Martin Harriman succeeds Antony Dearden in the role
Jola has confirmed that its chairman Antony Dearden has retired.
Dearden co-founded the business which specialises as a global eSIM MVNO in 2014.
He co-founded the company alongside Andrew Dickinson, Adrian Sunderland, Lee Broxson and Cherie Howlett, after being talked out of his initial retirement to start-up Jola.
Martin Harriman takes over as chairman, with Harriman boasting experience as an executive for some of the largest companies in the telecoms sector, including Telefonica (where he was CEO of their UK digital business), O2 where he served on the board, Ericsson in Sweden and Lightsquared in New York.
A chartered accountant, Dearden trained Price Waterhouse and became a partner in Spicer & Pegler in 1975 before spending 26 years in the role with successor firms Touche Ross and Deloitte.
Commenting on Dearden’s retirement, CEO Dickinson said: “Antony has been an integral part of the team at Jola with his keen financial brain and has been a great sounding board and consigliere for me.
“He ran board meetings with military precision, ensuring every voice was heard, ensuring efficient and successful decision making. He has supported us at every stage of our dramatic growth and he will be dearly missed. We wish him a very happy retirement.”