Hoptroff Strengthens Leadership as Precision Timing Becomes Critical Infrastructure

Former Sky CISO Elaine Bucknor elevated to Chair; financial services business leader Alex Visram joins board as timing technology leader scales globally

LONDON, Thursday 16th October 2025 – Hoptroff, the London-headquartered provider of traceable precision timing solutions, today announced significant leadership strengthening with the appointment of Elaine Bucknor as Chair of the Board and Alex Visram as Non-Executive Director. The appointments come as the British company accelerates international expansion, serving financial institutions, major corporations, and essential service providers worldwide.

Growing concerns over GPS vulnerabilities have made securing timing technology a top organisational priority for critical infrastructure. Hoptroff's terrestrially-backed global timing network delivers nanosecond-level accuracy through direct connections to authoritative UTC sources, including NIST, NPL and RISE, addressing growing regulatory and security requirements for resilient timing infrastructure.

Bucknor brings over 25 years of technology and cybersecurity leadership to her Chair position, including a decade as Group Director of Technology Strategic Services and Chief Information Security Officer at Sky. She brings extensive board experience, previously serving on the board of Darktrace and now on the Boards of Currys and YBS. She’s also a strategic advisor to PwC and two cyber-based businesses, Panaseer and Riversafe. Bucknor's expertise is particularly relevant as Hoptroff addresses the increasing threats to timing infrastructure and is poised for significant international growth. She succeeds co-founder David Hulbert, who remains on the board as a Non-Executive Director.

"In an era where precision timing underpins everything from financial transactions to national cybersecurity, the market opportunity for Hoptroff is substantial," said Elaine Bucknor, Chair, Hoptroff. "Hoptroff is the trusted provider for organisations that cannot accept timing failure. I look forward to guiding the company’s next phase of growth as we bring rigour, pace, and ambition. I'm grateful to David for his stewardship thus far, and the continued commitment and thoughtfulness he brings to Hoptroff."

Visram brings extensive experience in financial services, Hoptroff’s primary client base, having built and sold emagine, an ISO27001-certified international consultancy that served tier one banks across capital markets and trading. With European and US regulations imposing stringent requirements for timing resilience and GNSS independence, Visram's established relationships within the financial services sector position Hoptroff for accelerated growth.

"Hoptroff addresses one of the most critical yet underappreciated challenges in digital infrastructure," said Alex Visram, Non-Executive Director, Hoptroff. "Having spent my career scaling businesses in financial services, I'm excited to help Hoptroff capture the substantial opportunity ahead."

The board appointments follow the recent addition of Tyler Haws as Vice President of Sales, who brings over 20 years of revenue leadership experience and has scaled annual recurring revenue to over $100 million. His appointment accelerates Hoptroff's worldwide reach at a time when markets across regions tighten requirements for GNSS-independent timing and critical industries accelerate investment in resilient timing infrastructure.

"These appointments reflect where we are today and our ambitions for international growth," said Tim Richards, Chief Executive Officer, Hoptroff. "Hoptroff is providing mission-critical timing infrastructure to some of the world's most demanding organisations. Elaine understands this challenge perfectly. Combined with Alex's financial services expertise and Tyler's enterprise sales leadership, we have assembled a team capable of achieving our ambition to be the digital heartbeat of the connected world."

Founded in London in 2015, Hoptroff continues Britain's heritage of timing innovation and has participated in the Mayor of London's international trade delegations. The company was highly commended in the "Made in the UK, Sold to the World" awards, recognising UK companies achieving international commercial success. Completing its recent leadership changes, the British company is positioned to scale globally as timing transitions from technical requirement to recognised critical infrastructure.