about us: who drives us forward?

Thomsons Online Benefits was formed in 2000 with the objective of revolutionising the way that employees benefits are administered and communicated. From the beginning we have believed that great organisations are built by great people. We wanted to set ourselves apart by hiring exceptional people in all roles, and building a culture that thrives on each individual's unique strengths.

The Thomsons Online Benefits team hail from more than ten different countries and represent a wide range of ethnic origins. They bring an array of professional experience and cultural perspectives. We believe that in today's global business environment, this diversity is critical to success.

Michael Whitfield | Chief Executive Officer
	Michael has been advising companies and individuals since 1980 and is a senior figure in the financial services industry; In October 1991 Michael became the Managing Director at Swire Fraser, an employee benefits consultancy part of the Hong Kong based Swire Group (now called Orbit and owned by Benfield Insurance Group); In February 1996 he became the Managing Director of European Financial Services at Alexander Forbes, then known as Nelson Hurst, one of the world's largest financial services and insurance broking companies; In 1998 Michael was awarded the "best corporate IFA" of the year award in the Money Marketing Financial Services Awards; Michael says the idea for Thomsons Online Benefits evolved over a number of years from working with clients who were increasingly frustrated by the growing administration mountain and who wanted to find a more efficient way both to run their benefit strategies and to empower their employees to take control of their benefits. When Michael met Chris Bruce the final piece of the jigsaw fell into place and a formidable new partnership was created. A year later Thomsons Online Benefits was born; Michael describes his approach to business as passionate, energetic, driven, creative and visionary. He likes nothing more than to break down the barriers and accepted practices of a sedentary industry that likes to say no and help them find a way to say yes! In recent years Michael has specialised particularly in helping clients move from paper-based to online flexible benefit arrangements; Michael is married with 5 children and lives in London. His interests include most sports - Michael still plays rugby for Barnes RFC, a London Division 1 Club where he is also Chairman and is an active member of the MCC. In addition he has a passion for Africa, archaeology, languages, reading fine wine and food.

Chris Bruce | Managing Director
	Following a stint in the armed services Chris studied for a BA (Hons) in Financial Services at Bristol Business School. To widen his horizons Chris gained a number of years international sales experience in the USA and the Middle East. On his return to the UK, Chris became a Partner at a leading firm of Corporate Advisers. Following the takeover of the partnership Chris met Michael Whitfield who encouraged him to see the possibilities that web-based technology presented for the corporate employee benefits market. Chris both led and designed the original build of our technology. He spearheads the effort to continually update and enhance the technology to ensure that we maintain our position of having the leading edge solution in the market. In both developing our technology and the services that we offer Chris is a firm believer in utilising the feedback of our key stakeholders: employers, employees and suppliers. Chris is also responsible for orchestrating our strategic alliance partner programme. Chris is married with a daughter and lives in South West London. His interests include skiing, travelling and competing in triathlons.

Rory Conwell | Chairman
	Rory Conwell has assisted many entrepreneurs in the succesful development of businesses in the professional information and service sectors in both Europe and the USA. In 1992, he led the venture capital backed buyout of Waterlow Information Services. He is a founding and executive director of Wilmington Group plc. Wilmington was floated on the LSE in 1995 and is a leading provider of information and training for business professionals.  As Chairman he brings his considerable expertise in growing service businesses to the Board of Thomsons Online Benefits.

Bryan Lockyer | Head of Sales and Marketing Asia Pacific
	Bryan has spent most of his life in Asia having grown up in Hong Kong.  After completing his tertiary studies in the USA he began his career in IT with the New Zealand Government and designed and project managed a number of income assessment and salary sacrifice calculators. While Bryan's academic background is in science his passion is applying technology to solve business problems especially in the HRM space.  After a solid foundation in technology Bryan moved into the HR space via the recruitment channel where he became a passionate believer that Intelligent Reward is key to maximising productivity in employees. After establishing himself as a leader in the recruitment space Bryan again found himself back involved in technology, however this time he was able to utilise his sales and HR skills to run sales and marketing for the innovative HRM company PayGlobal. Bryan joined Thomsons Online Benefits in January 2008 to lead business development and sales growth in Asia Pacific - the fastest growing region for employee benefit solutions and has quickly become a key member of the team. “It is rare to find a company with such an exciting mix of innovation and vision, yet having the track record and delivery capability of Thomsons Online Benefits.  I put it down to the total commitment of all TOB employees to put the customer first and the fact that they believe in what they are doing.” Bryan Lockyer Head of Sales and Marketing Asia Pacific.

Pete Craghill | Chief Technical Officer
	Pete gained a BSc Hons in Computer Programming at the University of Lancashire. To widen his horizons Pete then toured Europe extensively and then made a road trip across the USA, stopping for 3 months to work with children with ADHD and Autism. On his return to the UK, Pete was involved with various IT support roles including British Telecom, before joining the HR & Payroll software company, PWA Personnel Systems. During his career he has been in virtually all software-related roles including running a South East Consultancy team, leading a Support team, principal consultant, developer and development manager.  These roles spanned employment at Great Plains, Microsoft and finally Northgate; at total of 14 years experience in the software industry; Pete is an avid disciple of agile development methodology and has been instrumental in transforming the way Thomsons Online Benefits develop software.

Richard Scott | Chief Financial Officer
	Richard gained an upper second from Oxford University in Pure and Applied Biology. He then qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte in their Bracknell office, before transferring to their Corporate Finance department in London, where he worked on a variety of projects including the privatisation of Railtrack. Richard joined the Vanco group in 1997 working a number of different roles leaving as Division Finance Director in February 2008. In May 2008 Richard joined Thomsons Online Benefits as Chief Financial Officer.

Tony Morreale | Finance Director
	Tony gained a first at Westminster University where he majored in Economic History and Accountancy. He then trained as a chartered accountant with BDO Stoy Hayward.  After qualifying he spent sometime working in Southern Europe and North Africa for a major US owned foods group, before returning to practise at KPMG. After a number of European based roles for Mercers and CSC, Tony began specialising in start up companies, such as ThoughtWorks Ltd an IT consultancy company where he assisted its growth from 3 UK employees to over 160 in the space of three years, correspondingly growing turnover from less than a $1million to $40 million in the same period.

Caroline O'Keeffe | Marketing Director
	After graduating with a BSc in Government and History at the London School of Economics, Caroline remained at the LSE to complete an MSc in Industrial Relations & Personnel Management and to achieve her CIPD qualification. On leaving the LSE she joined the city law firm Allen and Overy where she held a number of roles including managing the move from a DB to a DC pension scheme and latterly as the dedicated HR support for their International Capital Markets practice. Caroline then worked in HR and training in the reinsurance sector before moving to OneClickHR plc where she initially had the role of Product Manager which involved setting up the content, products and services on www.oneclickhr.com, before becoming an HR Consultant delivering outsourced HR services to a variety of clients. Caroline joined Thomsons Online Benefits in 2003 to drive forward the marketing and PR effort.

Innes Thomson | Implementation Manager
	Innes gained a first in Electronic & Electrical Engineering from Strathclyde University which included a 1 year Industrial Placement at British Airways Engineering in Product Management. Innes joined Price Waterhouse Management Consulting division (subsequently PricewaterhouseCoopers and PwC Consulting) as a graduate. She successfully completed their 4 year Graduate Programme before working on consulting projects delivering complex IT projects to blue-chip clients. She left PwC in 2002 to travel and then worked as a contractor delivering analysis and design of online database reporting systems.  She then spent over 18 months in Account Management as a Senior Account Manager and subsequently managing the Client Services team for a small internet start-up company delivering online website software. Innes joined Thomsons Online Benefits in 2005 to run the Implementation Team and is responsible for delivering a high quality and consistent client delivery experience.

Robert Wilkes | Head of Consulting
	Robert has 12 years experience of Human Resources and Payroll Software internationally.  Robert joined Thomsons Online Benefits, from Microsoft, where he held the position of HR & Payroll Product Manager - EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), and was responsible for driving the development of the existing and 'next generation' HR & Payroll applications.  Prior to joining Microsoft, Rob held the position of sales manager at Great Plains Software and PWA Personnel Systems Ltd.

Judith Inglis | Head of Benefit Consulting
	After graduating from Heriot-Watt University with a BA (Hons) Accountancy and Finance in 1994, Judith joined Baillie Gifford Investment Managers and then Colonial First State Investments Client Liaison team; Judith has over 10 years experience of delivering demanding reward and benefits projects for global clients in all sectors including oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, banking and investments, manufacturing and transportation;  Judith joined Thomsons Online Benefits in 2006 to lead the Benefit Consulting team where she holds responsibility for developing our consulting proposition and for leading the consulting delivery on complex projects involving communications, flexible benefits scheme design, technology and benefit strategy and sourcing; Prior to joining Thomsons Online Benefits, Judith held the role of Proposition Head for Reward Communications at Aon Consulting and she is also an Associate member of the CFA (Chartered Financial Analysts) UK.

Keir Tutt | Director of Client Services
	After graduating with a Law LLB Hons degree, Keir joined Lloyds TSB Private Banking and acted as a Financial Adviser to High Net Worth individual. Keir has subsequently developed over 10 years experience in service delivery and relationship management including the global roll out of shares plans across 26 countries and the implementation of key service delivery initiatives amongst some significant service driven organisations.  Keir joined Thomsons Online Benefits in 2007 to head the client services teams and ensure that all existing clients obtain the excellent service that is part and parcel of the offering that we have. This involves ensuring that all processes and delivery is done with the maximum efficiency. Prior to joining Thomsons Online Benefits, Keir held the role of Head of Operations at 4th Contact.