One Blackwater Consultancy Limited

Declan Sheehy

Author

25+ years leading revenue growth, commercial expansion, and operational scale across regulated financial services, fintech, and global alternative investment markets. C-suite mandates at institutions from HSBC to high-growth fintech scaleups. Author, Disruptive Innovation in Financial Services.

$31.6bn
AUM Scaled at HSBC
5
EMEA Markets Expanded
25+
Years C-Suite Experience
Xpanse AI (Active engagement)
Commercial Advisor  ·  via One Blackwater
Advising on financial services go-to-market strategy across UK and EMEA regulated markets, spanning commercial pricing, vertical positioning across regulated sectors, sales enablement, and senior introductions across FCA and CBI-regulated firms.
Leo Regtech (Active engagement)
Chief Revenue Officer  ·  via One Blackwater
Leading revenue strategy, product commercialisation, and go-to-market execution for an FCA-regulated RegTech platform. Built the commercial model and pricing for new product, drove revenue past GBP1m, and recovered over GBP64,000 in at-risk revenue through tightened commercial governance.
ONYX Capital Group
COO & CTO
First external C-suite hire into a £208m founder-led derivatives business. Led the commercialisation of proprietary trading data into scalable external revenue streams. Supported a £5m profit uplift within 13 months.
Backstop Solutions
Head of EMEA Asset Owners
Led EMEA commercial expansion of a cloud-based B2B investment management SaaS platform across five markets, building a $2.5m institutional pipeline and contributing to a 10x revenue acquisition in 2022.
HSBC Alternative Investments
Head of Operations & Technology / CIO
Scaled a $200m hedge fund start-up into a $31.6bn global multi-asset manager over 18 years. Zero FCA regulatory breaches across multiple compliance cycles.

30+ articles and insights published from August 2018 to June 2026, across Innovation, Commercial, and Leadership. Available on the Insights page.

About
Declan Sheehy
Declan Sheehy
Author

The thread running through the career is a rare dual perspective: 25+ years operating on both sides of the vendor relationship in complex regulated financial services environments.

"A commercially astute executive who bridges revenue growth, platform innovation, and operational rigour in regulated environments. Not a conventional C-suite hire. Someone who has operated on both sides of the market."

18 years inside HSBC Alternative Investments on the client side, partnering and building bespoke in-house technology, operations and data models across the alternatives ecosystem, while selecting, contracting, and overseeing the external vendors whose world he later joined. Then crossing to the vendor side at Backstop Solutions and ONYX Capital Group, building commercial operations and monetising proprietary data into external revenue streams. That dual perspective, understanding how institutional clients evaluate, procure, and retain vendors, is what informs the commercial and operational advice One Blackwater brings to regulated firms and their technology partners. Irish citizen, based in London, free to work across the EU.

Data & IP CommercialisationConverting proprietary data and platform intelligence into structured, scalable revenue streams
EMEA Market ExpansionBuilding commercial operations across multiple European markets simultaneously, targeting institutional investors at C-suite level
COO & Operational LeadershipBuilding scalable operational infrastructure from first principles in regulated environments
Regulatory & Compliance FrameworksEMIR, MiFID II, PRIIPs, GDPR, AML, FCA — deep operational implementation with zero material breaches
Technology & Digital TransformationCIO for 8 years at HSBC. CTO at ONYX. Bridges product, platform, and operational rigour at scale
Founder & Board AdvisoryTrusted commercial and operational partner to founders and boards navigating growth and transformation
Disruptive Innovation in Financial Services
Published April 2026

Disruptive Innovation in Financial Services

Foreword by Graham Rodford, CEO — Archax

Which financial services firms will flourish in this age of disruption, and which will be left behind? Drawing on 25+ years of hands-on executive experience, this book delivers battle-tested frameworks for driving commercial growth while maintaining trust and compliance.

From artificial intelligence and Web3 to open banking and quantum computing, the book explores revenue growth, go-to-market strategy, innovation leadership, and regulatory navigation through real case studies including Revolut, BlackRock's Aladdin, and Stripe.

Part 1
Innovation Strategy, Leadership & Cultural Transformation
Part 2
Revenue Growth & Market Leadership
Part 3
Innovation Through the Customer Lens
Part 4
Operational Acumen: Architecting for Scale
Part 5
Risk, Regulation & Emerging Technology
Part 6
Financial Acumen: Innovation Essentials
Order on Amazon ISBN 978-1-919487-10-6

Common Questions

What does One Blackwater Consultancy do?

One Blackwater Consultancy Limited advises FCA-regulated financial services firms and their technology partners on revenue growth, commercial operations, and operational scale. The practice is led by Declan Sheehy, with 25+ years of C-suite experience across regulated financial services, fintech, and global alternative investment markets.

What is Declan Sheehy's background?

Declan Sheehy spent 18 years at HSBC Alternative Investments, scaling the division from $200m to $31.6bn AUM with zero FCA regulatory breaches. He then led EMEA commercial expansion at Backstop Solutions contributing to a 10x revenue acquisition in 2022, served as COO and CTO at ONYX Capital Group (GBP208m derivatives business), and has operated as Chief Revenue Officer at Leo Regtech via One Blackwater Consultancy.

What types of engagements does One Blackwater take on?

One Blackwater takes on permanent C-suite mandates (COO, Chief Revenue Officer, CCO), fractional and interim C-suite engagements, strategic advisory and board-level roles, commercial partnership advisory (currently advising Xpanse AI on UK and EMEA financial services market entry), and author appearances and keynote speaking on financial services innovation.

What is Declan Sheehy's book about?

Disruptive Innovation in Financial Services (published April 2026, foreword by Graham Rodford, CEO of Archax) delivers battle-tested frameworks for driving commercial growth while maintaining trust and compliance in regulated environments. It covers AI, Web3, open banking, go-to-market strategy, and regulatory navigation, drawing on real case studies including Revolut, BlackRock's Aladdin, and Stripe. ISBN 978-1-919487-10-6.

Where does One Blackwater operate?

One Blackwater Consultancy Limited is based in London and operates across the UK, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and Portugal. Declan Sheehy holds an Irish passport providing full EU right to work.

Contact

Let's have a conversation.

Available for strategic advisory, board-level engagements, and executive consulting mandates across regulated financial services, fintech, and regtech.

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Availability

Open to the right mandate across the right markets.

  • Permanent C-suite mandates
  • Interim and contract engagements
  • Strategic advisory and board roles
  • Author appearances and keynote speaking
London Dublin Luxembourg Amsterdam Lisbon EU (Irish Passport)