Global Reach adds to senior management team

Global Reach Group, a leading provider of corporate and personal foreign exchange, has further bolstered its senior management team with the appointment of Dr Tim Watson to lead its global technology function. He has a PhD in Computational Chemistry and brings 15 years of hands-on industry experience in fields including financial product engineering, operations and information security. 

Dr Watson has previously worked in both London and Los Angeles, most recently holding the roles of Deputy CTO and Interim Chief Information Security Officer at WorldFirst (part of Ant Financial). The appointment supports the ongoing Global Reach Group strategy of driving innovations in the field of payments technology across the globe. 

Nicholas Fullerton, Chief Executive Officer at Global Reach Group, commented:

‘As a business, we are committed to ensuring our product continues to evolve, delivering a market-beating solution to all our clients. Tim is a keen technologist and his wealth of experience will ensure we continue to meet this objective.’

Dr Watson is the latest appointment to the company’s management team, which has recently been augmented by a number of respected figures from the financial services industry. Tim Rudman took up the role of Chief Operating Officer earlier this year, whilst Alistair Seabright, formerly Chairman of Alternative Investments at Octopus Capital, was appointed as Chairman of Global Reach Group in September 2019.

Late 2019 saw the addition of Brett Flowers as Chief Financial Officer following on from his role as CFO at Mako and with experience at senior levels within Lloyds TSB and Barclays where he was Head of Group Financial Control. Ian Robinson also joined as Non-Executive Director alongside his role as Group Head of Audit at M&G Prudential and with previous titles such as COO, Insurance at HSBC, and Group Finance and Risk Director at AXA as part of his extensive experience.

Dr Tim Watson, Head of Technology at Global Reach Group, added:

‘The global FX and payments business continues to evolve at a pace. I look forward to using my industry knowledge to help drive further innovation at Global Reach, ensuring we continue to deliver best-in-class technology-led strategies that put agile digital capabilities at the core of currency services.’

Nicholas Fullerton, one of the original co-founders of the Group, previously held the role of Chief Operating Officer at Global Reach Group, before being promoted to CEO in September 2019. Other long-standing members of the senior management team include Chief Compliance and Risk Officer, Millie Richardson, the former WorldFirst CCO; and Commercial Director, Leandra McPhillips, the former Marketing Director at CMC Markets. 

In 2019, Global Reach Group achieved total transaction values in excess of £6 billion for more than 25,000 clients.