This week's London appointments

Alex Willard, Pivigo

Data science hub Pivigo has appointed Alex Willard as chief executive officer.

Alex brings over a decade’s leadership experience gained in global organisations within the technology sector. She joins Pivigo from Imagination Technologies, where she was executive entrepreneur-in-residence.

In her role at Imagination Technologies, Willard built AI marketplace Kynisys.ai. Prior to Imagination, she was CEO at connected car platform Tantalum Corporation.

Commenting on her appointment, Alex said: “I am honoured and delighted to serve as Pivigo’s next chief executive officer.

“The Pivigo team includes deeply experienced professionals who are already building the new products and platforms that we need to be successful in the long term.

“Now is the right time to deliver our ambitious technology vision. I cannot wait to get started.”

Dr Kim Nilsson, chairman of Pivigo, added: “We are delighted to welcome Alex Willard as our new CEO.

“She brings a wealth of experience as an accomplished technology leader and her experience will be invaluable. I look forward to seeing her build on the impressive milestones already accomplished by the Pivigo team and take the company to the next level.”

Samantha Sykes and Jack Barber, Bellway London

The partnerships division of housebuilder Bellway London has appointed Samantha Sykes and Jack Barber as sales advisors.

Jack will join Samantha, who initially joined Bellway London Partnerships in February, at the firm’s sales office at its Fielders Quarter development.

Samantha has been working in new-build sales for a year after she moved to Greenwich from Clacton-on-Sea, where she was previously an NHS pharmacy technician.

Samantha explained: “When I moved to London I fancied a career change and I loved new homes and interior design so I thought I’d try sales. I started at another housebuilder in Swanley and joined Bellway London Partnerships in February.

“I’m really enjoying working at Bellway London Partnerships. The experience so far has been challenging but amazing. We sold all the homes in the first phase during lockdown, so we’ve been really busy.

“It’s great to be back in the office to start meeting customers on a one-to-one appointment basis and be able to show them around the development, thanks to the safety restrictions we have in-place on-site to ensure social distancing is maintained throughout.”

Jack joined Bellway London Partnerships from the housebuilder’s Essex division. He explained: “Before joining London Partnerships I had worked in Essex for two years across a mixture of developments selling a range of houses and apartments.

“Being at Fielders Quarter has been absolutely fantastic so far. The whole area is so friendly and it’s a lovely little hub of people.

Bill Kenneally, regional director of Bellway London Partnerships, added: “We’re delighted to welcome our newest members of staff to the Bellway London Partnerships team.

“Samantha and Jack have had an unconventional start to their new positions but that hasn’t deterred them from getting stuck into their new roles.

“The addition of new staff in the division will help us as we progress into our next wave of growth at Fielders Quarter and at London Partnerships.”

Ben Agnew, Emerging Payments Association (EPA)

The Emerging Payments Association (EPA) has appointed Ben Agnew as its new chief executive officer.

For over 15 years, Ben has worked in the events, digital and marketing services space. Credited for his work in restructuring commercial operations at Informa, his most recent role was managing director at independent media business Datacenter Dynamics.

With recognised contributions to Clarion Events and IQPC, Ben has experience in the B2B events and media industry.

Ben commented: “I’m excited to lead the team at this highly engaged industry body, dedicated to representing and serving the best interests of the UK payments sector.

“As part of the EPA team, I look forward to delivering an ambitious business strategy, and bringing my extensive B2B events and digital experience to the table to help further the EPA’s already impressive events programme.”

EPA’s director general, Tony Craddock, added: “We are delighted to have Ben on board, leading the Emerging Payments Association into the future.

“We very much look forward to the positive and impactful contributions we know he will make.”

Dorian Hicks, Mazars

Accountancy and advisory firm Mazars has appointed Dorian Hicks as partner and lead of the general insurance actuarial team.

Dorian has over 20 years’ actuarial experience, across both general insurance and in the London market.

Leading the general insurance actuarial team at Mazars, Dorian will further strengthen the firm’s position as an insurance specialist.

Alongside strong audit experience, Dorian will provide knowledge on reserving, mergers and acquisitions, finance and actuarial transformation, S166, risk & capital management, and actuarial finance insights.

Michael Tripp, partner and head of insurance at Mazars, commented: “In a time of disruption and transformation across the market, sharp minds and talent will make all the difference to our clients.

“These changes are helping Mazars grow and for that reason we are thrilled to welcome Dorian to our team, and the partnership.

“His strong leadership will be pivotal in ensuring we are able to continue growing our team, for which we are actively recruiting at all levels, while his experience and knowledge of the industry will be a huge asset to our clients”

Evan Walser, GoCardless

Recurring payments fintech GoCardless has appointed Even Walser as chief revenue officer.

Based at GoCardless’ London headquarters, Even will have overall responsibility for the company’s commercial sales organisation including sales, sales operations, partnerships, solution engineering and international operations.

Walser has more than 17 years’ experience of building and leading sales teams and has held leadership positions at Practice Fusion, Genius.com and Brand Watch.

Most recently, Even was chief revenue officer at digital experience analytics company Decibel, where he scaled and navigated the business through to a $40m Series B funding round.

Hiroki Takeuchi, CEO at GoCardless, commented: “Even will play a key role in accelerating adoption of GoCardless as a key payment method within mid-tier to enterprise organisations as companies seek to improve their payment operations and expand internationally.

“He brings a wealth of experience in implementing sales strategies to drive growth and revenue in the tech sector.

“Even is well placed to build on what we’ve already achieved and help accelerate our growth plans.”

Even added: “Payments is an incredibly exciting space right now and I’m looking forward to leading the GoCardless team to even greater success.

“The subscription economy is at a tipping point and the enormity of the $7trn recurring payments market made it clear to me that GoCardless presents a huge opportunity.

“Credit cards are an imperfect vehicle for collecting invoice and subscription payments, principally because they fail, and other payment methods do not address the specific requirements for managing recurring payments efficiently and effectively.”