“Beacon is building something revolutionary. There is definitely a performance gap between companies that use our platform and ones that don’t. ”

Typical Day

First Things

  • Normally the day starts in a pretty intense way for me. It’s either an early morning gym session, or getting breakfast ready for the kids, or quite often straight into a Zoom call with one of our clients
  • Then a mid-morning Zoom “coffee catch-up” call with the London team
  • Late morning it could be a training session, teaching a client how to implement Beacon within their firm or to solve a specific issue

Mids

  • Connect with the New York office, and my Co-Head, Jeff Paz
  • Various internal meetings – could be an internal financial engineering call, a client project management discussion or a management call looking ahead to how we plan to resource our various tasks
  • Take a quick break to collect our 7-year old daughter Maria from school

Last Things

  • Finish my day by creating a to do list for the next day
  • I try to be active; either a walk or playing some badminton in the garden with my family
  • Cook and eat dinner

 

Co-Heading a Department

At Beacon, Jeff and I run the Client Solutions team. I think it’s the best seat in the house. We get the chance to be involved in many aspects of the company and we come in contact with all clients whether they are in the process of onboarding or if they have been with us for years. I get to build relationships with them, and we become more like partners than clients. I help train their developers and demonstrate how to fully use all the capabilities Beacon has to offer.

Great Startup Opportunities

Being a part of a startup gives me access to so many different facets in the company. From interacting with clients, writing code, interviewing and hiring in the London team, and even getting involved with marketing, there’s so many niches you can take a peek into. I never feel boxed in to doing the same things every day.

What Motivates Me

Developing relationships with clients motivates me to keep interacting with them and making sure they’re getting great service. It’s so satisfying to take a step back and see all the work the team has done and the positive impact for clients.

Upcoming Goals

My goal for Beacon is to help us realise our huge potential and build a strong business, particularly in the EMEA region. I have a strong drive to support our global commodities clients too because I worked in that world for 20 years prior to joining Beacon. Overall though, my number one aim is that Beacon should succeed and be a respected firm and clients should have a positive feeling about us.

Fast Trivia:

Book

The Music of the Primes, by Markus du Sautoy. Maths was my first love as a child but, as this book points out, if you go too deep it can drive you crazy

Culture

When I can, my wife Alina and I love taking our kids to museums and art galleries in London

TV and Radio

I’m a radio addict and I listen to a lot of the BBC’s output, particularly Radio 4. I also get a kick out of visiting live recordings of radio comedy shows in London when that’s possible. I actually had a short career straight after college as a radio journalist. I trained and worked for 2 years in local radio news and my first proper job was at Radio City in Liverpool – an amazing experience where I got to report on local stories, make features, and read the news.

Travel

I’m proud of having taken our boys to the Faroe Islands in Norway back in 2015 where we successfully witnessed a total eclipse of the sun. It was magnificent but nerve-wracking because the weather was so unpredictable. We were lucky to choose the right spot and the clouds parted at just the right time.

Food

Traditional dishes, such as Fish and Chips, not to sound too British

Favorite Things

Taking long walks or bike rides with my family, reading the paper in a local coffee shop, and flying kites in the Chiltern hills to the north-west of London.

Joined Beacon

April, 2016

Education

Bachelor’s in Applied Mathematics, University of Cambridge

Masters in Mathematical Trading & Finance, City University Business School (London)

Hometown

Barrow-Furness, Cumbria in northern England – next to the Lake District

Work Location

London, U.K.

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