Rangers FC appoints James Taylor as CFO
Rangers Football Club has appointed James Taylor as the club’s chief finance officer from 1 September.
Mr Taylor brings almost 20 years of financial experience to the club from a career spanning the financial services, technology, and hospitality sectors.
He joins the club from Zonal, a UK hospitality solutions provider, where he was CFO, having previously held CFO or finance director roles at Mastercard and Yoyo.
Qualifying as a chartered accountant in 2009, Mr Taylor moved to London to join Barclays Capital and operated in several executive-facing strategic finance roles in both London and Singapore.
Following five years at Barclays he joined Vocalink, to head up the finance function at Pay by Bank app, a bank-led payments initiative. During this time Mr Taylor was instrumental in supporting successful commercial partnerships with HSBC, Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group.
The success of these partnerships supported a strategic exit for Vocalink into Mastercard for £700m, where he became a finance director prior to joining Yoyo Wallet, a payments, loyalty and data startup in 2018.
At Yoyo, Mr Taylor established the finance operation and was central in supporting the commercial growth of the organisation through innovative partnerships with the likes of Mastercard, Dubai Holding, Britvic, Heineken and Global ID, leading Yoyo to be recognised as one of the fastest growing startups in Europe. He was also responsible for delivering several funding rounds, and, ultimately, a successful exit in 2020.
Following the exit, Mr Taylor made the decision to move back to Scotland and join Zonal as their CFO.
At Zonal, he led the finance, HR, legal and procurement functions, and as a member of the executive board he was central in driving the strategic agenda for the business. During his time at Zonal he also led several successful acquisitions, accelerating the growth of the group across the UK and the USA.
In addition to his broad financial experience, Mr Taylor also has extensive personal experience within the football industry with his father, David, having served as both the Scottish FA Chief Executive and UEFA General Secretary.
As he prepares to take on his new role, Mr Taylor said: “I am honoured to be joining the new executive team here at Rangers Football Club as chief finance officer, and I am looking forward to supporting the delivery of the strategic vision that James Bisgrove and the board have for our club.
“Being from Glasgow, I am acutely aware of just how much this club means to our supporters and our incredible heritage of success.
“I truly believe that we are firmly on an upward trajectory, and with the successful execution of our strategic vision, we have the potential to become one of the leading clubs in European football. It is exciting to be part of this journey and I can’t wait to get started.”
Rangers chief executive, James Bisgrove, added: “On behalf of the chairman, John Bennett, and board of directors, I’m delighted to officially welcome James to Rangers.
“James will be an integral member of our executive management team, where he will lead the finance operations and will have an integral role in driving our club strategy moving forward.
“It is crucial that Rangers continues to grow revenues, control costs, and remain profitable as part of our commitment to the board and our investors to operate the football club in a financially sustainable manner.
“The financial performance of Rangers will directly correlate to on-pitch performance, and I’m confident James’s vast experience and track record will play an integral role in achieving the success this club’s supporters demand.
“I would like to thank James Gow, our interim finance director, for his invaluable support in this transition period, and look forward to continuing to welcome him to Ibrox.”