Leighton O’Brien, a leading fuel analytics software and field technologies company, announced the appointment of experienced executive Philip Fraher to the company’s Board as Finance Director.
Fraher has more than 30 years of senior leadership experience in several B2B technology companies across C-suite positions. He has a strong track record of transforming and scaling technology companies into successful SaaS businesses, as well as extensive private equity, M&A and international business expansion experience. He has also served as strategic advisor and mentor to many fast-growth organisations based in Houston.
Phil recently served as CEO of Descartes Labs, during which time he transformed the satellite imagery firm to a SaaS software company. Prior to joining Descartes Labs, Phil was CFO of Austin-based Zilliant, a B2B pricing and sales platform. He also spent more than four years in CEO, COO and CFO roles at FuelQuest, a fuel supply chain software company, which he guided to a successful sale to Gilbarco Veeder Root (Insite360).
Mr Fraher has also served as President and CEO of Visual Numerics Inc., where he led the turnaround and expansion of the software analytics firm, was COO and CFO of a start-up Brightmail Inc., and held other senior financial management positions.
Leighton O’Brien Co-Founder and CEO Reed Leighton said Fraher’s experience adds strategic financial depth to the Board.
“Phil has steered the strategy, transformation and growth of many software companies. His deep expertise across finance, capital raising and global market development will provide enormous benefit to our business as we continue to expand and accelerate our SaaS and fuel analytics solutions. He will also provide strategic mentoring to our Finance team.
Commenting on his appointment Fraher said, “I’m pleased to be returning to the fuel industry and am excited by the work Leighton O’Brien delivers, particularly as it continues to expand and deepen it’s SaaS offerings. The fact that they have a strong global presence also enables me to leverage my historical international background.
“Additionally, my background as a multi-term CEO, COO and CFO and expertise in helping companies to set strategic direction, scale their business and raise capital, will assist in taking Leighton O’Brien to the next level,” he said.
In other key updates, current Board Director Neil Thomas has been appointed Chairman of Leighton O’Brien and Michael McDonald becomes Legal Director. Current Executive Vice President of Global Sales, Angela Wisdom, has also been promoted to Chief Revenue Officer.
“Angela has really bolstered our sales capability and expertise. She brings a sharp focus to expanding and deepening our revenue streams, so it was logical to move her into this critical role.
“We’ve got big plans over the next two years and are pleased to have a high-calibre executive team in place to steer our ambitious growth agenda,” Leighton said.
Fraher holds an MBA from the Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester and a Bachelor of Science (Computer Engineering) from Auburn University.
