This week's London appointments

Ian Jarrett, Armitage Communications

PR firm Armitage Communications has appointed Ian Jarrett as account director.

Ian has over 25 years of experience in the electronics and industrial automation sectors, and brings knowledge from his engineering background to the firm, which joined the Napier Group earlier this year.

In his new role Ian will support the growth and development of the firm, specialising in global marketing communications, content generation, media relations and strategic marketing.

Commenting on his appointment, Ian said: “I am really excited to be joining Armitage Communications. Armitage has an unrivalled reputation for content generation for the B2B technology and engineering industries and as part of Napier it has a great future ahead.

“What’s more the whole organisation has a very transparent set of company values that benefits both its employees and its customers. For me it was important to join a business where hard work and integrity is appreciated and rewarded.” Mike Maynard, managing director of the Napier Group: “I am delighted Ian has joined Armitage, bringing his extensive experience and marketing expertise to our team.”

“We have already seen strong growth in the business since acquiring Armitage and Ian will help us continue to expand by bringing knowledge, creativity and enthusiasm that client’s value.”

Tony Procops, VENNCOMM

Mobile communications fintech VENNCOMM has appointed Tony Procops as vice president of global sales.

With over 25 years of experience working in global fintech, Tony joins from NICE, where he was VP of global sales for the firm’s communications compliance division.

Prior to that, Tony founded tech solutions firm CyberTech, building an international brand which was acquired by NICE in 2011.

Tony commented: “I am thrilled to be part of the VENNCOMM team.

“My entire career has been spent in the technology industry, and I look forward to continuing that tradition by providing the world’s fastest secure call scheduling conferencing & chat application to VENNCOMM customers.”

Lee Stonehouse, VENNCOMM’s CEO, added: “Appointing Tony is the key to North America and beyond.

“I’m very excited to welcome him to our team as not only will Tony bring more focus to customer relationships but also has the business experience to help lead our further global expansion.”

Simon King, Octopus Ventures

Venture capital firm Octopus Ventures has promoted Simon King to partner.

Joining Octopus Ventures in 2011 after completing his PhD in organic electronics at Imperial College, Simon currently heads up the ‘future of industry’ team where he draws on his experience in AI, machine learning, advanced materials, IoT (Internet of Things) and edtech.

Commenting on the appointment, Alliott Cole, CEO of Octopus Ventures, said:“We’re very lucky to have Simon in our team. He pairs a huge intellect and natural curiosity with an easy going kindness and humility.

“This means that entrepreneurs, co-investors and most of all, our team, love working with him and will celebrate this news as a natural progression for someone of his talent.”

Simon King, Partner at Octopus Ventures, added: “I am delighted to have been promoted to partner, having joined Octopus Ventures as an intern 8 years ago.

“I really enjoy meeting new entrepreneurs and seeing the applications of new technologies and business models, so I am very excited to be overseeing Octopus’ deal originations.”