Former Skyscanner chair Margaret Rice-Jones has been tapped to serve in the same capacity at Admiral Group Plc subsidiary Penguin Portals Ltd, the holding company that consists of comparison businesses Confused.com (UK), Rastreator.com (Spain), and LeLynx.fr (France).
Penguin Portals Ltd is one half of the ‘Penguin Portals’ branded network – the other half being Preminen Price Comparison Holdings Ltd, the holding company which acts as an incubator for newer comparison operations such as Rastreator.mx (Mexico), Tamoniki.com (Turkey), and GoSahi.com (India). Preminen is a joint owned venture between Admiral and MAPFRE.
Rice-Jones’ remit will include growing the whole Penguin Portals network. She brings experience from previous chair positions at Holiday Extras, Xaar, Origami Energy, Openet, and QUMAS.
“For online businesses to truly succeed, they need to think about global scale,” stated Rice-Jones, a Motorola alumnus who was also chief executive at Aircom International. “But what sets Penguin Portals apart is that the team knows how to appeal locally.
“Tech is global by its very nature. It transcends borders and time zones. As does the world’s growing reliance on financial products, such as insurance, utilities, and broadband. Against a backdrop of tighter regulations and a boom in the number of providers to choose from, the service offered by Penguin Portals’ platforms is now universally in demand.”
Commenting on the appointment, Penguin Portals CEO Elena Betes described Rice-Jones as a recognised innovator when it comes to global expansion.
“We’re honoured that she recognises the potential of Penguin Portals beyond the six countries in which we’re currently established,” said Betes. “We disrupted an entire market by launching Confused.com as the first comparison platform for car insurance in the UK.
“Now our comparison platforms help people all over the world make empowered decisions on many more products. With Margaret’s guidance we will be able to empower even more people to make better decisions about financial services.”
