ARKK announced today that Laurence Kiddle has been appointed new CEO of the company. Laurence succeeds Richard Metcalfe, effective from 01 January 2022.
Laurence has over 20 years’ experience in Tax and Regulatory software, most recently as a Partner in Deloitte’s Tax Management Consulting team. Prior to that, he served as Managing Director, Corporate Markets EMEA for the Tax and Accounting business at Thomson Reuters. He has served as a Board Advisor to ARKK since December 2020.
“I am delighted that Laurence has decided to join the business to lead it into the next phase of exciting growth.”, commented ARKK’s Chairman, Graham Ridgeway . “Laurence comes with a fantastic industry track record and detailed knowledge of our markets. He will build on the fantastic qualities of the business, from market leading innovation to great customer service, all supported by ARKK’s first class employees and the great culture that they embody.”
While leading the Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting business in EMEA, Laurence recorded market leading growth and won a number of industry awards, including the International Tax Review’s European Tax Technology Firm of the Year. His previous roles at Thomson Reuters included leading global teams for Indirect Tax and Information Reporting.
Laurence also worked at Refinitiv, where, as Global Commercial Director he launched their FATCA solutions, and held various positions in Big 4 firms having started his career at Arthur Andersen.
Speaking about his new role, Laurence commented “I am very excited to be joining the team. ARKK has a great business model, combining market leading technology and services along with a very strong leadership team and organisational culture. The worlds of tax and business regulation grow more complex every year, and I believe ARKK is uniquely placed to help businesses ease the burden of compliance”.
Commenting on the new appointment, outgoing CEO Richard Metcalfe said “Since Laurence joined ARKK as a Board Advisor 12 months ago, he has impressed me and the rest of the business with his depth of knowledge and expertise. I am confident that under his leadership the business will go from strength to strength and I wish him every success.”
Laurence is a Chartered Tax Advisor, and received a B.A. (Hons) in English Literature from the University of Sussex and M.Sc in Information Processing from the University of York.
About ARKK
ARKK began amid the 2008 financial crisis. Initially focussing solely on regulatory and statutory compliance solutions, the company's mission rapidly evolved into an idea that technology and automation could enhance the entire finance function. Over ten years later, ARKK provides innovative solutions to over 890 customers across the globe.
ARKK's award-winning for:sight platform allows companies to move away from manual, error-prone data entry methods to seamlessly automate tasks and improve processes. Ultimately, for:sight enables CFOs and their teams to not only save time but go beyond compliance, empowering them to unify, process and gain insights from their data more quickly and accurately than ever before.