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Board of directors

Our directors draw on a rich pool of collective industry knowledge and skills and experience of UK and international business, gained from senior roles both within BTG and in other leading companies.

Nationality: Belgian, British Age: 68 Appointed: 15 October 2020

Patrick is Chair of the BTG Board and our Nomination Committee and is a member of our Remuneration Committee.

Patrick has a strong track record in international business, including 23 years in senior roles at Microsoft. During his two decades at Microsoft, he founded the company’s Benelux subsidiaries, led the development of its Western European business and served as chairman of its Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

Since leaving Microsoft in 2006, Patrick has served as chair and non-executive director on the boards of a diverse range of European public and private equity-backed companies. He was previously chair of EMIS Group plc and non-executive director and chair of the remuneration committee of Victrex plc, senior independent director and chair of the remuneration committee of Morgan Sindall plc and Anite plc, senior independent director of Page Group plc and interim chair of KCOM Group plc.

Patrick De Smedt, Chair

Nationality: British Age: 55 Appointed: 12 July 2023

Sam brings more than 20 years’ experience in leadership positions to the Board. Sam joined Phoenix in November 2003, having previously held senior roles at WordPerfect, Novell Inc. and Trustmarque Solutions. Sam became MD Phoenix in 2014, overseeing a period of significant growth during which Phoenix won numerous awards, including Microsoft UK Partner of the Year 2021. She joined the Board on 12 July 2023 and was appointed as CEO on 10 May 2024.

In October 2020 Sam won the Industry Achievement Award at IT reseller magazine CRN’s Women in Channel Awards. Two years earlier, she was named 2018 Business Leader of the Year at the Women in IT Awards. 

Outside her work with the Group, Sam is a member of the Board of Trustees of Scarborough’s Saint Catherine’s Hospice.

Sam Mudd, Chief Executive Officer

Nationality: British Age: 57 Appointed: 21 October 2021

Andrew brings strong financial and commercial acumen to the Board, and has a proven record of delivering insights into strategy implementation and executive decision making. In his role as CFO, he has guided the Group, as it continues to pursue its double-digit growth strategy.  

He joined BTG as COO on 1 June 2021 from JSE-listed technology company Altron Limited, BTG’s former parent company, from which it demerged in 2020. He was subsequently appointed as BTG’s CFO and a Board member on 21 October 2021.

Andrew has extensive financial and operational experience in the information and communications technology sector, having spent more than 27 years at Altron, the last 15 years in senior leadership roles. His most recent Altron position was that of COO, which he held for five years, including a period when he was also acting CFO.

Andrew Holden, Chief Financial Officer

Nationality: British, American, Swiss Age: 56 Appointed: 1 September 2021

Erika brings more than 25 years’ experience in senior leadership positions to the Board of BTG. During her executive career, she spent more than 18 years working in Silicon Valley and held senior professional services roles with Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Erika earned a PhD in management science and engineering at Stanford University. 

In 1994, she began her executive career with IBM, going on to hold roles at REL Consultancy Group, Computer Science Corporation and Symantec Corporation. During her tenure at Symantec, Erika led the team responsible for M&A in its sales and services division, completing 16 acquisitions including the $13.5-billion merger between Symantec and Veritas. 

Erika continued to build her transaction experience at Ernst & Young, where she led the firm’s technology M&A advisory services for the Americas, and more recently with PwC, where she was the UK leader for M&A integration services and for technology, media and telecommunications M&A advisory services.

Dr Erika Schraner, Senior independent director

Nationality: Indian Age: 46 Appointed: 1 February 2024

Shruthi has more than 20 years' experience across the technology, software as a service and advertising technology industries. She was most recently an executive managing director at the advertising group Criteo, where she led EMEA and Global Indirect Channels. Shruthi has also held a number of senior commercial roles at Oracle and LinkedIn, with responsibility for markets across APAC, EMEA and the Americas. 

She is currently a non-executive director of The Access Group, a leading provider of business management software to small and mid-sized organisations in the UK, Ireland and APAC.

Shruthi Chindalur, Independent non-executive director

Nationality: British Age: 52 Appointed: 1 June 2024

Ross is a qualified chartered accountant and brings extensive listed-company board experience as a chief financial officer and non-executive director. Ross spent more than 23 years at Stagecoach Group Limited (formerly Stagecoach Group plc and listed until 2022) in senior executive finance positions, including ten years as chief financial officer. 

Ross is currently a non-executive director, chair of the audit and risk committee, and member of the remuneration, sustainability and nomination committees at FTSE 100 The Unite Group plc, as well as being a non-executive director and audit committee chair designate at AIM-listed technology business Tracsis plc.

Ross Paterson, Independent non-executive director

Nationality: Swedish Age: 54 Appointed: 1 June 2024

Anna was previously chief human resources officer for Pearson plc and executive vice president, head of human resources at Sandvik AB and SSAB AB. She also held senior human resources roles at Ericsson Group and was an independent non-executive director at Knowit AB. 

Anna currently serves as an independent non-executive director of Videndum plc.

Anna Vikström Persson, Independent non-executive director

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