Investments aren’t working

Ruth Handcock

Ruth is the former CEO of Octopus Investments and chair of Seccl. So far in her career, she's had fourteen jobs: newspaper deliverer, car washer, checkout operative, factory salad chopper (night shift), receptionist, lab technician, editor, consultant, government adviser, COO, finance director, chief of staff, head of customer and CEO.

She's now working in a new role that will see her lead the Octopus drive to help more people get access to help with their money… but is very happy to know that whatever Octopus throws at her, she doesn't have to worry about chopping off her thumb at 3am.

“I love that at Octopus every day is completely different. We have big ambitions to change the industry we work in and invest into sectors that have a huge impact on the world we live in. That will take a lot of work, but it's exactly the kind of challenge I relish.”

Jonathan Dees

Jonathan has been Seccl’s CEO since September 2025. He joined from Octopus Investments, where he was COO for six years, with previous senior operating roles at fast-growing technology companies – including COO for Zoopla’s software business and MD for TripAdvisor’s vacation rentals platform business.

David Ferguson

David is our executive chairman having joined Seccl as CEO in April 2022. In his new role he will lead the company's long-term vision and strategy, with a focus on driving growth in the UK and expanding internationally.

He was previously founder and CEO of Nucleus, where he created a distinctive and customer-led culture that helped the investment platform to grow from start-up to £20bn in AUA when he departed.

Alex Henderson

Alex holds executive responsibility for Seccl's risk and compliance functions, ensuring the business is organised to continue to meet its regulatory obligations - and perform robust risk management practices as it grows.

She joined in January 2023, having spent twenty years performing risk, external audit and finance roles within financial services.

Her last nine years were with Virgin Money, where she was part of the risk leadership team in various senior risk positions such as head of risk governance, reporting & frameworks, head of operational risk, head of prudential risk, and latterly as head of capital management in finance.

Prior to Virgin Money, Alex held credit risk management positions in Royal Bank of Scotland, after training for her chartered accountancy qualification with Deloitte.

James Holmes

James joined Seccl in 2019, having previously worked at Octopus as part of the team that led the company’s acquisition. He became chief commercial officer in 2023 and moved into his current role as chief product officer in October 2025.

James is responsible for shaping Seccl’s product strategy and ensuring we continue to evolve in line with client and market needs. He's also responsible for finding and winning new business among Seccl's target market, helping new platforms go live as quickly and efficiently as possible, and ensuring all clients receive a world-class offline service.

Ryan Furniss

Ryan is our chief financial officer. He trained as a chartered accountant at EY and has spent the past six years at Octopus, working across group finance and commercial product roles. Most recently, he oversaw two listed Venture Capital Trusts, delivering a year-long strategic review focused on investment performance, fundraising strategy, risk and governance, and long-term fund direction.

Ryan brings a strong commercial mindset alongside financial rigour. Fun fact, as he’s half Irish he played rugby for Ireland Under 20's (including at the Junior World Cup in France).