Digital consultancy CreateFuture (formerly known as xDesign) has today announced the appointment of Colin McLellan as its new chief financial officer (CFO). With vast experience in financial leadership at leading organisations, McLellan will play a pivotal role in shaping the company’s financial strategy and driving its next stage of growth.

McLellan succeeds Scott Robertson, who is retiring after serving as CFO since 2020. Robertson joined CreateFuture during the Covid-19 pandemic and played a key role in its growth, helping the company expand from a team of 40 to over 500 employees.

McLellan previously spent over seven years at Skyscanner, starting as Group Financial Controller when the business had fewer than 200 employees, later serving as CFO as the organisation scaled to 1,500 people.

During his tenure at Skyscanner, he also acted as interim CEO in Tokyo, where he established a joint venture with Yahoo! Japan. McLellan was involved in the financial aspects of Skyscanner’s acquisition in 2016, during the same period that CreateFuture’s chairman, Shane Corstorphine, was also contributing to the company’s growth.

“The culture at CreateFuture immediately resonated with me – supportive, professional, and collaborative,” said McLellan.

“I’m particularly excited about the opportunities in the public sector, where CreateFuture is well-placed to deliver meaningful digital transformation and operational improvements.”

At CreateFuture, McLellan will oversee financial operations, ensuring the company’s financial infrastructure supports its growth aspirations. His remit involves optimising access to data, enabling high-velocity, well-informed decision-making across the organisation, and contributing to the company’s ambitions of becoming a leader in digital transformation and AI enablement.

Commenting on the appointment, CreateFuture Founder and CEO, Euan Andrews, said: “Scott’s dedication and leadership as CFO were pivotal in navigating the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and managing the rapid growth CreateFuture has experienced since. We are grateful for his contributions and wish him all the best in his third retirement.

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“We are equally excited to welcome Colin, whose wealth of experience in scaling organisations and driving financial strategy makes him an outstanding addition to our leadership team.

“Colin’s track record at Skyscanner – and beyond – demonstrates his ability to align financial operations with ambitious growth goals. There, he played a key role in putting bold strategies in place and delivering hyperscale growth, helping the company to secure its acquisition for £1.4bn in 2016 and achieve ‘unicorn’ status.

“Colin’s insight and leadership will be instrumental as we expand into new sectors and support our clients, helping them to create tomorrow, together, today.”