Meet the leadership team
Nick Discombe
Non-Executive Chairman
Nick joined Thomsons in 2011 as Non-Executive Chairman. He has a long and successful track record in helping the development of profitable, high growth technology companies all over the world. His experience includes working with public companies (London and NASDAQ) as well as with market-leading venture and private equity backed companies.
Connect with Nick via LinkedIn
Michael Whitfield
Chief Executive Officer
Michael founded Thomsons Online Benefits with Chris Bruce in 2000. With more than 30 years experience in the financial services industry, he maintains a key interest in the constantly evolving world of pensions and is a vocal lobbyist on behalf of UK employers. Prior to founding Thomsons Online Benefits, he was Managing Director of European Financial Services at Alexander Forbes (previously Nelson Hurst) and Managing Director at Swire Fraser Financial Management. Michael is also Chairman of Barnes Rugby Club.
Connect with Michael via LinkedIn
Chris Bruce
Managing Director
Chris Bruce founded Thomsons Online Benefits with Michael Whitfield in 2000. He led the development of their very first benefits administration technology platform, now a highly sophisticated software brand, Darwin™, as well as core intellectual property such as Intelligent Reward™, a unique benefits strategy development methodology. He is also responsible for the day to day leadership of the Relationship Team which includes the commercial, marketing, business development and client management functions. He is passionate about driving innovation in the employee benefits industry and building lasting partnerships with the world’s leading employers. He is also a patron of the charity JustAid.
Connect with Chris via LinkedIn
Paul Smolinski
Chief Financial Officer
Paul Smolinski has more than 25 years experience working with technology companies. He was formerly at Niu Solutions Ltd, where he was Group CFO. Prior to this Paul was CFO of Sophos, The Innovation Group and spent 10 years at Compaq Computer, where he was Group Finance Director of the UK & Ireland.
Connect with Paul via LinkedIn
Pete Craghill
Chief Technology Officer
Pete Craghill became Chief Technology Officer in 2005. He is responsible for leading the global technology team and the development and testing of our proprietary software, Darwin™. Prior to joining Thomsons, Pete worked at Microsoft, Northgate IS and PWA specialising in the delivery of HR and payroll systems.
Connect with Pete via LinkedIn
Marcus Underhill
Global Reward Director
Marcus joined Thomsons in 2009 as Global Reward Director. He is responsible for developing global reward programmes for clients across a diverse range of industries. He is widely regarded as one of the foremost experts in flexible benefits globally having worked in the field for more than 20 years. He previously headed up the Flexible Benefits Consulting teams with Vebnet, Mercer and Watson Wyatt.
Connect with Marcus via LinkedIn
Meet our teams
