Board Of Directors

Mike McLaren

Chief Financial Officer

Date of Appointment

• Chief Financial Officer – April 2011
• Joined FDM – 2011

Experience

Mike is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Prior to joining FDM, Mike fulfilled the roles of Group Finance Director and Chief Operating Officer in a premium listed business in the software and services sector. In addition, Mike has been an Independent Non-Executive Chair and Non-Executive Director on the boards of a number of other companies. Overall, Mike has more than 30 years’ experience of working within the technology sector in a range of senior financial, commercial and operational roles.

External Appointments

ActiveOps plc (Non-Executive Director, Chair of Audit Committee, appointed March 2021).

Alan Kinnear

Independent Non-Executive Director

Date of Appointment

• Non-Executive Director – January 2020

Experience

Alan is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.

Alan was with PwC for 35 years until his retirement in 2015, including 23 years as an audit partner working with listed, private equity-backed and fast-growth entrepreneurial companies. He was a member of PwC’s South East regional board and a national leader for audit services in the private equity sector. He has significant skills and experience in financial reporting, regulation, corporate governance and risk management.

During the year following his retirement from PwC in 2015, Alan was a non-executive director with CEGA Holdings Limited.

External Appointments

Alan has no external appointments.

Jacqueline De Rojas CBE

Independent Non-Executive Director

Date of Appointment

• Non-Executive Director – October 2019

Experience 

Jacqueline is a highly regarded leader in the UK technology field, with a strong reputation as a champion of women and minority voices. She sits on the board of technology trade association techUK where she has used her platform as president to shape policy over the last seven years to enable the technology industry to thrive. Her commitment to diversity and building tech skills in the sector is her driver for co-chairing the Governance Board of the Institute of Coding.

Prior to this, Jacqueline held senior executive roles at major tech companies including Sage Group, Citrix Systems, CA Technologies, Novell and McAfee International. She was previously a non-executive director at AO World plc and Home Retail Group plc. In 2019, Jacqueline was awarded a CBE for Services to International Trade in Technology.

Jacqueline is the Board’s designated Non-Executive Director for engagement with the Group’s workforce, enabling employees to share ideas and concerns with senior management and the Board.

External Appointments

• Rightmove plc (Senior Independent Director, appointed December 2016).
• techUK Limited (Director, appointed July 2014).
• Industrial and Financial Systems, IFS AB (Sweden) (Non-Executive Director, appointed May 2021.

Peter Whiting

Senior Independent Director

Date of Appointment

• Non-Executive Director – June 2014
• Senior Independent Director – June 2014
• Chair of the Remuneration Committee – June 2014

Experience 

Peter has over 20 years of experience as an investment banker specialising in the software and IT services sector. Peter joined UBS in 2000 and led its UK small and mid-cap research team. Between 2007 and 2011 he was Chief Operating Officer of UBS European Equity Research. One of his responsibilities during this period was the oversight of the graduate recruitment, training and development programmes, both for the Research business and the Equities operation as a whole. With more than thirty board-years of NED experience in the financial services and technology industries, including with TruFin plc, Keystone Law Group plc and Aptitude Software Group plc, Peter has developed a strong technology-led NED portfolio.

External Appointments

• Kooth plc (Non-Executive Chair, appointed September 2020)
• Celebrus Technologies Plc (formerly D4T4 Solutions plc) (Non-Executive Director, Chair of Remuneration Committee, appointed July 2018).
• Team17 Group Plc (Non-Executive Director, appointed August 2023)
• Aurrigo International Plc (Non-Executive Director, Chair of Audit Committee, appointed 1 February 2024)

Having served more than nine years on the Board since his appointment, Peter Whiting will step down from the Board at the end of this year’s AGM which is due to be held on 14 May 2024. 

Rowena Murray

Non-Executive Director

Date of Appointment

• Non-Executive Director – August 2023

Experience

Rowena is highly regarded for her experience in investment banking and corporate broking, and her insight into the public markets. She has a strong reputation for helping businesses to implement their strategies effectively to generate growth and create value.

Rowena began her career in Sydney as a corporate lawyer at a leading Australian law firm. She moved to the UK in 2004 and joined Investec Bank plc (“Investec”). As a director in Investec’s Investment Banking division, Rowena provided strategic advice to public and private companies and led corporate transactions across a variety of sectors, including business services and technology. In 2017 she moved to Tenzing Private Equity, an investor in high-growth UK and European SMEs, where she has been the appointed non-executive director for various companies within the Tenzing portfolio.

External Appointments

• Altum Group
• Eikon Group