Global data company The Data City has appointed Emma Dickinson as chief financial officer as the business accelerates its international development.
Dickinson joins the Leeds company at the beginning of its next phase of growth. She will lead in providing management information that will enable rapid decision-making and play a role in strategic planning.
She has more than 14 years of experience in board-level finance and operations management, specialising in commercial finance. She has worked in a number of different industries, including manufacturing, retail and, most recently, 10 years in integrated marketing agencies.
The Data City recently announced a new six-figure funding round to support the global roll-out of its AI-driven data platform. The international product offers access to 94 million companies, including USA and Europe. The data available is underpinned by CreditSafe’s global financial company data.
The global product represents the first time company data from the US, and the rest of the world will be combined with The Data City’s Classification AI and proprietary RTICs.
“I’m excited to join the Data City at such a key point in its ongoing expansion,” said Dickinson. “I’m focused on ensuring the business is supported by its finance function and the level of financial control suitable for a business scaling at pace.
“The business has experienced 100% year-on-year growth, achieving the best results in its history last year. I look forward to playing a key part in its future success.”
The Data City platform provides real-time company data on emerging economic sectors. It uses AI technology to gather data from various sources, including open data sets and company financials. The platform is designed to help users make discoveries quickly and easily.
Paul Connell, founder and executive chair, added: “Emma thrives on developing strategy and commercial awareness within a business to drive performance and efficiency. She joins us at a hugely significant time in our life cycle and brings tremendous experience to the role.
“We have successfully created a new and more accurate way to understand global economies and the companies that operate within them. Our long-term vision was always to take our data platform to a worldwide audience, enabling decision-makers to benefit from the information we can generate.
“Leading companies, think tanks and government departments are now turning to The Data City as their insight partner of choice. This enables us to bring in the best team members that the industry has to offer. With Emma forming an essential part of this strategy, we are in a very strong position to stay on this current trajectory of growth.”
Emma’s recruitment follows last month’s appointment of Kelly Weston as chief operating officer and board member.