Stealth start-up fintech

Building a stealth start-up fintech in the banking and financial services space.

Building a start-up fintech | Programme Director | Operations Director | SaaS | Blockchain

Career Break

Supporting extended family

OMNIO

Omnio Group is a Cards & Payments FinTech, also creating Banking-As-A-Service (BaaS), transitioning from start-up to scale-up.

Objective
Recruited by the CEO to enable accelerated revenue growth, and reduce programme delivery costs through better, faster delivery and leadership of a central team.

●	Full lifecycle delivery management using multi-disciplinary teams

●	Led the creation of a white-label current account, both the technology aspect and BAU operational processes including KYC, AML, compliance and support

●	Led an additional ring-fenced team of 30 people supporting key clients on highly unstable legacy platforms the pending availability of the new Omnicore platform

●	Reduced delivery costs by: facilitating uplifts in individuals performance using coaching and feedback; designing and implementing Agile methodology and governance; identifying and mitigating risks and issues early using the new methodology and reporting

●	Reduced remedial work and costs by: allocation of quality assurance resource; enhanced Sprint planning; better control of requirements documentation and Change Requests

●	Created new Change Management function, leading a team of programme and project managers, business analysts and PMO

●	Revenues accelerated by: earlier delivery rather than many months late

Results
Improved financials by over £5 million pa by mitigating the risk of lost revenues, managing key supplier relationships and accelerating new revenue growth. Reduced delivery and remedial costs by over £1.5 million pa, and mitigated programme overruns.

Program Director

The private equity investors asked me to lead a subsidiary business PCT London with a team of 30, to move key clients, suppliers and staff to the core Omnio business and then close the PCT limited company, at the same time as continuing programme delivery and business as usual operational activities.

Managing Director

Aion Digital

Aion Digital is a FinTech company creating digital banking applications across the Middle East, transitioning from start-up to scale-up.

Objective
To enable accelerated revenue growth, reduce programme delivery costs through better, faster delivery and leadership of a central team.

●	Full lifecycle program management simultaneously in 3 countries across the Middle East, using multi-disciplinary teams

●	Revenues accelerated by; earlier completion payments through delivery on time rather than typically 2 months late; better programme planning; careful management of Project Managers across Kuwait, Bahrain and Dubai

●	Delivery costs reduced by: delivering on time by designing and implementing a programme delivery framework based on Agile methodology with structured governance and oversight; facilitating an uplift in Project Manager performance through regular development reviews, feedback and coaching; creation of transparent internal and external reporting, enabling early communication of issues and remedial actions

●	Remedial work costs reduced by: control of business requirements documents and Change Requests; enhanced Sprint planning; allocation of quality assurance resource

●	Established new Delivery function leading a team of programme and project managers, business analysts and PMO

Results
Improved financials by over $5 million pa by mitigating the risk of lost revenues, managing key supplier relationships and accelerating new revenue growth. Reduced delivery and remedial costs by over $1 million pa, and mitigated programme overruns.

Transformation Director

Williams Lea

Williams Lea Tag is a global marketing and communications business.

Objective
Mitigate delivery risk by turnaround of failing GDPR programme

●	Full lifecycle programme management

●	Mixture of onshore and offshore teams

Results
Delivered 2 months ahead of plan and 42% under budget

Program Manager

Post Office Ltd

Joint venture with Bank of Ireland.

Objective
Increase revenues by the turnaround of a failing strategic programme where 4 others had failed.

●	Deployment of tablet technology and digital content to 500 strategic locations

●	Recovery of broken relationships with 3 of the 4 key IT suppliers

●	Full lifecycle programme management

●	Leadership of multi-disciplinary onshore and offshore teams

Results
Revenue increase in excess of £15 million pa.

Deloitte

Objective
Increase revenues by creating a new service following my direct approach to the UK Managing Partner with a new business idea.

●	Design and implementation of a new data analytics service

●	Full lifecycle programme management

●	Matrix organisation leading multi-disciplinary teams

●	Sale of service to key strategic clients to ensure year 1 profitability

Results
Revenues in excess of £5 million pa.

Capa

Capa is a boutique consultancy. Delivery of finance programmes at large retailers.

Some jurisdictions refer to this as Programme Manager.

MERIDIAN COST BENEFIT LIMITED

Meridian is a boutique consultancy. Delivery of finance programmes in local authorities, legal, retail, manufacturing, engineering and utilities sectors.

Project Manager

EURODEBT FINANCIAL SERVICES LIMITED

Financial Services franchise selling to personal customers.

Owner

Programme Director. I help CEOs of UK-based Fintech businesses, deliver annual revenue growth of £15m+, by leading the change and client delivery performance effectively.

Are you a CEO in FinTech or financial services and want to accelerate your revenue growth?

Do you fear the next meeting with investors and shareholders?

Are you frustrated about not being able to get the revenue performance from the assets you have?

Are you worried for your position as CEO even?

Wouldn’t it be better if your revenue growth gained the spring in its step that you keep promising?

If your meetings with investors were handshakes and not ass-kickings?

And if it came without having to throw a whole ton of budget at delivery and sales functions?

It’s because your delivery capability is not optimised, and revenues are slow to be captured. The SDLC and governance are lacking, and sub-optimal delivery decisions are made against this context.

This is good news, because it’s not expensive or radical to fix. It just needs diligent and experienced delivery leadership. Then your revenues will grow faster – happy days.

In my 15+ years’ experience I have led the delivery contribution to revenue growth of c. £15m pa, including my last two roles. That’s why a fintech former colleague said of me:

"…Strategic/critical thinking, excellent communication/articulation and strong analytical ability. He has an ability to focus on business outcomes as well as stated objectives and operates confidently at the Board level."

The same types of issues arise repeatedly – I expect them, am adept at negotiating them and have done so many times.

If you would like me to help you increase revenues by leading and optimising your Change or Delivery function, then direct message me on LinkedIn now.

🌟 FinTech friends and financial services leaders — let’s have a real chat about change. Because, honestly, it’s not just about growth anymore. Sometimes, it’s about survival. 

🌟 I’ve been in the Change & Transformation game for over 20 years now. And here’s something I’ve noticed: a lot of people talk about change like they want it — but what they really mean is they want everyone else to change. 

Funny how that works, right? The truth is, change can be scary when it means changing yourself.

Why is that?

➡️Maybe people don’t feel totally ready for what’s coming
➡️Or maybe they’re just comfortable where they are
➡️Ambiguity? It can freak people out
➡️And if someone’s been burned by messy change efforts before, why would they jump back in?

So, how do we make this less scary?

➡️Talk openly - explain the what, the why, the when, and what’s in it for them
➡️Get everyone involved early, especially those doing the day-to-day work — they know the pain points better than the exec team
➡️Tailor your communication — Board members want slides, end users want Q&As

Give the right training
➡️Keep the support going after launch
➡️And most importantly, listen. Feedback is gold for tweaking and improving

When we do change right, it sets us up for success — real success tied to actual business goals, the stuff we promised when we started the journey.

How are you embracing change in your organisation? Any lessons or tips you’ve picked up along the way? Let’s swap stories.

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Paul Meredith

Building a startup fintech. I help fintech CEOs deliver annual revenue growth of £15m+, by leading the change and client delivery function effectively

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