The senior leadership team at Newcastle-headquartered digital consultancy hedgehog lab has undergone a significant reshuffle that will see co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Sarat Pediredla, redouble his focus on the business’ long-term strategic goals.
Beginning in January 2019, Pediredla will dedicate his efforts solely to the big picture work of hedgehog lab’s vision, culture, strategy and growth, helping to power the company to greater heights in the coming years.
As part of the move, current Chief Operating Officer, Antony Dinning, will assume day-to-day operational control of the business effectively making him first-in-command for all key organisational decisions.
The company’s growing Executive team, which includes Chief Information Officer, Mark Forster; Chief Technology Officer, Alan Morris; Chief Design Officer, Ray Clarke; Chief XR Officer, Shaun Allan, and Chief Product Officer, Aidan Dunphy, will also all report to Dinning.
Since joining the company back in 2015 as Project Director, he has played a key role in hedgehog lab’s expansion in recent years resulting in his promotion to Chief Operating Officer at the business back in April 2017.
This latest move imbues the COO role with even greater influence and authority over the daily operational decisions at the digital consultancy, which was recently ranked the fourth best B2B company in the world by Clutch.
Antony Dinning commented: “We had an incredible year in 2018, so it’s a real honour to be entrusted with even greater responsibility in shepherding the company through its next stage of expansion in 2019.
“We all can’t wait to get going on what is set to be another transformative year at hedgehog lab, underlined by the exciting new hires we’ve got lined up in leadership positions in the first quarter of this year.”
Co-Founder and CEO, Sarat Pediredla, said: “One of the parts I enjoy most about my job is giving people the opportunity to develop and grow, and this reshuffle is the perfect example of that.
“Since joining the business back in 2015, Antony has played a vital role in what has been a period of rapid growth and change at hedgehog lab. His impact has increased exponentially since he assumed the position of Chief Operating Officer less than two years ago and the additional responsibilities and influence he now wields in the business is a testament to his talent.
“As hedgehog lab embarks on the next stage of its growth, it was crucial that decision-making and control were not embodied within one individual. As we look to grow both nationally and internationally, it is important that I am able to dedicate all my energy towards the future, long-term growth of the company and this move will help me to do just that.”
The reshuffle comes off the back of a year of record turnover growth and expansion at the technology company which has been powered by a string of high-profile client wins and contracts. Headcount has also grown by 50% with new roles across hedgehog lab’s Design, Development and Growth teams.
As a result of its impressive growth, hedgehog lab has moved to firm up its executive team with further new hires in leadership positions to shepherd the company through the next stage of its journey, including newly-created Heads of People, Finance, Product and Engineering roles.
Zoe Wheeler recently joined the business as Head of People where she will be responsible for developing and promoting hedgehog lab’s employee engagement and staff wellbeing initiatives, alongside other company culture responsibilities.
On the development side of the business, the new Head of Engineering, Scott Stewart, joins hedgehog lab in Q1 2019 to head up the consultancy’s industry-leading development team. Jennifer Ioannidou joined hedgehog lab in Q4 of 2018 as their new Head of Product having previously led teams and projects across Europe, America and the Middle East.
Finally, hedgehog lab will also be welcoming the new Head of Finance, Clare Ingle in Q1 from Openreach. Clare, who has previously held positions at PwC and the Royal Bank of Scotland, will oversee the company’s finance team and play a key role in shaping hedgehog lab’s financial strategy and key budgetary decisions.
