LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb 12, 2025--
Spendesk, the leading spend management and procurement platform for mid-market companies, announces the appointment of Alfonso Marone as Executive Chairman of the Board. This strategic governance change underscores Spendesk’s commitment to driving innovation for customers and profitable growth in 2025.
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Alfonso Marone brings nearly 30 years of global experience in strategic leadership, business innovation, and corporate development. A former KPMG UK Equity Partner, Marone is the founder of London-based advisory firm Point79 and a graduate of INSEAD, holding both an MBA and Corporate Governance qualifications. Over the course of his executive and advisory career, he has worked with Fortune 50 and FTSE 250 organisations, including Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC (now Delinian), NBCUniversal, and O2, as well as top-tier investment firms, focusing on B2B technology, data, analytics, and the information sector.
Marone’s appointment comes at a pivotal time, as Spendesk invests heavily in procurement software solutions and prepares to launch a suite of new AI-enhanced capabilities. His appointment strengthens Spendesk’s leadership team by splitting the roles of Founder, Chair, and CEO among three complementary leaders.
“This new structure enables us to harness the visionary leadership of Founder Rodolphe Ardant, the operational expertise of CEO Axel Demazy, and my strategic oversight to enhance governance and drive attractive value for Spendesk,” said Marone. “I have really enjoyed partnering with Rodolphe and Axel over the past few months, and I am honoured to officially join Spendesk’s Board as Executive Chairman. The company’s work in building the first procure-to-pay platform for mid-market companies in the UK and Europe is truly inspiring.”
Since beginning his collaboration with Spendesk, Marone has focused on developing and overseeing a comprehensive value creation plan with a clear path to profitability in 2025. In his role, Marone chairs the Board of Directors, acting as a critical link between shareholders – including General Atlantic, Index, Eight Roads, Hexa, and Tiger Global – and the executive team. Additionally, he collaborates closely with the Founder to foster innovation in Office-of-the-CFO solutions, drive strategic partnerships, and steer the company toward a path of expansion, value creation, and eventual liquidity for its shareholders.
Axel Demazy, CEO of Spendesk, expressed his enthusiasm: “Alfonso’s leadership brings a fresh perspective and a unique ability to align our shareholders and executive team. His guidance marks a significant step in enhancing governance and unlocking value for both customers and stakeholders.”
About Spendesk
Spendesk is the leading spend management and procurement platform that transforms company spending. By simplifying procurement, payment cards, expense management, invoice processing, and accounting automation, Spendesk sets the new standard for spending at work. Its single, intelligent solution makes efficient spending easy for employees and gives finance leaders the full visibility and control they need across all company spend, even in multi-entity structures. Trusted by thousands of companies, Spendesk supports over 200,000 users across brands such as SoundCloud, Gousto, SumUp, and Bloom & Wild. With offices in London, Paris, Berlin, and Madrid, Spendesk also puts community at the heart of its mission. CFO Connect, backed by Spendesk, is the largest European network of finance leaders, with more than 12,000 members.
For more information, visit: https://www.spendesk.com/en/press/
Alfonso Marone. (Photo: Business Wire)
TIRANA, Albania (AP) — A massive coastal development project linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, is facing growing resistance from protesters in Albania.
The government says the development on the Adriatic coast would be transformational for the former communist nation as it seeks to enter the high-end tourism market and pushes for European Union membership.
But the venture, spanning an abandoned island and a nearby stretch of seafront on Albania’s southern coast, has drawn opposition from environmental campaigners and critics of long-time Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama.
The luxury project has two components: a coastal development in the Narta Lagoon area, which is a wildlife reserve, and a smaller resort on the nearby uninhabited island of Sazan, a communist-era military base.
The planned development of hotels, apartments, villas and a marina is linked to Kushner and Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump.
In an interview this week with U.S. podcaster David Senra, Ivanka Trump said they discovered the site by accident.
“We were on a friend’s boat, and we stopped for a swim. Effectively, that’s how we found it,” she said. “We swam to the island. We went on a hike, barefoot all the way up to the top, and we were just captivated.”
An investment firm linked to Kushner has been granted special investor status by Albanian authorities.
Albania has 450 kilometers (280 miles) of coast that remained largely underdeveloped during decades of harsh communist rule.
Protest groups fear the sections of that pristine coastline could be snapped up by powerful investors. And public anger grew after video showed an activist being dragged by a private security guard while demonstrating at the site.
The development is planned within a nature reserve and one of Albania’s most valuable biodiversity areas, a key stopover for migratory birds along the Adriatic coast.
Protesters have carried cardboard cut-outs of pink flamingos, one of the protected migratory bird species, at rallies in the capital Tirana.
Since late May, excavators and other heavy machinery have entered the area, opening access routes, digging into the sand, clearing land among pine trees and installing fencing.
Environmental groups from Albania and elsewhere in Europe condemned the work, with one prominent local group charging that long-protected habitats are being "irreversibly destroyed.”
Albania’s state anti-corruption agency has confirmed it opened an investigation related to the project but has not disclosed details.
The government says the land earmarked for the project is privately owned. But competing claims have emerged questioning the privatization — a common type of legal dispute.
Rama has committed to the venture, saying it would align with Albania’s ambition to become a major global tourism destination.
“Albania should not be a country that fears an extraordinary project like this one, where exceptional partners have come together to invest 4 billion euros ($4.6 billion),” Rama said.
He added: “There is no chance for this investment to stop as long as I am here.”
However, the demise of a similar project in Serbia offers a cautionary tale. In November, Serbia's Parliament passed a special law to enable the building of a luxury complex in the capital, Belgrade, to be financed by an investment company linked to Kushner.
The following month, Serbia's prosecutor for organized crime charged four people, including a government minister, with abuse of office and falsifying of documents to help pave the way for the development.
Kushner later withdrew from the planned multi-million investment that would have replaced a sprawling bombed-out military complex, a designated heritage zone whose legal protection was lifted by the former officials now on trial.
Flamingos are pictured over Narta lagoon area, western Albania, Saturday, June 6, 2026, where a massive coastal development project linked to Jared Kushner is facing resistance over concerns about environmental impact and transparency. (AP Photo/Hameraldi Agolli)
A view of Narta lagoon area, western Albania, Saturday, June 6, 2026, where a massive coastal development project linked to Jared Kushner is facing resistance over concerns about environmental impact and transparency. (AP Photo/Hameraldi Agolli)
Police officers block a street during a demonstration in Tirana, Albania, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, opposing a luxury coastal development project linked to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump over concerns about environmental impacts and transparency. (AP Photo/Hameraldi Agolli)
Protesters hold pink flamingo cutouts during a demonstration in Tirana, Albania, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, opposing a luxury coastal development project linked to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump over concerns about environmental impacts and transparency. (AP Photo/Hameraldi Agolli)
Police use a water cannon to disperse protesters during a demonstration in Tirana, Albania, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, opposing a luxury coastal development project linked to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump over concerns about environmental impacts and transparency. (AP Photo/Hameraldi Agolli)
Police officers block a street during a demonstration in Tirana, Albania, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, opposing a luxury coastal development project linked to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump over concerns about environmental impacts and transparency.(AP Photo/Hameraldi Agolli)
Protesters scuffle with police officers blocking a street during a demonstration in Tirana, Albania, Wednesday, June 3, 2026, opposing a luxury coastal development project linked to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump over concerns about environmental impacts and transparency.(AP Photo/Hameraldi Agolli)
