The Companies of Tomorrow: Fintech and Alternative Finance

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The Companies of Tomorrow: Fintech and Alternative Finance

SEEDRS

Industry/sector: Venture capital

Founded: 2009

Founders: Jeff Lynn, Carlos Silva

Chief legal officer: Karen Kerrigan

Based: London

Seedrs began as an MBA project at Oxford’s Saïd Business School before launching in 2012. In May that year it raised £1.3m in funding and received authorisation to become the first regulated equity crowdfunding platform in the world. Like Crowdcube, its model is based on bringing crowd investors and entrepreneurs together to invest in start-ups. It has now funded over 350 companies and helped to invest over £130m through campaigns on its platform.

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The Companies of Tomorrow: Technology and Digital Business

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The Companies of Tomorrow: Technology and Digital Business

 

SKYSCANNER

Industry/sector: Travel

Founded: 2001

Founders: Gareth Williams, Barry Smith, Bonamy Grimes

General counsel: Carolyn Jameson

Founded in Edinburgh in 2001, Skyscanner has revenues of £120m and has offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London in the UK with additional offices in locations including Singapore, Beijing, Miami, Barcelona, and Tokyo. The site is available in over 30 languages and on average is used by 60 million people per month.

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The Companies of Tomorrow: Pharma and Life Sciences

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The Companies of Tomorrow: Pharma and Life Sciences

DEEPMIND HEALTH

Industry/sector: Medical research/data

Founded: 2010 (DeepMind), 2016 (DeepMind Health)

Founders (DeepMind): Demis Hassabis (pictured), Shane Legg, Mustafa Suleyman

General counsel: Trevor Callaghan (DeepMind)

Based: London

In early 2016, Google-owned artificial intelligence (AI) specialist DeepMind announced it would create a healthcare division. DeepMind has chalked up some notable successes in advanced AI – including creating AlphaGo, the first programme to beat a human player at the game of Go – making the formation of DeepMind Health one of the most touted recent developments in the life sciences sector.

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Game on – consolidation and tougher regulation raise the odds for betting industry GCs

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Game on – consolidation and tougher regulation raise the odds for betting industry GCs

Increased regulation and high-level consolidation have raised the odds for in-house lawyers playing in the gaming and betting industry

When Edward Traynor took the general counsel (GC) position at Paddy Power in April 2015, he arrived in the middle of a £400m return of capital to the business’s shareholders. Once that was completed, he planned to settle in, restructure the legal team and take a holiday after the company’s annual general meeting (AGM). That holiday never happened. Instead Paddy Power agreed a £7bn merger with Betfair to create one of the world’s largest online gambling businesses with more than 7,000 staff and £1.2bn in sales. Even the best-laid plans often go awry.

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The Companies of Tomorrow: Trailblazers

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The Companies of Tomorrow: Trailblazers

SECRET ESCAPES

Industry/sector: Travel

Founded: 2010

Founders: Tom Valentine, Alex Saint

Head of legal: Christine Cordon

Heralded as one of the UK’s runaway tech success stories, members-only British travel company Secret Escapes has made its mark in the travel industry selling heavily discounted luxury hotel stays and trips through its website and mobile app.

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Client profile: Ruwan De Soyza, Worldpay

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Client profile: Ruwan De Soyza, Worldpay

Promoted to group GC at the start of the year, the experienced M&A lawyer on why he wants to stay hands-on

When Ruwan De Soyza arrived for his interview with former Worldpay general counsel (GC) Mark Chambers in 2011, he thought he was being considered for the role of GC for corporate services. Unbeknown to De Soyza, Chambers had a different path in mind, which ultimately led to him taking the group GC role in January this year.

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Northern lights – The trials and treasures of Scotland’s leading GCs

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Northern lights – The trials and treasures of Scotland’s leading GCs

Outside the limelight of London’s legal community, Scotland’s GCs toil in low profile. Legal Business assesses the talent north of the border

The professional life of a public company general counsel (GC) in Scotland can feel isolated at times. As a member of a small club, opportunities to plug into the professional networks that their peers in the South East of England take for granted can be limited. ‘We do get a sense sometimes that we are a decreasing community!’ confesses Christopher Morgan, GC and company secretary at Glasgow-based engineering plc Weir Group. ‘Certainly the number of Scottish-based plc GCs is thin on the ground and it’s dwindling.’

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Client profile: Alice Marsden, Thomas Cook Group

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Client profile: Alice Marsden, Thomas Cook Group

The travel group’s GC discusses why helping to save holidaymakers is more satisfying than dealmaking

Many in-house counsel will say that the attraction of the job comes from having greater influence on their business and this is also true for Alice Marsden, group general counsel (GC) of Thomas Cook Group. However, the real draw for her comes from sometimes getting to have an altogether more personal impact.

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Client profile: Margaret Cole, PwC UK

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Client profile: Margaret Cole, PwC UK

Once the chief enforcer for the City, the PwC UK general counsel discusses breaking balls and finding a silver lining to the financial crisis

‘I would never have taken a role where I wasn’t sitting at the top table. I make sure I have influence in how a firm goes about things,’ notes veteran litigator Margaret Cole, PwC’s UK general counsel (GC) and chief risk officer. Continue reading “Client profile: Margaret Cole, PwC UK”

The new black – the spin and substance behind collaboration

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The new black – the spin and substance behind collaboration

Collaboration has become the new innovation – the quality clients are supposed to want and progressive law firms strive to deliver. Does the reality match the hype?

‘Why are so many restaurants now featuring windows that let you peek into their kitchens, or seating you as close as possible to the chefs? Because customers have decided they want to be “in the kitchen”. They want to see how the sausage is made.’

Heidi Gardner, Harvard Law School

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