6 | Influential Businesswoman Awards 2026 Cultural Event Finance Leader of the Year 2026 (London): Ella Byrne Ella Byrne is the CFO and Board Adviser at South by Southwest (SXSW) London, a festival where culture, creativity, and technology converge. London hosted its first ever edition of SXSW last year, with the festival, which originates from Austin, Texas, standing for inclusion and practical optimism in the face of growing global uncertainty. For more on this London festival, the part she plays in delivering it, and the experiences that have shaped her career, we had the pleasure of catching up with Ella. Contact: Ella Byrne Company: SXSW London Web Address: www.sxswlondon.com Convening the sharpest minds across the political, scientific, and artistic spheres, SXSW London’s aim is to blend provocative debate and positive storytelling to reframe the world’s most pressing challenges as the opportunities of tomorrow. Now in its second year, with the vibrant backdrop of Shoreditch returning from the 2025 event, SXSW is set to come alive across more than 20 grassroots venues between the 1st and the 6th June 2026. In her role as CFO, Ella is responsible for leading the finance function of this dynamic conference, music showcase, and screen festival, building credibility and managing risk as she leads the strategic direction and growth of the SXSW brand in Europe. This entails building strategic partnerships, undertaking major financial decisions, and communicating with stakeholders, alongside leading a talented finance and HR team looking to position SXSW London as a premier platform across the technology and creative sectors. As this shows, the scope of Ella’s position at SXSW is much broader than a traditional finance role, and this CFO is embracing what she described as a “new era in finance leadership, where CFOs really do have a seat at the table to shape strategy and oversee operational control.” Supporting Ella as she pioneers in this environment is her previous experience, with each of her former roles, including overseeing divisional director duties for Thorpe Park and being the CFOO at Secret Cinema, having operational elements. At SXSW, Ella has channelled these experiences into looking after the customer service, HR, and retail merchandise functions, as well as leading and managing entire departments across these and other such areas. Regarding the financial side specifically, Ella’s expertise is underpinned by her status as a Financial Chartered Accountant and more than 17 years spent working with listed companies, private equity, and privately-owned businesses. Across what is an incredibly impressive career in the world of entertainment and hospitality, Ella shares with us how fortunate she has been to work with brilliant female leaders. Ella has also never once felt any form of negative bias towards her, which is all the more refreshing to hear given she is also a mother factoring young children into her daily life. However, despite her experiences, Ella is aware of the imbalance that still exists across this industry. Doing her best to challenge this by serving as an inspiration to women and championing the shift towards more women holding executive roles, which she believes stems from talent and skill increasingly being recognised over gender, Ella is rightfully proud of all of she has achieved over the course of her career. From qualifying as an accountant to securing her first role with Merlin Entertainments, the highs have continued to roll in for Ella. This continued into last year, when Ella helped to deliver the first SXSW London festival in June 2025. Commenting on this, Ella explained: “The week was a huge sense of pride for me, the months of planning and seeing the small team deliver what was achieved was phenomenal. We didn’t get absolutely everything right but we recognised that and are improving things for the second year.” The sense of continuous improvement Ella is seeking to nurture through SXSW London is mirrored through her own development, and this comes from the mentorship schemes and external opportunities she has been able to participate in throughout her career. One example of the latter recently saw her selected for a British Growth Fund programme that will nurture 20 aspiring female chairs, something she is looking forward to taking part in. Finally, with SXSW London on the horizon, Ella is excited to deliver the second edition of an event that is driving meaningful exchange in an era of AI and other rapid shifts. It is through her work in helping to curate this festival that Ella has been recognised as the Cultural Event Finance Leader of the Year 2026 (London) in our Influential Businesswoman Awards 2026, a feat that this CFO is truly deserving of. More on SXSW London 2026, which is set to feature an integrated programme, longer sessions, and deeper conversations with huge names, can be found below.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTUyMDQwMA==