This week's London appointments

Kirsty MacDonald, Redwood Bank

Redwood Bank has announced the appointment of Kirsty MacDonald to the position of marketing manager.

Kirsty, who joined Redwood Bank amid the UK lockdown, brings 14 years’ experience to her new role.

Her previous employment includes working in London within a range of Marketing and Communications roles, and more recently she was the group marketing manager for a multinational plc that developed software technology in the digital construction space.

CEO and co-founder of Redwood Bank, Gary Wilkinson, said: “We feel very passionately about committing to the Women in Finance Charter, to ensure we are accelerating gender equality among all our staff.”

Kirsty commented: “I wanted to work for Redwood Bank, because the culture and people immediately stood out for me. It truly has a ‘powered by our people’ approach, and this is evident in the culture they have built within the Bank.

“It was also clear to me from early on, that the Bank’s mission to create change and do things differently to support SMEs is at the heart of everything they do. It’s very rewarding to be working for a bank that is driving innovation and challenging the industry.”

Bill Swanson, IRIS.TV

IRIS.TV, a video intelligence platform, today announced the appointment of Bill Swanson as EMEA strategy lead.

Bill is a seasoned digital media and advertising veteran with more than 20 years of industry experience. He will be responsible for driving the strategy and expansion of the IRIS.TV Contextual Video Marketplace with SSPs, DSPs, agencies and publishers in the EMEA market.

Prior to joining IRIS.TV, Swanson was most recently VP of EMEA at Telaria, where he reshaped the team and developed the company’s premium video and connected TV (CTV) opportunities.

He was also previously chief revenue officer, EMEA, at PubMatic. Here, he was responsible for the overall EMEA business, growing it geographically, opening new offices, and also further establishing PubMatic’s business performance across the region.

Richie Hyden, COO and co-founder of IRIS.TV, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Bill to the team to lead the EMEA market for us.

“A seasoned leader with deep experience across both the buy and sell-side ecosystems, he will enable our clients to see new and differentiated revenue opportunities as privacy legislation continues to tighten.

“Bill’s most recent experience running the EMEA business for Telaria – the industry’s leading CTV SSP – will be pivotal to IRIS.TV’s continued expansion into the CTV market globally.”

Bill added: “It’s a great time to be joining such an innovative company, particularly one that provides unique business and revenue solutions for both the buy and sell-side of the video and CTV space.

“Moreover, as concerns around first-party data and ongoing legislation drive the programmatic space out of a cookie-based environment, I’m excited to be part of a business that provides such a transparent solution for industry players.

“I am really looking forward to working with co-founders Field Garthwaite and Richie Hyden, as well as the wider team, to grow the business in EMEA.”

Michael Imeson, Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment

The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) has announced that Michael Imeson, Chartered MCSI has been appointed chairman of the CISI Fintech Professional Forum Committee.

Michael is a contributing editor of The Banker magazine, part of the Financial Times Group, and a senior content editor at FT Live, the FT’s conference division.

He also owns Financial & Business Publications, an editorial services agency providing services to banks and other organisations. Before setting up the agency he was a news reporter for The Times and Sunday Times in London.

He is an advisory board member of the European Risk Management Council; a member of the Institute of Internal Communication (MIIC); and an alumni mentor for the London School of Economics.

Michael said: “It’s an honour to take on the lead role in the CISI’s FinTech Professional Forum Committee.

“The Committee runs several events a year covering a diverse and exciting range of topics relevant for CISI members interested in financial technology.

“Since the coronavirus pandemic lockdown these have become virtual events – live webinars – and I must say they’re proving very successful, not least due to the excellent capabilities of the CISI’s events management staff with whom we work closely.

“I first become involved with the Institute in early 2015 when I moderated a lunch-time event on cyber security, and soon after that I joined the Institute as a Member. I joined the FinTech Committee in 2016, became deputy chairman in mid-2018 and now I am chairman.”

Leonard Scudder and Lydia Cheng, Berkeley Rowe

Specialist commercial and corporate law firm Berkeley Rowe has announced two new appointments to its team. Leonard Scudder joins the company as a partner in litigation, while Lydia Cheng will be a paralegal at the international law firm.

Leonard is a solicitor advocate and he joins the firm with a wealth of experience with international companies and high net worth individuals. He will be joining Berkeley Rowe’s rapidly growing disputes practice, which recently hired four extra litigators despite being in the midst of a global pandemic.

Prior to joining Berkeley Rowe Leonard was a partner at another London firm, and was one of five technical legal strategists of a 3,600-strong Legal 500 practice.

Lydia Cheng joined the firm as a paralegal having spent several years working in corporate, conveyancing, and immigration law.

In addition to her considerable experience, Lydia is fluent in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Shanghainese and French.

Tom Keya, CEO of Berkeley Rowe, said: “Dispute resolution is an area which will experience a higher demand in the coming months and years.

“We as a firm have the infrastructure to currently handle disputes from a few million to over a billion.

“Leonard’s experience and client base compliment ours greatly and his appointment will cement our litigation department as a strong conflict-free service offering.”

“East Asia makes up around 20 per cent of our practice, meaning Lydia’s language skills, as well as her academic fortitude, will make her a critical asset in our key growth areas.”

Leonard commented: “I am thrilled to have joined a team that effortlessly puts client’s objectives ahead of its own agenda and manages to do so with finesse and technical excellence.

“The organic growth of Berkeley Rowe is a testament to its effectiveness, particularly in the turbulent markets we are currently facing.”

Lydia added: “I am delighted to have joined such a dynamic team at Berkeley Rowe.

“They consistently demonstrate impressive expertise and a unique commitment to their clients across so many business sectors and areas of law.

“This is undoubtedly an exceptional firm to develop the necessary skills and progress in my legal career.”

Caner Daywood, Sammy Albon and Jack Faulkner, Digital Voices

Influencer marketing agency Digital Voices has strengthened its team with three new hires on the back of recent growth.

The three new hires are: Caner Daywood, creative strategist, specialising in building agency relationships and partners, Sammy Albon, creative strategist working across music, gaming and entertainment and Jack Faulkner, campaign producer sourcing and working with the right influencers to build organic content.

Creative strategist Caner has worked both in-house and agency-side in social content strategy and influencer outreach/ management for over 10 years for agencies such as FCB Inferno, Kindred Agency and most recently at VMLY&R.

Caner’s role at Digital Voices is to cultivate value between agencies, brands and customers by creating YouTube influencer marketing campaigns with guaranteed results.

Sammy has been a content creator since the industry’s infancy in 2013, with two YouTube channels and over 200k subscribers. He has collaborated closely with companies including the BBC, McDonalds, Disney, and more.

Sammy’s role at Digital Voices will bring to life YouTube creator campaigns that audiences believe in, and bring guaranteed results to brands.

Jack has almost 7 years of customer service experience delivering bespoke solutions to customers and experience working on a variety of creative projects, now joining the Digital Voices team, to assist in creating engaging organic content and deliver marketing solutions to promote products with brand owners and YouTube creators.

Founder Jennifer Quigley-Jones commented: “ These new hires bring great creativity and experience into the team to ensure we can continue to build powerful YouTube creator marketing campaigns.

“We are a growing young team of creative YouTube obsessives with the knowhow to make content that breaks through the noise.”

Christian Schweiger, Shield Therapeutics

Shield Therapeutics plc, a pharmaceutical company, has announced the appointment of Dr. Christian Schweiger as a non-executive director of the company with immediate effect. Christian was a co-founder of Shield in 2008 and was more recently employed by the company between March 2016 and April 2017 in a senior medical science capacity.

Hans Peter Hasler, chairman of Shield Therapeutics, said: “I am delighted that Christian has agreed to join the board of Shield bringing his previous knowledge of the company and Feraccru, and also his extensive experience in medical affairs and clinical development.”