Cornerstone Brands is pleased to announce the appointment of Julian Wheatland as its new Chief Executive Officer to drive the Company forward in the next stage of its development. The Company is also pleased to announce that, following the completion of the acquisition of FXPress Payment Services Ltd, a provider of advanced payment systems as Platform as a Service to SMEs (“FXPress”), the Company will change its name to Cornerstone FS plc. The completion of the acquisition is subject to FCA authorisation.

Over the past 20 years, Julian Wheatland has established a successful track record in financing, establishing and developing technology companies. Most recently, as Chief Operating Officer/Chief Financial Officer, and ultimately Chief Executive Officer, of SCL Group/Cambridge Analytica, a leading data analytics and digital marketing business, he led the global operations of SCL and built out the US operations. In his roles as Chief Executive Officer of Hatton International, a corporate finance and international project development company, and prior to that as Chief Executive Officer of Consensus Community, a £400m venture capital portfolio, he invested in technology commercialisation and foreign direct investment projects. In between these two roles Julian, as Chief Executive Officer of Cosmos Technology, a technology commercialisation and export development company, he supported the growth of Bulgarian technology businesses and helped them reach international markets.

Speaking about his appointment as Chief Executive, Julian Wheatland said: “I am very excited about joining Cornerstone at this important juncture and to help make it a significant business in the provision of cross border payment services for SMEs. It’s rare that one gets the chance to step into a company where there’s such a congruence of three key elements to deliver success – excellent technology, a great team and perfect market timing.

“SMEs are an underserviced segment by the banking sector, but with our proprietary technology we will be able to take advantage of the Open Banking Initiative and provide them with a suite of products and solutions that will reduce costs and increase efficiency. I look forward to Cornerstone capitalising on this opportunity and becoming a premiere cross-border payment services business.”