“Be an effective leader by being kind to the planet and people; judged by tomorrow’s standards, not just today’s”

 

Alex Chikhani

Alex Chikhani

Chief Executive Officer and Founder
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Key Skills

Leader and team builder | Fuels geek | Seeing big-picture.

Qualifications, Professional Bodies, and Associations

  • Chartered Manager and Fellow of the CMI

  • Certificate in Company Directorship (currently on the Chartered Director’s Programme) IoD

  • BA (Hons) Law from Anglia Ruskin University

  • BSc (Hons) In Logistics Management from Lincoln University

  • Masters in Business Administration from Cranfield University

  • Sits on the SAF Technology Delivery Group of the Jet Zero Council of the UK

  • MOD’s Aviation Fuels Committee Member

  • NED to two scale-up companies

  • DEI Ambassador for IoD SW

  • Consultant for the Cranfield Trust

  • Trustee of two charities

Experience

  • RAF

    Managed the energy network based on liquid fuels to all British users across the country of Afghanistan. Controlled a $1Bn OpEx budget and delivered a multinational strategy of military and contractor support. Maintained Operational capability during a particularly challenging time.

  • TrueSpeed

    The role was more akin to a Chief of Staff position to the rapidly scaling company. I worked in a number of functions – investment, infrastructure build, software service, commercial, marketing and sales. The role entailed building process into the business.

  • Sigma Polaris

    Worked at the centre of all activities and functions of the scale up software company. Recruited staff, gained investment, developed the tech with outsourced partners, and achieved international B2B sales. Successfully re-positioned the company during the pandemic.

Career Summary

Alex joined the RAF as a Logistics Officer in 2006 as a Fuels Subject Matter Expert. Previous to this he studied law at university. He was posted to several UK stations and overseas units where he gained a wealth of experience in the fuels specialisation.

These included Officer Commanding Fuels for the Falkland Islands (along with responsibility for Ascension Island), a detachment to an Army Brigade in Germany, and a strategic fuels role in Afghanistan where he controlled a $1Bn budget and the international supply chain.

On returning to the UK, he was posted to the Fuel & Gas Safety Regulator where he had direct responsibility to the Secretary of Defence for licensing 200 sites with multiple fuel installations.

When Alex left the RAF in 2015 he founded a telecoms company and within a year was headhunted to a competing start-up with an almost identical business model named TrueSpeed.

He joined as the 4th member of the team which was yet to raise investment; when he left 2 years later, the company had grown to a team of 60 having raised £78m in four investment rounds - we worked at the centre of each project in the rapidly scaling business.

This experience cemented Alex’s ambitions to work in start-up companies whilst highlighting the need to gain a working knowledge of finance for start-ups. Since then, he has worked in start-ups in multiple capacities, has co-founded an HR Tech business, and is a NED to two growing companies.

Hobbies and Interests

“Running, playing squash, rock climbing, scuba diving, snowboarding, cider brewing, welding, dog walking & DIY. Enjoying the great outdoors and nature. I really enjoy helping people.