A portfolio Financial Director with over 30 years of experience ranging from multinational corporates to small startups, David is passionate and committed to supporting the growth of the Global Champions of the future.
David began his career in finance at Kodak, the biggest employer in his hometown at the time, where he studied to become a qualified accountant. With a hunger to progress his career, and convinced that technology was the future, shortly after qualifying, he joined the finance division of Tandem Computers.
After three years at Tandem, David got approached by two former colleagues from Kodak, who remembered him from the financial training courses that he used to deliver there. They had an idea for a start-up in the field of digital imaging software – a concept commonplace today, but just emerging from the research labs at the time.
David joined the team and together they founded Imagesolve, one of the first commercial digital imaging companies in the UK, which attracted high interest from UK banks from the start. Though the 3 founders had promised each other “not to sell the business to the first serious buyer” the strong growth and profitability achieved by year two led to a really attractive offer – and a successful trade sale to a US-based group was achieved 4 years after it was founded.
With that as a credential under his belt, David began receiving offers for Finance Director roles, including the document-imaging market leader Filenet Corporation and later the workflow specialists Staffware. At Staffware David worked for founder John O’Connell – a relationship that has led to him becoming a Founding Member and Finance Director of ScaleUp Group.
David is now a portfolio FD and has supported over 20 companies, most recently as the FD of ScaleUp Group Client, Ethelcare.
“I see the tech sector as a hugely fertile area, and it is exciting in its own right to see new tech develop,” says David.
“Ethelcare attracted me in particular because of its noble mission to make people’s lives better, and a strong vision to make it happen.”
A father and grandfather, in his free time David spends his time with his family and taking long walks in the nearby woods with his wife, Gill and their retriever, Zac.