Ashby was most recently CEO of Patsystems, a supplier of trading systems to the futures and options industry. During his three-year tenure, he steered the company to profitability. Previous posts include CEO at WISe, a developer of collaborative e-commerce platforms for the global insurance industry, and IT Partner at KPMG. In all Ashby brings over 25 years of experience in the IT industry.

Commenting on the appointment, Ashby said, "Anvil is a robust, profitable company with an impressive client base in the global financial community, and a talented and experienced staff. It has innovative, market-leading products such as the ARTS suite, unique in its ability to handle both repos and securities lending, and Denarius, the new multi-asset trading system. Given the success of its existing products and the level of interest surrounding its new offerings, I am thrilled to have been asked to help Anvil become even more successful."

Anvil Managing Director Joe Nicholson said, "We are delighted to welcome Kevin Ashby as our first Non-Executive Chairman. We look forward to benefiting from his breadth of experience as we position ourselves for further growth."