ClearCourse appoints payments expert Mark Roberts as Divisional Director of ClearCourse’s Payments Division

Feb 02, 2021

London 02 February 2021 - ClearCourse Partnership LLP (“ClearCourse” or “the Partnership”), a group of innovative technology brands providing useful, integrated software solutions, announces the appointment of Mark Roberts as Divisional Director of the ClearCourse Payments Division, which offers a wide range of credit card and direct debit solutions. Mark brings with him over 25 years’ experience in the IT and payments sectors, developing new solutions and executing strategies across the EMEA region.

Mark’s initial focus will be on ClearAccept, ClearCourse’s integrated card payments solution. ClearAccept has been designed from the ground up to be compatible with virtually any software platform, providing ClearCourse brands and clients full control of the user experience, while minimising the burden of security and compliance.

Gerry Gualtieri, CEO of ClearCourse, said of the appointment: “The ClearAccept platform was developed to meet the evolving needs of ClearCourse brands and their customers. Over the past year we have seen a huge growth in demand for online and mobile payments and our platform provides a flexible, fully integrated payments solution.

Mark joins at an important time to lead our payments division and manage the delivery and growth of ClearAccept across our other business divisions. His reputation in the industry precedes him and his depth and breadth of experience in the payment acceptance space is highly impressive. I look forward to working closely with Mark to deliver a platform which works seamlessly for everyone.”

Mark entered the payments market in 2003, when he joined Dione, a retail payment hardware provider, and leading the UK retail market through the first wave of Chip and Pin migration. He managed the sale of devices to major retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and B&Q, securing the system’s ubiquity with the public.

The ClearAccept platform is an exciting step forward for technology vendors.

Mark Roberts – Divisional Director, Payments

Following its acquisition of Dione, he progressed to VP Sales Integrated Solutions for Northern Europe at VeriFone. Mark later joined Miura Systems’ global sales team, supporting the international expansion of companies such as iZettle, PayPal, and Rakuten. He left Miura to join Ingenico Group where he led the creation and delivery of a pan-European payment and acquisition solution for SMEs working within the Independent Software Vendor market. Most recently, Mark was CEO of 123 Send, part of the DNA payments group, where he refocused the business to support over 10,000+ SME customers.

Mark Roberts: “The payments industry has experienced a huge period of growth, not least during the disruption to the sector in 2020 as more people stayed at home and made purchases through mobile phones or online. Now more than ever, businesses require an integrated system that is both tailored to their needs and evolves with them. The ClearAccept platform is an exciting step forward for technology vendors, their clients, and ultimately the wider SME space, delivering a flexible, digital payments solution. I look forward to joining the team at ClearCourse.”

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Software and Payments Specialist ClearCourse Acquires Award Winning Club Scheduling SaaS Business, ThinkSmart Software

07 Feb, 2024

London, 7 February 2024 – ClearCourse, a leading provider of industry-specific software and embedded payments for SMEs and targeted enterprises, announces the acquisition of ThinkSmart Software (“ThinkSmart”), an independent software-as-a-service (“SaaS”) provider delivering an innovative technology for businesses that offer clubs and classes in the UK and Australia as well as other global markets. This strategic acquisition will be integrated as part of ClearCourse’s growing Business Services division. Founded in 2008, ThinkSmart is a scheduling and customer management platform for businesses that conduct classes and take bookings. Today, ThinkSmart serves approximately 2,500 customers predominately within the children’s activities sector, offering a user-friendly, intuitive product which helps “class-based” businesses with managing all day-to-day administration. Its award-winning software helps clients across the tennis, swimming, gymnastics, dance, music and sports sectors automate processes so that they can spend more time managing their business and working with their customers. ThinkSmart’s innovative technology streamlines several business admin tasks, including class scheduling, customer management and communications as well as invoicing and payments systems. Christina Hamilton, Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are extremely pleased to announce ThinkSmart as the latest software business to join our group. We look forward to welcoming the ThinkSmart team, led by founder Andy Leigh and UK Managing Director George Bentley, and working with them to enhance their offering across the growing, class-led activities sector. This investment is a further milestone in the growth of ClearCourse which continues to expand in the UK market as well as internationally.” Andrew (Andy) Leigh, Founder and Managing Director of ThinkSmart, commented: “In ClearCourse we have found a likeminded, customer-focused partner that will support a new phase of growth for ThinkSmart. As part of ClearCourse, we will be focused on continuously improving the industry-specific software solutions we offer our customers across the world, as well as looking for opportunities to expand our services.” George Bentley, UK Managing Director said: “ClearCourse has built a unique and compelling group of software companies and payments capabilities, and we are excited to continue growing our business supported by the rich experience and infrastructure now available to us. In particular, working with ClearCourse will enable us to offer our UK growing customer base market-leading, embedded Direct Debit and card payment solutions which will make accepting and managing payments quicker and easier.” Established in London in 2018, ClearCourse is a leading software and embedded payment specialist servicing SMEs and targeted enterprise customers. The group’s vertical software solutions provide essential, market-leading technology to help their customers manage and grow their businesses. Since inception, the company has undergone rapid growth by acquiring 40 leading software and payments solutions in the market verticals in which it operates: Retail & Hospitality, Golf & Leisure, Business Services and Membership Services. Christina Hamilton added: “ClearCourse is a growth company with a clear ambition to help our customers build great businesses with our industry-specific software and embedded payments solutions. We acquire small- and medium-sized businesses and integrate them into the ClearCourse group of companies to benefit their growth and development, while delivering the same for our customers with their own growth aspirations. Our acquisition of ThinkSmart is our first investment in 2024 and marks a successful start to what we expect to be a year of continued growth for ClearCourse.” The terms of the deal are undisclosed.

Nathan Best ClearCourse Chief Operating Officer

Software and Payments Specialist ClearCourse appoints Nathan Best as Chief Operating Officer

04 Jul, 2023

ClearCourse, a leading provider of industry-specific software and payments for UK SMEs, announces the appointment of FinTech veteran Nathan Best as Chief Operating Officer.