Following a £10.25m investment from BGF, Jola has appointed three new board members. Martin Harriman as Non-Executive Director, Ronnie Smith as Chief Financial Officer and Seb Saywood from BGF joins as Investor Director.
Martin has worked as an executive for some of the largest companies in the telecoms sector including Telefonica (where he was CEO), O2, Ericsson Marconi and Lightsquared Inc. He has worked in Australia, Sweden, and the USA. He also holds several Non-Executive Director posts within the ICT sector.
Ronnie joined Jola in June 2020 and successfully guided the company through the competitive investment process and the financial transaction with BGF. Ronnie is a well-known figure in the telecommunications sector having been CFO of Spiritel and co-founder/CFO of Six Degrees Group. He has held a variety of finance roles in several listed and private equity backed UK and US businesses, including Sigma Aldrich Inc., ICN Biomedicals Inc., The Ritchie Group Plc and The Rope Company Group Limited. His experience covers a range of sectors including manufacturing, bioscience, distribution, and telecoms. Ronnie has worked in several Pan-European roles that have involved cross-border mergers and acquisitions.
Seb joined BGF in January 2018 to open their Nottingham office, which is close to Jola’s Headquarters. His responsibilities include sourcing and executing new investments and working with portfolio companies to support their growth. Prior to BGF, Seb was a Director in Foresight Group’s Private Equity Team where he helped launch their first regional investment fund and led numerous investments. He also spent several years at Clearwater International as a Director in corporate finance lead advisory, having previously trained as a Chartered Accountant.
Andrew Dickinson CEO Jola commented, “It’s rare to find individuals of such quality that are also down-to-earth and easy to get on with. We are all looking forward to working with Martin, Ronnie and Seb.”