Pleo has appointed Abigail Slater as its first head of operations in the UK & Ireland.
The Danish FinTech unicorn, valued at $4.7 billion by its latest funding round in late 2021, offers a simplified expense management tool and smart company cards.
It told us last year that it planned to double the size of its team in the UK, which then stood at 60 heads in Shoreditch, London.
Slater joins from American Express, where as vice president of global commercial services she played an integral leadership role in accelerating the growth of the company’s SME unit and client base, overseeing account management, sales and stakeholder strategies.
She has also held several previous senior roles at American Express, including vice president of the commercial servicing network for the UK and US, and the director of merchant group in Asia.
Since February 2021, Pleo has expanded into six new markets in Europe, and in the past year, users on the platform across the continent have doubled, while transaction volumes have tripled.
The likes of Hello Fresh and E.ON Next are among the companies now relying on Pleo’s platform to simplify their finance processes.
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“Pleo’s momentum over the last 12 months has been incredible to watch, so I am honoured to be tasked with driving and leading the next phase of the company’s growth in the UKI,” said Slater.
“The demand for Pleo’s platform shows UK businesses are actively looking for ways to transform and simplify the way their finances are managed, especially at this important time of increased economic uncertainty.
“I look forward to meeting and working with my other talented colleagues as we strive to continue growing Pleo’s footprint in the UK and Ireland.”
Sara Brooks, Pleo’s head of Europe, commented: “Abigail’s hire comes at an incredibly important and exciting moment for the growth of our business in the UKI.
“We have ambitious goals to continue building out our product set to help UKI businesses radically change how they manage their financial operations in the years ahead, so we are thrilled to have secured Abigail’s talent and expertise.
“With her experience in both payments and driving the growth of AMEX expense management solution, she has the experience needed as we embark on the next phase of the Pleo journey.”
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