technology.

“There aren’t that many financial services businesses that are as innovative or brave as LendInvest. Many have great products to develop, but from a technology perspective, they are often encumbered with old, legacy systems, or don’t have the confidence or knowledge to push the boundaries of what’s gone before. LendInvest is doing something very different and it’s exciting to be a part of it.”

Robert Parker, Insight Executive Group

Recruitment firm Insight Executive Group have appointed former Olympian Robert Parker as its new head of property and FM recruitment.

The firm, which specialises in corporate and public sector recruitment, has undergone significant growth in the last 18 months and has plans to move into a new London office next month.

Robert, who previously worked at Morgan Rush, represented the Great Britain Men’s Water Polo team and played the sport professionally for seven years.

He said: “Having worked as a professional athlete for seven years I wasn’t sure which direction I would take next. I attended an event run by Dame Kelly Holmes and was drawn to recruitment.

“It has been a fast paced three years but I have really enjoyed it. I felt it was time to move on and am delighted to be working with IEG at such an exciting time for the company in terms of growth and development.

“I was really drawn to the strong ethos and values of the company and feel I have a lot to bring to the table.”

Nick White, Director of FM Consulting commented: “We are really delighted to have Rob on board; he is a great fit for the team and brings along both an impressive track record in recruitment and strong values as a team player from his water polo days.

“As the company continues to grow we have focused on ensuring that we have the right people in place to support the values of the company. Rob encompasses all of this and we are pleased to have him on board.”

Michaela Verstraeten, Ravelin

UK-based fraud specialists have appointed e-commerce fraud prevention expert, Michaela Verstraeten as an advisor.

She will help Ravelin’s clients with training and understanding the impact of fraud on their businesses, having held related roles combatting fraud at Nike Europe, Levi Strauss & Co and Europol.

Michaela commented: “I’ve been working with brands and merchants for many years helping to solve the issue of online fraud. What excited me about joining the Ravelin team, is that their approach is completely different and proving to be very effective.

“By focusing on identifying and verifying the customer, rather than on each individual payment transaction, a fraudster can be detected and stopped every time they come to a website.

“Ravelin have had significant early success from this approach in the real-time, on demand market and is well-positioned to help improve the operational processes for the wider e-commerce industry, and I’m excited to be part of this journey of success.”

Sam Plumptre, CoInvestor

Sam Plumptre, an existing Board member, has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of CoInvestor in order to support Founder, Charles Owen, in the management of the business.

An ex-fund manager and corporate financier with extensive experience advising, investing in and starting growth companies, Plumptre has previously worked as a fund manager at Livingbridge, co-managing the listed investments for the Baronsmead VCTs and Wood Street Microcap Fund, and in investment banking for Société Générale and Evolution Securities.

Charles Owen, Founder of CoInvestor commented: “Sam’s first-hand knowledge of the fund management industry, combined with his entrepreneurial experience and attitude will significantly add to the operation of the CoInvestor model as we target growth of both our fund manager and investor base during these early stages.”

Oliver Barnett and Stuart Samuels, moneycorp

Foreign exchange firm Moneycorp have announced the appointment of two new Senior FX Dealers as it looks to expand its corporate dealing team.

Oliver Barnett and Stuart Samuels, who have both previously held roles at Lloyds Baking group, will look to build on the firm’s existing client base as well as strenghten existing client relationships.

Lee McDarby, ‎Managing Director, Corporate Foreign Exchange and International Payments at moneycorp, commented: “Our corporate client division is growing rapidly and we’re continuing to expand our client base, affirming moneycorp’s position as one of the leading foreign exchange providers.

“Oliver and Stuart’s expertise and experience will further strengthen client relationships, and their background of dealing with diverse clientele will expand moneycorp’s place in the market.

“These new hires will bring fresh approaches allowing the business to work with new industries and expand in to new realms of FX services.”

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