Management Team

Jim Stanfield, MA (Oxon) Chief Executive Officer

Jim was a co-founder of Lost Wax in 1996 and in his role as chief operating officer played a key role in the successful growth of the company. Prior to joining Lost Wax, Jim had over 10 years experience working with commercial software development companies and a wide range of blue chip clients. In his role as Lost Wax COO, Jim had direct responsibility for project delivery, both for client projects and Lost Wax IP projects, as well as day to day running of the company. Jim was appointed Lost Wax CEO in November 2003.

Gary Vickers, MSc, Business Development Director

Gary joined Lost Wax in 1999 as the professional services director before taking over responsibility for sales and marketing in 2001. Gary has over 20 years experience in the software business and has worked in a variety of roles. He started his career at American Express, and subsequently, spent several years with Logica in Australia and the UK working in the financial services sector. Prior to joining Lost Wax, Gary was a successful independent programme manager delivering five major programmes, including business start-ups and large scale change management.

Steve Osborn, MSc, Agent Services Manager

Steve Osborn joined Lostwax in 1999 as a senior software developer. He has over 20 years of experience in designing and implementing real world Artificial Intelligence and distributed Object Oriented systems. Following an MSc in Intelligent Knowledge Based Systems from Essex University, he has worked as employee or consultant at many blue chip companies including British Airways, Hitachi, Vodafone and Nokia. In 1997 Steve was awarded the Cost Savings Object Oriented Application of the year by the Object Management Group for a plate planning system built for a leading Aluminium company.

At Lostwax Steve has been responsible for designing and implementing the proprietary agent architecture and application platform, and the delivery of multiple client solutions based on this platform.

Malcolm Bridgeford, MA, Software Services Manager

Malcolm joined Lost Wax in 1997 as a technical architect, since then he has been the lead on many Lost Wax projects. Malcolm has over 20 years experience in the software business and has worked in a variety of managerial and technical roles. He started his career at CAP Scientific developing real time control systems for nuclear reactors, and subsequently, spent several years in the UK and US and Europe working for blue chip companies and software vendors. Prior to joining Lost Wax, Malcolm was a successful independent consultant in the finance and insurance industry. Malcolm became one of the first Sun certified Java Architects in Europe in 1999.

John Fussell, PhD, Software Services Manager

John joined Lost Wax in 1999 as a software developer, having previously spent four years working for a general insurance systems developer in the city. Since joining Lost Wax, John has been responsible for the technical management of many of our software development projects, and has extensive experience in both .Net and Java software development - primarily for our financial services clients. He is now jointly responsible for management of our Software Development Services division. Prior to starting work, John obtained a PhD in Physics from the University of Birmingham.

Martin Thomas, Consultancy Services Manager

Martin joined Lost Wax in 2000 as a Business Manager/Project Manager responsible for developing business opportunities, managing client relationships and, managing and delivering software development projects. Martin has over 20 years experience in the IT industry as a developer, business analyst and managing programmes/projects in areas including financial, insurance, manufacturing, telecommunications, transport and oil exploration.

Professor Nick Jennings, Chief Scientific Officer

Professor Jennings of Southampton University is the world's leading authority on agent software-based negotiation and dynamic pricing strategies and advises Lost Wax in this field. He is the recipient of the International Joint Conferences on Artificial Intelligence - Computer & Thought Award for 1999, the first European winner in the award's 30 year history.

Nikki Maynard

Nikki is Group Taxation Director for Prudential plc, a UK based multinational retail financial services group with extensive operations in Asia and the USA (under the Jackson National Life brand). Nikki is responsible for ensuring that, in all of the territories in which it operates, the Group complies with the requirements of the tax laws and practices and endeavours to maintain good relationships with the Fiscal Authorities, recognising that tax planning opportunities may impact these relationships. Her particular focus in recent years has been on cross-border financing and corporate activities.

Nikki joined Prudential in May 1999. She qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen and spent 10 years there, the last seven of which were spent in the corporate tax division as a senior manager specialising in international tax. She has also worked for 3 years with Mercantile & General Re (then owned by Prudential) as Group Tax Manager, and Liberty Re, responsible for assisting with all aspects of the start-up and then specialising in structured alternative risk transfer products.