Penny Ladkin-Brand

Penny Ladkin-Brand

Chair

Appointed July 2017

Penny is Non-Executive Chair and a member of the Nomination, Audit and Remuneration Committees.

Penny joined Next 15 as a Non-Executive Director and chair of the Audit Committee. In April 2020 she was appointed as Senior Independent Director and from February 2021 became Chair of the Board.

Skills and experience
Penny is also Chief Financial Officer at Future plc, a global platform for specialist media, having been reappointed into the role in November 2021 following a year as Chief Strategy Officer. She was previously Chief Financial Officer at Future from August 2019 to June 2020 during which time the group’s market capitalisation increased from £25m to £1.2bn and entered the FTSE 250 as it became a digital led business. Prior to that, Penny was Commercial Director at Auto Trader Group plc responsible for digital monetisation. Penny brings considerable experience of digital transformation and M&A to the Board. Penny qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PwC before moving into corporate finance.

Tim Dyson

Tim Dyson

Chief Executive Officer

Appointed August 1988

Tim joined the Group in 1984 straight from Loughborough University and became CEO in 1992.

Skills and experience
As one of the early pioneers of tech PR, he has worked on major corporate and product campaigns with such companies as Cisco, Microsoft, IBM and Intel. Tim moved from London to set up the Group’s first US business in 1995 in Seattle and is now based in California. Tim oversaw the flotation of the Company on the London Stock Exchange and has managed a string of successful acquisitions by the Group including The Outcast Agency, M Booth, Activate and The Blueshirt Group in the US as well as Morar (now Savanta), Elvis, Velocity, Planning-inc and Publitek in the UK. Tim has also driven the evolution of the Group from a marcom business into a Growth Consultancy grounded in data and technology. Outside Next 15, Tim has served on the boards and advisory boards of a number of emerging technology companies. Tim was named an Emerging Power Player by PR Week US and subsequently in PR Week’s Power Book. Tim was also recognised on the Holmes Report’s In2’s Innovator 25, which recognises individuals who have contributed ideas that set the bar for the industry.”

Peter Harris

Peter Harris

Chief Financial Officer

Appointed March 2014

Peter joined Next 15 as Chief Financial Officer in November 2013 and was appointed as an Executive Director in March 2014.

Skills and experience
Peter’s financial experience spans 30 years and he has extensive media experience, having spent the last 25 years in finance roles in the media sector. From July 2013 until December 2018, he was a Non-Executive Director of Communisis plc and Chairman of its Audit Committee. He was previously the Interim Finance Director at Centaur Media plc, Interim CFO of Bell Pottinger LLP, CFO of the Engine Group, and CFO of 19 Entertainment. Prior to that, he was Group Finance Director of Capital Radio plc. Peter has considerable experience in UK and US-listed companies with international exposure.

Jonathan Peachey

Jonathan Peachey

Chief Operating Officer

Appointed April 2022

Jonathan joined Next 15 in July 2018 and became Chief Operating Officer in 2019. He was appointed as an Executive Director in April 2022.

Skills and experience
Jonathan has 35 years’ experience in digital transformation. At the BBC, he led the myBBC programme that introduced customer data at scale to drive better ways to commission, discover and consume content. Before the BBC, he founded and led an award-winning consultancy that specialised in using digital technology to improve government delivery. As part of that role, Jonathan launched a dedicated TV channel to support ongoing teacher development, and wrote the UK government’s digital strategy which led to the creation of gov.uk. Jonathan sold that business to The Engine Group where he subsequently became Chief Operating Officer. Jonathan qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PwC before moving into management consultancy and subsequently working in commercial television delivering some of the first interactive services.

Jonathan is heavily involved in the UK tech startup scene, having founded a number of companies and invested in or mentored numerous others.

Paul Butler

Paul Butler

Non-Executive Director

Appointed June 2022

Paul joined Next 15 as a Non-Executive Director

Skills and experience
Paul is an expert in business development, strategy, and operations, with more than 20 years of experience in the media, entertainment, and consulting industries. He is currently President & Chief Transformation Officer at New America, a U.S.-based think tank founded in 1999. Before this, he was Chief Operating Officer at sparks & honey, the Omnicom-owned cultural intelligence consultancy.

Dianna Jones

Dianna Jones

Non-Executive Director

Appointed April 2022

Dianna joined Next 15 as a Non-Executive Director.

Skills and experience
With nearly 20 years of experience spanning the energy and technology industries, Dianna brings expertise in global ethics and legal compliance, business risk mitigation in both mature and scaling environments, and ESG. Dianna is Director, Legal Compliance at Uber Technologies, Inc. She was previously Regional Compliance Counsel – Western Hemisphere at John Wood Group plc, a global leader in engineering and technical consulting services for the energy and infrastructure industries. Prior to that, she was with the international law firm, Greenberg Traurig, LLP, where she advised national and multinational companies on complex M&A transactions, reorganisations and restructurings. Dianna is licensed by the State Bar of Texas and registered with the State Bar of California.

Robyn Perriss

Robyn Perriss

Non-Executive Director

Appointed December 2020

As a Non-Executive Director of Next 15, Robyn chairs the Audit Committee and is a member of the Nomination and Remuneration Committees.

Skills and experience
Robyn has extensive experience in both the technology and media industries, together with core skills in finance, having served as Finance Director at Rightmove plc, the UK’s largest property portal, until June 2020. Robyn previously held senior roles at Rightmove, including as Financial Controller and Company Secretary. Before joining Rightmove, Robyn was Group Financial Controller at Auto Trader, another media sector disruptor. Robyn is currently a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee at Softcat plc, a leading provider of IT infrastructure services and solutions. She is also a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee at Dr Martens plc, an iconic British consumer brand. Robyn qualified as a Chartered Accountant in South Africa with KPMG and worked in both audit and transaction services.

Helen Hunter

Helen Hunter

Non-Executive Director

Appointed June 2019

As a Non-Executive Director of Next 15, Helen chairs the Remuneration Committee and is a member of the Nomination and Audit Committees.

Skills and experience
Helen is Chief Technology Officer for Customer and Data at Sainsbury’s plc, where her remit is to (i) build and run the Tech underpinning Sainsbury's ecommerce propositions (Grocery online, Argos, Tu, and Habitat) and instore digital customer propositions e.g Smartshop; (ii) build and run the Tech used to communicate with customers, in Contact Centres and in Marketing; and (iii) to maximise the value of the Group’s data asset: democratising access and finding creative ways to unlock its insight potential in support of Sainsbury’s strategy to be connected to customers. Previously Helen led the creation of the new Nectar digital loyalty scheme (Food), Sainsbury’s Customer Permissions Management Tool (multi-brand), Omni-channel coupons (Food), Sainsbury’s Brand Match (Food), and SCV (Food). Before joining Sainsbury’s, Helen held a variety of commercial and marketing roles at Home Retail Group, Woolworths Group, and Kingfisher Group. Helen is also currently a Governor of Lancing College.

Mark Sanford

Mark Sanford

General Counsel and Company Secretary

Appointed February 2021

Having qualified as a solicitor at Eversheds, Mark worked in their Corporate team before moving to his first in-house role at Premier Farnell plc. Mark first joined Next 15 in 2003 as General Counsel and Company Secretary. In 2009 he set up his own boutique law firm Baker Sanford LLP while continuing to provide an outsourced legal and company secretarial function to Next 15. In 2017 Mark became General Counsel and Company Secretary of Ebiquity plc, an AIM-listed media consultancy business. He re-joined Next 15 in February 2021.

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