About Us

Alison Garrod

Insurance Administrator ExoticDirect

Alison started her life in insurance at the tender age of 17 at Eagle Star Insurance in the claims administration department, went on to be a claims handler before having her 2 children. Whilst bringing up her children she continued to work part time moving to twilight hours for Zenith Insurance, then to Cassidy Davis for unemployment & sickness benefit insurance, also moved to dealing with Uninsured Loss Recovery for a small family run business, before ending up with ExoticDirect full time again.

Spare time, if she has any, is usually spent enjoying food & drink with friends and family.

Caroline Farmer

Accounts Manager

Caroline joined in 2016 on a part time basis at Brooks Braithwaite to assist with daily accounting.

She has worked for various commercial businesses over the last 20 years as the financial controller. She is a certified AAT accountant and enjoys the challenges of setting up and restructuring the accounting records to suit the individual business needs.

In her spare time, she likes property renovation, ‘fitstep’ classes, walking her dog and travelling.

Daisy O'Sullivan

Customer Service for ExoticDirect

Daisy joined Brooks Braithwaite’s Retail department in 2015. She has previous work experience within Healthcare and the Airline industry. She has specialised in Customer Service roles for 4 years since graduating from The University of Sussex in 2012.

When not in the office, you can find Daisy performing on stage and painting scenery at the Capitol Theatre in Horsham as a member of Horsham Amateur Operatic Dramatic Society.

Daniel Cope

Customer Service Executive

Danny joined Bought By Many in December 2016 after graduating from the University of Portsmouth with a 2.1 in American Studies. Having lived in Sri Lanka, Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Ethiopia, he now finds himself in exotic Hove and enjoys eating and drinking his way through the city of Brighton whilst frequently losing heavily at the local pub quiz.

David Woodfield

Head of Partnerships

David joined Bought by Many in 2013. He has an analytical, logical and structured approach, with a deep knowledge of insurance strategy and operations. He began his career as a consultant at Oliver Wyman where he advised executive boards in five continents on topics from market entry to capital allocation and organisational effectiveness. He went on to industry roles through two subsequent Chief of Staff positions at Oliver Wyman and Barclays Wealth, delivering departmental strategy, business management and organisational mergers for a 1,000 FTE business unit. He also joined the CEO's office at the FSA in the aftermath of the 2010 Mansion House speech to work on the new regulatory and operational set up for the PRA and FCA. David values clarity of thought and believes in the benefits of an entrepreneurial and diverse working environment.

David has a first in Manufacturing Engineering from the University of Cambridge; he has previously worked as a chef in the Fat Duck and as a prop-maker for the Royal Institution's Christmas Lectures. He enjoys cycling, skiing and speaks Japanese.

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Derek Livingstone

Finance Manager

Derek brings a wealth of commercial, strategy and digital experience gained at Ernst & Young, easyJet, Ladbrokes and Reed Elsevier. With a strategic mind-set and strong finance and analytical skills, Derek enjoys high growth environments and is passionate about innovating and challenging the status-quo.

Derek has a love of travel and adventure and a yearning to scale more of the mountains of his native Scotland. He is married and proud father to 3 great kids.

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Digby Bodenham

Content Marketing Manager

Digby worked on the sharp end of content production in the newsrooms of a range of magazines and publishers, before joining Bought By Many in 2015.

He has a degree in journalism, which is now being put to use creating content to help Bought By Many’s members find the right insurance policies and fairer deals.

When he’s not writing articles or working on SEO in the office, Digby can be found in the depths of South London.

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Emma Honess

Office Manager

Emma joined Bought By Many in August 2016, bringing with her a broad skillset in events, account and office management gained from The King's Fund, notonthehighstreet.com, the fashion industry and brand brewery. Her creative flair, organisational skills and an eye for detail will be critical in making the office a great place to work, and in turn, making sure Bought By Many remains a great company to do business with for our customers.

A healthy blend of friends, family, fashion and (occasionally) fitness keep Em's work-life balanced.

Fiona Henderson

Head of claims

Fiona joined Bought By Many in November 2016 bringing over 25 years experience in Insurance Claims Management. Her previous positions covered numerous Insurance Business Lines both local and global. Fiona is really excited to have been given the opportunity to work with a Company who promotes change in how we deal with individuals who have suffered loss. Her personal and empathetic approach to customer service is key and will be evident in all areas of our claims handling ensuring our Customer is supported throughout the lifecycle of the claim. In her spare time, Fiona likes swimming, yoga, reading, music, socialising with friends and spending precious time with her family including pets, Schnauzer Ted and Moggy Lola.

Gemma Medhurst

Head of Commercial at Brooks Braithwaite

Gemma has always worked in Customer Services within the travel and insurance sectors and joined Brooks Braithwaite (Sussex) Ltd in 2006; she now manages the Commercial department and has been heavily involved in the growth and development of the schemes over the years. She enjoys providing excellent customer service and developing new and existing products to satisfy customer demands and requirements.

Gemma is a foodie who enjoys Michelin starred meals and is also on a quest for the best burger in London. She also loves dancing at her local Zumba class as many times a week as possible.

Gordon Chi

Digital Strategy Manager

Gordon joined Bought By Many in June 2015. He helps customers who are using digital channels such as Google and Bing find our websites so they can get the insurance they need. He is a Google-certified paid search and display advertising specialist and has experience working in EMEA and APAC markets. He has worked with multi-national brands such as Unilever, Electrolux and RS Components in market intelligence, branding, digital strategy and online acquisition.

Gordon is originally from Taiwan so he speaks fluent Mandarin and Taiwanese. He wrote a book on Chinese grammar and researched on bilingual lexical processing as a graduate student at the University of Cambridge. He enjoys cooking, travelling and taking photographs and also helps with fundraising for an animal charity in London, where both his cats – Noodle and Toby – were adopted from.

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Guy Farley

CTO & Co-founder

Guy has worked in software development for 20 years. He joined ICL after university, managing the development of the UK's first online bank for First Direct. He then spent a year in Bangalore, India running an off-shore development center, and from there moved to San Francisco to help inflate (and burst) the dot com bubble. After a year off skiing and sailing, he returned to the UK to software consulting in financial services. Guy founded Bought By Many with Steven after they worked together at Close Brothers and discovered a shared belief in the need for more transparency and innovation in the financial services industry. Guy loves mountains, oceans and finding simple solutions to seemingly complex problems.

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Heidi Abela

Social Media Operations Manager

Heidi joined Bought By Many in 2014 and has worked in Customer Services for 8 years. She joined Santander from school, working on the front line Complaints Contact Centre to help resolve customers’ complaints. She moved to the Santander Media & Executive complaints team managing high profile complaints in attempts to repair relationships with customers. From 2012, Heidi managed complaints that were referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service building relationships with Adjudicators to maintain a suitable solution for customers and the bank. Heidi has a passion for customer service and loves engaging with people to understand how they are feeling. Heidi is responsible for on line Customer Service at Bought By Many.

Heidi loves dogs, especially her ‘Lottie’, beach holidays and spending time with friends and family.

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Helen Bentham

Head of Marketing

Helen is Head of Marketing at Bought By Many. She spends her time helping members find insurance deals and information when they want it; whether that's by email, on Facebook or on Twitter.

After nearly a decade in digital marketing, Helen has particular expertise in customer communications, social media advertising and analytics. When she's not in the office, you'll find Helen in her hammock in South London.

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James Alston

Content marketing executive

James joined Bought By Many in 2016 as an intern, fresh from graduating in History from Cardiff University. Now full time, he uses his skills in content creation to help customers find better deals on their insurance. He spends most of his spare time scrutinising new album releases on his blog, but also enjoys playing guitar, going to the gym and taking long walks in the countryside.

Judith James

Customer Acquistions at ExoticDirect

Judith joined Brooks Braithwaite in 2005 and has worked in all departments during this time, building strong insurance knowledge and understanding. She now concentrates on customer acquisitions and heads up ExoticDirect’s Voucher Scheme using her strength of interpersonal relations.

Judith is originally from Sussex and now lives in Cornwall with her husband and two children, enjoying coastal life.

Kirsty Sayers

Head of ExoticDirect

Kirsty oversees the selling, customer service and underwriting of retail insurance schemes including ExoticDirect pet insurance handled by Brooks Braithwaite (Sussex) Limited. She has been working in insurance since 2006 in various roles handling both commercial and retail classes on insurance.

Her organisation skills means she is extremely effective in managing the retail insurance schemes and it is a running joke around the office that she always has a list of points to cover. Her main priority is always customer service which leads to receiving the following comments on the service levels provided “I would go as far as to say that, actually, ExoticDirect has given me best customer service I have had in a long time” (May 2016).

Kirsty in her spare time loves sitting down to a nice meal with a glass of wine. She’s constantly trying out new recipes or when being lazy, working her way round the local michelin restaurants. She also enjoys the local wine tasting events (one luxury of living in Sussex is being surrounded by highly regarded vinyards) trying to find her next favourite bottle of wine (currently the Albourne Estate, Estate Selection).

Lyes Benouniche

Marketing Executive

Lyes joined Bought By Many in 2014. He makes sure our paid marketing on Facebook helps people with their insurance needs. Originally from France, Lyes was born in Orleans and lived in Paris before moving to London in 2006.

In his spare time, he enjoys exercising, going to concerts and playing records for his friends

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Martin Willcock

Customer Service

Martin joined BB in April, 2015 and brings a wealth of customer service experience from the finance and insurance industries as cashier, customer complaints manager, mortgage advisor, managing employees and dealing with all manner of situations with staff and customers. Never too old to improve his knowledge he recently took and passed Chartered Insurance Institute examinations.

Martin has many interests but perhaps his main love is railways, UK and abroad. When not found at work, he is a leading member of the Haywards Heath Town Team, planning and organising charity events.

Matthew Guest

Community manager

Matt joined Bought By Many earlier this year. He brings with him a wealth of experience in social media and community management having previously worked at Electronic Arts and PlayStation. Coming from the gaming industry, and a keen gamer himself, Matt has first-hand insight into what it means to be part of a global community and the importance of social media in today’s culture. If he isn’t glued to his computer screen, you can catch Matt at his local 5-a-side team or down the pub with friends and family.

Nick Snell

Head of Software Development

Nick joined Bought By Many in 2015 and has been working in software development 14 years. He graduated from the University of Worcester in 2004, before joining a UK based software development company, focused on building Content Management Systems for the Financial, Tourism & Hospitality sectors. Leaving to work as a independent consultant, he spent his time developing bespoke online software for a variety of clients in the UK, EU and US.

Nick is a passionate user and contributer to open source software and has been working with Python, Bought By Many's core technology, for the last 10 years.

Nick enjoys long distance running and is a avid (but long-suffering) Swindon Town fan.

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Oke Eleazu

Chief Operating Officer

Oke joined BBM in June 2016. He has a number of senior operational roles in his career including being Customer Service Director of Prudential, Customer Service and Operations Director at Bupa, and most recently Director of Customer Experience at Sainsburys. Oke has a passion for improving the experience organisations provide for their customers, and was Managing Director of the consulting business, think outside in, which helps organizations take a strategic approach to improving their customer experience. In September 2016, Oke published his first book, ‘The Cult of Service Excellence’. Oke is also currently a non-executive director of the Institute of Customer Service and Bromford Housing Group. He is married with 2 kids and is an avid sports and music fan.

Rhianan Bishop

Customer Service Executive

Rhianan joined Bought By Many in 2016 as a Customer Service Executive. She has worked in Customer Service for the last 5 years starting off as Cabin Crew for Virgin Atlantic where she got to see some amazing places. She then handed in her suitcase for a brochure, and became a Sales Consultant for Virgin Holidays where she expanded her customer service skills even further. Before joining Bought By Many she decided to have one last shot at travelling and set off on her own to live in Africa, Thailand and then finally Bali. In her spare time Rhianan likes to spend time with friends and family. She has a passion for people, food and dancing.

Sam Gilbert

CMO

Sam joined Bought By Many in 2012. A strategic thinker and serial intrapreneur, Sam has been innovating in financial services for over 10 years. Back in 2001, at HBOS, he launched the first bancassurance e-commerce site. At Abbey, he drove a step-change in the financial performance of the consumer lending business by combining pricing optimisation and web analytics. And at Experian, he led the UK start-up of LowerMyBills, creating the first price-comparison service to match customers to appropriate loans, credit cards, and mortgages using live credit bureau information. He is passionate about the power of data and technology to make society better.

Sam has a first in Modern History & English from Merton College, Oxford; loves Scottish mountains, slow food, and big ideas; and lives in East London.

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Sam Hicks

UX Designer & Developer

Sam joined Bought By Many in 2016. She brings with her an unusual mix of UI design and front end development skills. Her focus is the end user and her time is spent sketching, designing, prototyping and building out new interactions for the site. Sam loves the UX challenges associated with working in a start-up and finding new and innovative ways to solve them.

Outside of work Sam is a keen runner, mountain biker and traveler.

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Sophia Pilkington-Miksa

Head of customer experience

Sophia joined Bought By Many in September 2016 as our Head of Customer Experience. A former Slaughter and May lawyer turned Management Consultant, she is passionate about bringing customer and commercial perspectives together to drive growth that lasts. She has worked with many ambitious organisations across sectors, such as Eurostar, JLR, HSBC and Good Energy, helping them to define customer-led growth strategies, propositions and experiences. Sophia enjoys working with dynamic teams which are determined to make a real difference for customers – making things radically easier, more helpful or more fun. In her free time you will probably find her enjoying Asian food, planning an exciting trip, laughing at something ridiculous, or trying to learn guitar!

Stephanie Birnage

Customer Service Executive

Steph joined Bought By Many in 2016 as part of the Customer Service team for Cat & Dog insurance. With a diverse background including experience in customer service and recruitment, she enjoys working with others to find the perfect solution for everyone. She has also recently completed her degree in English Literature with the Open University. Outside of work, you’ll find Steph spending quality time with friends and family or on the sofa with her nose in a good book!

Steve Carson

Senior Developer

Steve joined Bought By Many in late 2016. He has worked as a programmer for more than 15 years including many years as a digital nomad in Thailand and Spain. Steve is a graduate of Manchester University and holds an MSc from City University. He enjoys solving real-world problems with computers and has a keen interest in new financial technologies and platforms. When he is not counting his bitcoins Steve can often be found growing vegetables or stand up paddle boarding.

Steve Long

Head of International

Steve has worked in various senior management roles in software companies for over 15 years. After gaining a PhD from Imperial College in Nematology, he relocated to Dublin, Ireland to work for Xelector Plc which was the first white labelled online comparison shopping service for financial, insurance, and utility products. Steve fulfilled many roles at Xelector before finally becoming General Manager and running the business for over 2 years. He then took the role of General Manager for Core Simulation who specialised in dynamic computer simulation modelling of supply chains for fast moving consumer goods. After two years in this role, Steve joined Syscon Justice Systems as the General Manager for EMEA before taking over as global CEO and relocating to Vancouver, Canada. After 5 years in the CEO role, Steve made a personal decision to return back to the UK and take up a role with Bought By Many.

Steve enjoys cycling, skiing, playing the guitar and rally driving.

Steven Mendel

CEO & Co-founder

Steven has over 20 years’ diverse experience in the financial services industry - as a qualified actuary at AON, as a strategy consultant at McKinsey, and as a business leader at Barclays Wealth and Close Brothers. Driven by a desire to change financial services for the better, he has previously set up an art finance business for Christies, and founded an investment consultancy to make asset-based advice available to all pension funds. Steven founded Bought By Many with Guy to shift the balance of power in insurance. He feels strongly that the insurance industry treats corporates better than individuals, and that it’s time for that to change.

He is married with three kids, and has a passion for cycling, his sax, and for the charities he’s involved with.

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Tamara Labelle

Product Marketing Manager for ExoticDirect

Tamara designs and manages the marketing strategy for ExoticDirect, our exotic pet insurance business! She has experience in strategy development; Google adwords; social media; conversion rate optimisation; content writing and SEO. She works with our Bought By Many team in order to ensure the ExoticDirect strategy is delivered.

Previously she worked for a software company that produced software for wealth management. She has also worked in retail.

Tamara boasts a First Class degree in Business Studies with Marketing, having graduated from the University of Brighton as a mature student in 2013.

Her passions include walking in the countryside and travel. An out of the box thinker, she loves new challenges.

Timothy O'Boyle

Commercial at Brooks Braithwaite

Tim has worked for Brooks Braithwaite since 2015, which he started as an apprentice. He worked in every department to get a feel for the business, and now works full time in the Commercial Department. Tim has worked in a customer serving environment since finishing full time education.

On the weekends, Tim enjoys eating all types of pizza and fast food.

Tom Robinson

Product Manager

Tom joined Bought By Many in 2016 with previous experience in retail financial trading and management consultancy. A graduate of the University of Manchester 2010 he joined a management consultancy start-up focusing on bid management working on nationwide projects. He went on to join City Index in his first product role and subsequently GAIN Capital where he was Product Owner of their two biggest platforms before moving on to Trading Tools. Tom values implementing best practice and a product approach that services the needs of the client.

Tom enjoys his sport, from football to cricket, which has seen him travel the world on top of a keen eye for cooking.

Victoria Battcock

Partnerships

Vicky joined Bought By Many in 2016 with experience of account growth and development in performance marketing. She works with insurance partners to ensure they’re well aligned to provide for Bought By Many members. Hailing from the beaches of the south coast of England, Vicky likes to surf, waterski or windsurf when she has the opportunity. When in London she likes to explore the city and dream of her next holiday.