Feb 23, 2025
Innovo appoints Hamish Leighton as CEO to navigate next stage of growth
Software quality assurance provider, Innovo, has appointed Hamish Leighton as its new CEO, succeeding Nick Finlayson, who has led the company for the past 10 years.
Leighton brings a wealth of experience scaling businesses in the software testing industry, having previously founded and served as COO at Ampion. At the time he was instrumental in driving business growth to over 650 staff and overseeing its subsequent sale to Wipro.
His visionary leadership and deep understanding of industry trends position him ideally to lead Innovo into its next phase of growth, while Finlayson will continue with the business focusing on customer development and sales.
“His strategic insight and proven leadership make him the perfect choice to build on Nick’s legacy and drive the company forward, achieving Innovo’s vision,” Chairperson Paul Thorley said. “Nick will continue in the business focusing on our client relationships and remain on the Board,”
Finlayson has been at the helm of Innovo, overseeing a period of significant expansion and transformation.
“It’s never a straight line, even with all the best laid plans but it’s very satisfying,” he told ARN.
“It’s good to hand it over and contribute to where the business needs to go, because we think we can double it, if not more, again in a year.”
Under his leadership, the company has scaled from startup, to a recognised front-runner in software testing. It has also strengthened its market position and fostering a culture of excellence and innovation.
“I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished at Innovo over the past 10 years,” Finlayson said.
“It has been an honor to work alongside such a talented team. When we broke the eight-figure revenue number, I was always focused on bringing in a CEO.
“We started the search six months ago and luckily reconnected with Hamish. I have worked with Hamish many times, both competing and in partnership, over the years, and I am confident that Hamish is the right person to lead the company into its next chapter.”
Finlayson said the business had reached a certain point and the search began for a new CEO to take over and take the business to the next level.
“There comes a time in every founder’s journey when stepping aside for an experienced CEO is the best decision for the business,” he said.
“Hamish’s remarkable track record of scaling and transforming companies makes him the perfect choice to lead Innovo into its next chapter. With Paul Thorley’s strategic guidance as chairman, I am confident Innovo will achieve our ambitious targets”.
Leighton added the opportunity to work at Innovo and with Finlayson again, drew him into the role. He will be focused on creating the building blocks for the company’s next stage of growth.
“I’m fortunately coming in at a really exciting time for Innovo and there’s a significant pipeline of opportunities,” he said. “We’re going to have a shift in focus in the next 12 months and really scale the business quickly. It’s a fantastic challenge.”
Leighton highlighted the business’ depth of technical talent and helping organisations transform their quality assurance work.
“What we’re going to need is increased capacity to deliver. We’ve been growing our depth of talent and new partnerships with vendors that want us to grow and grow capability around their tool sets to help them deliver to clients as well,” he said.