This week's London appointments

David Adams, Atheneum

Global insights platform Atheneum has appointed David Adams as chief technology officer.

David brings over 30 years of industry experience to the role, and will utilise machine learning to develop Atheneum’s ‘Global Insights Platform’ at the company’s London office.

Previously the founder and managing director at software development firm DSC, David has worked with the likes of JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Virgin Atlantic Airways.

David also co-founded Chime Advisors, a network where he built a machine learning-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform.

Commenting on his appointment, David said: “I’m delighted to be part of this exciting phase of the company’s growth and leading the development of our Global Insights Platform, positioning Atheneum as the market-leading expert network business.”

Ammad Ahmad, co-founder and managing director at Atheneum, added: “David brings a wealth of industry experience and relevant machine learning-based techniques to Atheneum and will play a key role in scaling the business further.”

“His previous experience in the industry means that he understands the business needs of our clients and teams, and how best to utilise our resources to drive business growth, improve productivity and increase client satisfaction.”

Hannah Roscoe, Orrick

International firm Orrick has appointed Hannah Roscoe as a partner in its energy and infrastructure practice in London.

Hannah joins from law firm Herbert Smith Freehills, and advises on global transactional and regulatory matters in the energy and infrastructure sector, including complex project developments and financings and mergers and acquisitions.

John Deacon, a partner in Orrick’s Energy & Infrastructure practice, commented: “Hannah is a rising star with substantial energy regulatory and corporate PPA experience – areas that are critical to helping our clients innovate and pursue sustainability strategies. We are thrilled to add Hannah’s skills to our team.”

Simon Willis, Orrick’s London office leader added: “We are delighted to now add Hannah and look forward to working with her as we continue to grow our practice in London.”

Commenting on her appointment, Hannah said: “Orrick is a leading player in the E&I space globally and has a deep commitment to innovating in the European renewables space.

“I’m excited to collaborate with the team in London, Italy and Paris to develop this platform further.”

Cat Wildman, Potato

Digital product development studio, Potato, has appointed Cat Wildman as group product delivery director.

Cat’s new role will see her leading product delivery across the firm’s studios in London, Bristol and San Francisco.

Prior to the appointment, Cat was director of product at the Telegraph where she built and led its digital product team, instilling agile and lean methodologies.

Cat is also co-founder of Gender Equality Collective, a platform and community of change aimed at redressing gender equality in homes, schools and businesses.

Commenting on her appointment, Cat said: “Potato is at a very exciting point in the growth of its product leadership capabilities and I’m excited to start working with the team to define that experience for our clients and ventures.”

Potato’s joint-CEO Scott Ewings added: “Cat’s approach to growing product teams and seeing them as ‘mini-CEOs’ of their products is an exact match for our beliefs around how to create purposeful and effective products.

“We were impressed by her ability to effect change and her plan for developing an academy for product development talent - for our own team and those of our clients and partners.”

Reeta Junankar and Lauren Kelly, This Place

Strategic design consultancy This Place today announces the appointments of Reeta Junankar and Lauren Kelly

Reeta joins the firm as chief strategy officer, and Lauren comes onboard as experience design director.

In her new role, Reeta will lead strategic efforts across the global studios In London, Hong Kong and Seattle.

Prior to joining This Place, Reeta spent several years in management consulting at Javelin Group, part of Accenture Strategy, advising global retailers and brands on customer experience transformation.

Commenting on her appointment, Reeta said: “What particularly appealed to me about This Place is the agency’s global presence.

“Working with blue-chip clients and teams across all territories, I’m looking forward to bringing a truly global perspective to every idea, every project and every client.”

“From the business perspective, This Place is in a prime position, combining human-centred design backed by pragmatic strategic insight under one roof, bringing together a stellar team from leading creative agencies, management consulting and retail, and I am thrilled to head up the strategic arm of the business.”

Lauren will lead the experience design team and work across all client accounts. Lauren has experience in UI, UX, service design and product design, having worked multiple roles and disciplines.

In her previous role at EE, Lauren was in charge of empowering, upskilling and supporting a growing team of designers, as well as managing the relationships across squads for cross-functional collaboration.

Lauren explained: “What attracted me to this role is all the amazing and talented people at This Place. They come from some of the best and most established companies in the world and have been exposed to many different processes, methods and techniques, so the team is constantly looking at how to leverage that and take the best parts of all of our knowledge.

“What I’m looking to add to this mix is my approach to experience design. I believe that designing experiences isn’t limited to just products and services - it’s in your decks, in your emails, in how you empower a team.

“I am looking forward to supporting and empowering my team on this journey.”

Jonathan Kendall, Augnet

SMS technology startup Augnet has appointed Jonathan Kendall as commercial director.

Specialising in building enterprise-ready, go-to-market sales and marketing infrastructures, Jonathan has experience of leading sales teams across the sector, from high-profile companies to industry-challenging startups.

Jonathan has headed up teams for firms such as of Juniper Networks, Vodafone, Telstra, Motorola and Cap Gemini, and over the past five years was retained by venture capital firms.

Augnet Founder and CEO, Daniel Gill, commented: “We are excited to welcome Jonathan Kendall to the Augnet team.

“Jonathan’s calibre of experience, network and respect within the industry will be of huge value to us as we continue to transform the SMS and messaging space. He will play a large part in taking Augnet to the next level.”

Jonathan added: “I am delighted to be joining Augnet. From the first meeting with CEO Daniel Gill and COO Jekaterina Orlova, I was extremely impressed by the Augnet offering, its high growth plans and the clear strategy presented.

“I believe that Augnet will increase quality and credibility in the SMS and messaging industry, providing the long overdue ability to deliver compliance and governance to a growing marketplace.

“Augnet is a no brainer. The technology speaks for itself. I look forward to working with the team and widening the net in terms of awareness and industry buy-in.”

Gemma Perry, Vail Williams

Property consultancy Vail Williams has appointed Gemma Perry as a graduate planner.

Gemma joins the firm from Oxford Brookes University, where she recently completed a Masters Degree in spatial planning.

She studied her undergraduate degree in geography at the University of Brighton and gained public sector work experience with West Berkshire Planning Policy team, where she worked on the evidence base for their Local Plan Review.

In her new role, Gemma will work across a variety of other disciplines including valuation, alongside training for her APC qualification to become a chartered planner in two years’ time.

Commenting on her appointment, Gemma said: “I’m delighted to have taken up a graduate position with Vail Williams.

“It will give me invaluable experience working on a variety of projects in the Gatwick Diamond region and beyond. I can’t wait to see what the next two years will bring.”

Stephen Oliver, partner and business development manager for Vail Williams, added: “We’re pleased to welcome Gemma to our growing team here in Crawley and look forward to supporting her as she embarks on her APC to become a chartered planner.”

Mark Courtney, Cifas

Fraud prevention service Cifas has appointed Mark Courtney as chief product officer.

In his new role, Mark work with the team to develop its existing product suite, as well as build future propositions for new and existing markets.

During his 16 years at identity management company GBG, he led the product management team for its identity verification suite, before going on to become the general manager, running both the identity verification and identity assurance divisions.

For the last two and a half years before joining Cifas, Mark held the position of head of product and engineering for TruNarrative.

Commenting on his appointment, Mark said: “Since joining Cifas – and getting under the skin of the company – I’ve been really impressed with the incredibly high quality of its services as well as the dedication and skill of its people.

“There is a commitment and drive to constantly evolve our services to members as well as the wider industry, and a real dedication from all levels to ensure our products are indispensable in fighting fraud and financial crime.

“I’m excited to have this opportunity help Cifas maintain its position at the forefront of the industry.”

Mike Haley, chief executive officer of Cifas, added: “Mark brings a wealth and depth of experience from his time at GBG and TruNarrative.

“I’m delighted he is now bringing his expertise to an already highly-skilled team and believe his appointment demonstrates the positive direction Cifas is headed in.

“We are perpetually looking for ways to innovate and pioneer new products and services to protect our members and consumers from fraud and financial crime. Having Mark on board will be a key part of that.”