Our Board of Directors
Andrew Blazye brings a wealth of experience to the Board. He is currently the Executive Chair of Aryza Group Limited, the provider of insolvency and loan management software products to the financial services sectors in the UK, Europe, Canada and Australia. Previously, amongst other roles, Andrew was the Executive Chair of Universe Group plc, an AIM quoted provider of transaction products and services to the retail industry, which was sold in January 2022 to Inform Information Systems Limited for £33.1 million which represented a premium of 129 per cent, to the Universe share price on the business day preceding the announcement of the sale. For more than 12 years, Andrew was a member of the global executive team at FLEETCOR, a US Fortune 500 speciality payments business. As European CEO, he set up the FLEETCOR business in Europe.
Neil Radley has over 20 years’ experience in the finance, retail and technology sectors. He was previously the CEO of Universe Group plc, an AIM quoted provider of transaction products and services to the retail industry, which was sold in January 2022 to Inform Information Systems Limited for £33.1 million which represented a premium of 129 per cent, to the Universe share price on the business day preceding the announcement of the sale. Previously, he was Chair and CEO of Jaja Finance Limited, a fintech company providing digital and physical credit cards, guiding them through the creation and launch of the UK business and subsequent purchase of the Bank of Ireland UK card portfolio. Neil has previously held several senior roles at Barclays Bank in their Barclaycard division both in the UK and Europe. He qualified as an accountant with PwC.
Adrian, who joined the Company in October 2023, is an experienced CFO and ICAEW qualified accountant, having worked in both listed and private equity-led businesses, holding multiple senior leadership roles in B2B and B2C financial services and technology companies, most recently at Zest Technology Group and AIM quoted Universe Group plc.
Prior to investing as a seed investor in the business, Graham developed a diverse set of international business skills from the corporate boardroom to his own start up. Graham has worked in a number of technology businesses, initially in engineering and then IT-based design technology roles, where he led a number of strategic initiatives and directed many multi-million-dollar contracts with leading blue chip companies across a diverse set of industries with ComputerVision Corporation, a leading US CAD/CAM provider. From the late 1980s Graham was Sales Director, Managing Director and then Executive Vice-President, before leaving in 1997. In 1998, Graham started his own company which he later merged with Division Plc. He became Managing Director before disposing of the enlarged business to Parametric Technology in 2000. Graham led the original Sprue Aegis (now FireAngel) IPO and until February 2015 was the Group Chief Executive and Chairman. He subsequently undertook the role of Executive Chairman until 22 January 2019, on which date he transitioned to the role of Executive Director. On 27 May 2020, Graham became a Non-Executive Director of the company and continues to have Business Development responsibilities, in particular working to exploit FireAngel’s strong IP portfolio globally.
Graham is currently the CFO of XP Factory plc, one of the UK’s pre-eminent experiential leisure businesses, which is quoted on AIM. In 2021, Graham was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of Universe Group plc, an AIM quoted provider of transaction products and services to the retail industry where he served until the company was sold in 2022.
Graham was one of the founding employees of Gresham House plc where, alongside Tony Dalwood, he was responsible for establishing and managing a successful strategic equity business unit which focuses on both quoted and unquoted equity investments using the principles and practices of private equity. He was subsequently appointed as a Non-Executive Director of Rockwood Strategic plc in June 2021 as a representative of Gresham House, a substantial shareholder, and remained a director until September 2022.
Prior to joining Gresham House, Graham spent six years as a senior executive at PayPoint Plc, latterly as director of strategic planning and corporate development. He was also executive chairman and president of PayByPhone, a multi-national mobile payments technology division of PayPoint operating in Canada, the UK and France between 2010 and 2014.
Between 2005 and 2009, he was head of strategic investment and all corporate finance activity at SVG Investment Managers, the public equities team within SVG Capital plc. He joined SVG from JPMorgan Cazenove, where he was a director in the corporate finance department, including 3.5 years establishing, building and leading Cazenove’s corporate finance business in South Africa.
He was a non-executive director of Journey Group plc from 2007 until 2016, including periods as chairman of the audit and nomination committees, and acting chairman when Journey Group was subject to a successful takeover bid by private equity. Graham, who is a chartered accountant, began his career in audit and corporate finance at Deloitte and holds an MA in Economics from the University of Cambridge.
Graham was one of the founding employees of Gresham House plc where, alongside Tony Dalwood, he was responsible for establishing and managing a successful strategic equity business unit which focuses on both quoted and unquoted equity investments using the principles and practices of private equity. He was subsequently appointed as a Non-Executive Director of Rockwood Strategic plc in June 2021 as a representative of Gresham House, a substantial shareholder, and remained a director until September 2022.
Prior to joining Gresham House, Graham spent six years as a senior executive at PayPoint Plc, latterly as director of strategic planning and corporate development. He was also executive chairman and president of PayByPhone, a multi-national mobile payments technology division of PayPoint operating in Canada, the UK and France between 2010 and 2014.
Between 2005 and 2009, he was head of strategic investment and all corporate finance activity at SVG Investment Managers, the public equities team within SVG Capital plc. He joined SVG from JPMorgan Cazenove, where he was a director in the corporate finance department, including 3.5 years establishing, building and leading Cazenove’s corporate finance business in South Africa.
He was a non-executive director of Journey Group plc from 2007 until 2016, including periods as chairman of the audit and nomination committees, and acting chairman when Journey Group was subject to a successful takeover bid by private equity. Graham, who is a chartered accountant, began his career in audit and corporate finance at Deloitte and holds an MA in Economics from the University of Cambridge.