Currencycloud announces COO and CTO hires

London-based Currencycloud has made two senior appointments, hiring Mark Ledsham and Neil Drennan in the newly-created roles of chief operations officer and chief technology officer respectively.

In his new role as chief operations officer, Ledsham, who was previously CEO of XE.com, will be responsible for scaling the global payment company’s underlying compliance and payment infrastructure as it grows internationally.

Drennan, who joins from 10x Future Technologies where he was CTO, will have responsibility for the build and development of Currencycloud’s platform and supporting technology solutions.

Currencycloud said that Drennan’s role will allow Stuart Bailey to “turn his attentions to accelerating product development” as he takes on the focused role of chief product officer.

The new hires come after Visa announced in July that it had acquired Currencycloud in a deal valuing it at £700 million, while Currencycloud has reported that it saw global monthly transaction volume grow to over $4 billion in the first half of 2021.

Ledsham said he was joining Currencycloud at an “incredibly exciting stage” in its growth trajectory.

“This made for a compelling opportunity: to work alongside the best in the business, serving many of the most important fintech and financial services companies in the world,” he added.

Drennan, who has also worked at BBC Worldwide, Amazon and Virgin Media, said: “Currencycloud has changed the face of cross-border payments using technology to deliver faster, more transparent and cost-effective solutions for its clients.

“I am looking forward to working with, and growing, the existing team to continue being at the forefront of the industry.”

Currencycloud CEO Mike Laven said: “Mark and Neil are top-quality talent and we’re extremely pleased to welcome them aboard. These new roles will allow the business to focus on key areas of development as we aim to continue our ambitious growth plans.”