Director Biographies and Committees

David Braben

Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Joined: David was the founding shareholder of Frontier in January 1994.

David is the co-author of the seminal Elite title and has 40 years’ experience in the games industry. David is also one of the six founders of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a charity which aims to inspire a new generation of children to get interested in computer science through the use of a low cost creditcard sized computer that plugs into your TV and a keyboard.

David is a member of Cambridge Angels, investing and supporting early stage companies, including investing in companies that can help reduce our carbon footprint. David is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and a Fellow of BAFTA (one of only 103 starting with Alfred Hitchcock) and the recipient of three honorary doctorates (from Abertay University, The Open University and York University), and received an OBE in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to the UK computer and video games industry. He is also a Vice President of the charity SpecialEffect.

Committees

David Walsh

Non-Executive Director

Joined: September 2001

David transitioned from Chief Operations Officer to a Non-Executive Director role at the AGM in October 2018 in order to focus his attention on a start-up opportunity outside of the games industry. David is Investor Director of Pre-Cleared Limited, which operates the only licensing platform delivering officially licensed tracks from the music industry to performance sports worldwide.

David has over 30 years’ experience of engineering and commercial management roles in high-growth technology companies. In 2001 David joined Frontier from ARM, the FTSE/NASDAQ listed microprocessor IP licensing company where he served for six years, helping to grow the company and, as Director of Software Systems, setting up a division of the company to facilitate adoption of the architecture in key target market segments.

Committees

Jonny Watts

Chief Creative Officer

Joined: November 1998

Jonny has over 30 years’ experience in gaming. He joined Frontier Developments in 1998 from Sensible Software. Over the course of his career he has been involved in all aspects of the creation of over 30 published games such as Sensible Soccer and Cannon Fodder, along with Frontier’s suite of games, including RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, Elite: Dangerous, Planet Coaster, Jurassic World Evolution and Planet Zoo.

Jonny’s titles span the full range from independent development to 400-person projects, encompass a diverse range of genres, and together have been enjoyed by over 50 million people worldwide.

Jonny holds zoology and computer science degrees and is an active member of BAFTA, serving as a Judge for nine years. He is committed to supporting future developers, including initiatives such as Brains Eden.

David Gammon

Chairman

Joined: February 2012

David has widespread experience in developing and building technology based businesses. Since 2001, David has focused on finding, advising and investing in UK technology companies. David is CEO and founder of Rockspring, an advisory and investment firm, which focuses on early stage technology companies. Other current positions include non-executive directorship of Raspberry Pi Trading Limited and L’Escargot Sur Mer Limited and he acts as an advisor to IQ Capital Partners LLP and Thought Machine Limited. In 2017 David was elected as an Hon Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and in 2018 a member of the Scale Up Institute.

Previous experience includes Non-Executive Director (NED) and advisor at artificial general intelligence company DeepMind Technologies Limited, NED at queuing and ticketing management company Accesso Technology Group plc, NED at real-time location technology specialist Ubisense Trading Limited, NED at internet TV specialist Amino Technologies plc, NED at smart metering and software company BGlobal plc and acting CFO at internet specialist Envisional Solutions Limited. David was group strategy advisor to Marshall of Cambridge (Holdings) limited. Earlier in his career, David worked as an Investment Banker for over 15 years.

Committees

Charles Cotton

Non-Executive Director

Joined: July 2016

Charles has a successful track record in high-growth technology companies. Current roles include director of semiconductor and software company XMOS Ltd.; membership of the Investment Committee of Cambridge Enterprise; the Advisory Panel of Cambridge Innovation Capital; Deputy Chairman of Cambridge Ahead; and a Fellow Commoner at St. Edmund’s College Cambridge. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the American University of Sharjah (AUS) and AUS Enterprises. As the founder and Chairman of Cambridge Phenomenon Ltd., he co-authored two books, The Cambridge Phenomenon 50 Years of Innovation and Enterprise and The Cambridge Phenomenon: Global Impact.

He was a Director of Solarflare Communications Inc. which was acquired by Xilinx in 2019; Supervisory Board member of Euronext Amsterdam listed Tele Atlas which was sold to TomTom for €2.8 billion in 2008; Executive Chairman of NASDAQ listed GlobespanVirata Inc.; and CEO of Virata Corp. which he took public on NASDAQ in 1999 and achieved a market capitalisation of $5 billion in 2000.

Committees

Alex Bevis

CFO and Company Secretary

Joined: April 2017

Alex has 20 years’ experience in high growth technology businesses. Alex joined Frontier from Xaar plc (FTSE: XAR), a world leader in industrial inkjet technology, where he was Chief Financial Officer from February 2011. Prior to this, Alex rose to VP Finance of Cambridge fabless semiconductor company CSR plc during a ten-year period during which CSR listed on the Main Market, and grew significantly both organically and through acquisition. Alex qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte in Cambridge prior to joining CSR in 2000.

James Mitchell

Non-Executive Director

Joined: September 2017

James is Chief Strategy Officer and a Senior Executive Vice President at Tencent. He is responsible for various functions, including strategic planning and implementation, investor relationships, and mergers, acquisitions and investments activity. James joined Tencent in 2011. Previously James was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs in New York, leading the bank’s communications, media and entertainment research team. James received a degree from Oxford University and holds a Chartered Financial Analyst Certification.

Ilse Howling

Non-Executive Director

Joined: March 2022

Ilse's executive career included twelve years at the BBC, including four years as Head of Digital Marketing and Communication. Ilse went on to lead the Freeview platform (an ITV, Channel 4, BBC, Sky, and Arqiva joint venture) from a start-up to become the UK's largest TV service in her ten years as Managing Director.  She then oversaw the creation of Freeview's Play on-demand TV service, building a multi-disciplinary launch team and leading interactions with multiple stakeholders.

Ilse’s non-executive career has included roles at digital technology companies and charitable organisations including chairing The United Kingdom Committee for UNICEF.  Ilse is currently Chair of the Education Development Trust, a global commercial/social enterprise providing education services and consultancy in the UK, Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Committees