CJC 25th Anniversary Series – Part 2/4

Don’t Miss…

• Part 1, Turning 25 Going Into 2025 – Meet CJC’s Data Defenders!
• Part 3, 25 Years of CJC – An Inside Look
• Part 4, 25 Years of Growth – CJC’s Vision for the Future

Executive Summary

CJC, founded in September of 1999 by Paul Gow, Paul Tomblin, Bob Clark and Malcolm Wyllie, marks 25 years of leadership in the market data technology sector. Initially driven by the founders’ vision to provide vendor-neutral solutions for managing complex market data, CJC has grown into a global leader, offering world-class support to financial institutions globally. Our ongoing commitment to innovation is evident in its cutting-edge expertise and bespoke services, which continue to empower the global capital markets. With a focus on continuous improvement, CJC remains dedicated to delivering impartial, exceptional value to its clients while maintaining its legacy of excellence.

Explore CJC’s Cutting-Edge Services

CJC was officially incorporated on Christmas Eve 1999, beginning an incredible and entirely founder-funded growth journey. One of whom, Paul Gow, remains at CJC and serves as Chief Executive Officer. We will publish a series of articles over December reflecting on the past, celebrating the present, and looking toward the future to celebrate this momentous milestone.

Fast Response Times Around Low Latency…and 25 Years Flew By

Building a successful and specialist IT business is no easy task, especially in the fast-paced capital market’s market data technology sector which has evolved rapidly with CJC at the forefront. We take great pride in celebrating 25 years of excellence in supporting the market data sector, powering the global capital markets and growing into a trusted global partner, proud of our vendor-agnostic solutions and exceptional value delivery.

The Story of CJC Begins

In the late 1990s, Paul Gow, Paul Tomblin, and Bob Clark worked as Technical Support Engineers, managing data distribution technologies and infrastructure for Reuters (now LSEG). They witnessed firsthand the rapid evolution of market data, which grew in speed, size, and complexity, alongside an increasing number of data vendors.

Paul Tomblin and Bob Clarke had left Reuters to pursue their technical careers in a leading German financial institution managing the market data platform within the bank. A vacancy became available within the team and Paul Tomblin asked Paul Gow to join the team. A few years of working together as contractors proved successful but changes in the bank’s policies meant that contractors were being put on short terms so, along with a network engineer Malcom Wyllie, CJC was formed which fitted the bank’s criteria for becoming a service provider.

This evolution exposed a critical gap in the industry – a need for technical expertise and commercial and administrative support to manage data costs and ensure compliance. The rise of roles like Market Data Engineer and Market Data Analyst reflected this shift.

The founders envisioned a holistic solution. One that provided technical and commercial administration support across multiple vendors. From the outset, a core principle was clear – vendor neutrality and independence. This approach enabled CJC to offer unbiased and impartial support, always working in the best interests of CJC’s clients.

On December 24, 1999, the group officially registered Crown Jewels Consultants Ltd., and CJC was born.

Early Growth and Expansion

As market data became increasingly complex, CJC adapted to meet growing demands. By 2004, just five years after its founding, the company expanded to over 25 employees and established strong relationships with global tier 1 and tier 2 banks, data providers, and Interdealer Brokers (IDBs).

During this time, Paul Gow fully transitioned into the CEO role, focusing on scaling the business and overseeing operations. Alongside Paul Tomblin as CTO, they mapped out the next phase of CJC’s growth.

The vision was as bold as it was ambitious: to transform how market data was architected for distribution. Instead of firms managing individual setups, CJC proposed a multi-tenant solution hosted in a flagship datacentre and telco provider. Partnering with Radianz and Dresdner, CJC successfully ran a proof of concept (POC) for a hosted RMDS solution. Although the BT acquisition of Radianz in 2005 prevented the project’s continuation, Reuters took notice. After 18 months of collaboration, the Reuters Hosted Solution (RHS) was launched in 2007.

10 Years On – Reaching New Heights

By 2010, the RHS solution (now TRHS) had become a huge success. CJC has grown to around 50 employees in the UK, with demand for its services steadily increasing. To support CJC’s global ambitions, the business opened offices in Hong Kong, followed by Singapore.

In 2012, CJC established its Commercial Management team. By 2013, the company expanded even further with a new support office in New York. With offices in EMEA, APAC, and the Americas, CJC could offer 24x7x365 support. By Christmas Eve 2024, CJC will have provided continuous global support for an incredible 4,226 days.

A Culture of Continuous Improvement

By 2019, CJC had undergone significant evolution. Employing around 120 people globally, the company expanded its global presence and leadership structure.

Leaders like Gina Wee (now CIO) and Yan Shih (now COO) introduced modern processes, positioning CJC as a forward-looking organisation. Their efforts helped CJC achieve ISO 27001 certification, renewed annually since 2017. Meanwhile, Peter Williams became CTO, driving innovation across CJC’s offerings.

CJC developed award-winning products, like mosaicOA,  which is used extensively across its managed services and client base. The company’s also expanded its expertise to support cutting-edge technologies like Solace, Kafka, BPIPE, and Cloud solutions. Since 2013, CJC has been delivering services from the cloud, enabling clients to access support tools or host their applications more efficiently.

25 Years Later: A Legacy of Excellence

CJC proudly continues to support the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) with the RTMDS solution, originally launched as RHS in 2007. Through this platform, hundreds of global firms interact with CJC daily.

Today, CJC embraces modern cloud technologies, advanced messaging systems, AI, and the latest tools. We operate at the highest standards set by industry bodies, clients, and regulators. Despite these changes, CJC’s mission remains unchanged from day one – to provide vendor-neutral, world-class support and expertise around market data to the global capital markets.