Advisory
A founder on board.
Board and advisory roles for founders, and hands-on support for international companies landing in the UK. Founder-to-founder support made all the difference on my own journey. Now it's a pleasure to offer it on yours.
Which best describes you?
In their words
What the founders say.
“Eamon has been our Chairman since 2022 and has played an essential role in the growth of the business, and in supporting me as CEO. I value his perspective, welcome his candour, and trust him completely. I would recommend him to any founder without hesitation.”
Ammar Akhtar
Founder and CEO, Finalrentals
“Eamon has been instrumental in getting Float into the UK. He understands what it actually takes to move a business across a border rather than the theory of it, and as a board director his input matches the ambition we have as we scale beyond Series A.”
Alex Forsyth-Thompson
Founder and CEO, Float
“I really valued Eamon's advice and perspective on our advisory board, especially in the early days of building Zero. He also ran strategy and marketing workshops for the team, and those sessions moved our thinking on. He is genuinely curious about the business, asks the questions that matter, and his advice is always practical.”
Richard Theo
Founder, Zero
“We brought Eamon onto our board when we had some difficult decisions to make about the shape of the company. He handled them with real care, and then helped us build the foundation we grew from. Founder to founder, he is the person I would want in the room for a conversation like that.”
Rhys George
Founder and CEO, Bearhug
On the board
Three things I'm there to do.
Support
The work between the meetings.
Being a founder is an emotionally demanding journey. The pressure from investors, clients, the team, even family, can be intense. My role is to help relieve it: a sounding board in the boardroom, and more importantly outside it. Knowing there is someone to call makes a real difference to how the journey feels.
Challenge
The question nobody else asks.
I ask the tough questions and try to see what's around the corner. A different perspective on where the business is going, so together we de-risk the road ahead and spot the opportunities hiding beside it.
Suggestions
Advice from the same seat.
Hands-on advice from someone who has been there. My job is never to tell a founder what to do. It is to lay out options worth considering, drawn from raising investment, hiring teams, exiting, failing, and learning from all of it.
Where I am most useful: founder-led businesses from mid seed to Series B, boards taking their first independent director, international companies landing and scaling in the UK. I hold a small number of seats at a time and take on roughly one new one a year, so independence and attention are never stretched.
Roles
Where I sit today.
Finalrentals
2022 to presentChair of the Board
Global marketplace and software platform for independent car rental operators. Cardiff HQ, teams across nine countries.
Float
2026 to presentNon-Executive Director, Float Technologies (UK)
Card-linked instalment payments. South African fintech expanding into the UK, where I sit on the UK board.
The Feats
2024 to presentNon-Executive Director
Natural active foot care brand, direct to consumer and Amazon.
Previously.
FinTech Wales · Non-Executive Director and Strategic Adviser
2021 to 2023Led the four year strategy, secured over £2m of funding, launched the Foundry accelerator. Concluded on completion of the mandate.
ZNG Cover · Board Advisor and investor
2021 to 2023Embedded insurance for high value jewellery and watches. A regulated appointment, FCA approved.
Bearhug · Board Advisor
2022 to 2025Welsh sustainable sports support and recovery brand.
Zero · Advisory Board
2022 to 2025Climate fintech founded by Richard Theo (Wealthify). Advisory board through the early build.
Beyond borders
Landing and scaling in the UK.
I help ambitious international founders develop and implement strategies for UK growth. From accessing the market, hiring talent, raising investment and unlocking grants, I guide founders through the whole journey. For qualifying scale-ups I support founders on the UK Government's Global Entrepreneur Programme as a Dealmaker. For those who don't qualify, I help alongside other initiatives and routes. Whichever path you take, I'm here hands-on, landing you in London, Cardiff or across the UK. I have worked with more than 30 companies from Türkiye to Nigeria to South Africa on the same journey.
Have a clear plan
There are only four reasons to expand internationally.
Market access
The obvious one. But not every solution works in every market, and it doesn't have to be the UK.
R&D
Talent and research you can't get at home, and an R&D incentive system that actually works.
Secure your IP
A stable jurisdiction with wide protections and recognition.
Raise capital
One of the best places in the world to raise, and SEIS and EIS make a UK company materially easier to fund.
If none of these apply to you yet, don't expand yet. That's advice too.
The free route
The Global Entrepreneur Programme.
Real revenue at home, growing fast, no UK entity yet? You may qualify for GEP, the UK Government programme where I work as a Dealmaker. It's free: no contract, no equity. Government networks, hands-on landing support, and for founders who need it, a route to the Innovator Founder Visa. One thing to know early: engage before you incorporate, because once a UK entity exists the programme can't take you.
Learn more on the official programme page: business.gov.uk/campaign/gep
Every other route
More than one option.
GEP has a narrow gate, and plenty of excellent companies fall outside it: too early, already incorporated here, or simply not the right shape. That doesn't end the conversation. I advise international companies directly on the same journey: structure and strategy, where to land, how to raise here, and finding the right route into the UK for you and your team.
Good to know
Setting up is faster than you think.
Incorporation takes about 15 minutes, costs £50, and you're usually registered inside a working day. The hard part is structure and strategy, not the form.
Investor incentives.
SEIS, EIS and VCTs reduce the risk of backing a UK company, up to 50% income tax relief for investors. It makes a UK entity materially easier to fund.
Non-dilutive cash.
R&D tax relief returns 15 to 27% of qualifying spend as cash, without giving up a share. The work generally has to happen in the UK, so plan your team around that.
No corporation tax until profit.
You pay tax on profit, and most growth-stage companies reinvest instead. Investors here want you compounding, not profitable.
Timing matters.
A typical landing takes three to six months end to end, and government support works best when you engage before you incorporate.