Connected Kerb founder, Paul Ayres, Joins Paythru as Chief Commercial Officer

EV payment specialist Paythru has announced the appointment of Paul Ayres as Chief Commercial Officer, marking a significant addition to the company’s leadership team as it scales its purpose-built payments platform across the UK and European markets.

Ayres joins Paythru from Connected Kerb, the charging infrastructure company he co-founded in 2017 and helped rapidly grow into one of the UK’s largest public EV charging networks, recently recognised in the Sunday Times Hundred Tech 2026 list of Britain’s fastest-growing technology companies. Prior to Connected Kerb, Paul held senior commercial roles at leading software companies.

In his new role, Ayres will drive Paythru’s commercial strategy, focusing on revenue growth, team development, and go-to-market optimisation. His remit centres on helping charge point operators (CPOs) maximise utilisation, capture more revenue, and build sustainable business models through intelligent payment orchestration.

Ayres’s decision to join Paythru reflects the growing recognition that payments are a critical enabler for operator success and a key differentiator in an increasingly competitive market.

Ayres says: “Whilst the industry’s attention is on the hardware – more chargers, faster connectors – payments are actually the” front door” to the entire charging experience. Get that right, and everything else works better: higher utilisation, stronger customer loyalty, better economics.”

“That’s what drew me to Paythru. The company understands that the real breakthroughs in EV charging will come from making payments seamless, universal, and trusted. Paythru is purpose-built for this sector’s unique requirements – multi-network interoperability, regulatory compliance, and enterprise-grade reliability at scale. I’m excited to help operators turn payments from an operational necessity into a genuine competitive advantage.”

Keith Brown, founder and CEO of Paythru, said: “Paul is a proven EV industry leader. At Connected Kerb, he identified an underappreciated opportunity – the need for on-street charging for people without driveways – and helped build one of the UK’s most successful EV infrastructure companies.”

“He now brings that experience to the next critical opportunity: helping operators deliver payment experiences that drive customer satisfaction, improve utilisation, and maximise revenue. The payment experience directly impacts charger performance and operator profitability – yet it often receives far less attention than it deserves. Paul is the ideal person to help us change that.”

“Paythru is built specifically for the EV ecosystem, not adapted from retail or e-commerce. We deliver enterprise-grade reliability, compliance, and integration at costs that make sense for operators at any scale. When CPOs evaluate the full picture – transaction success rates, operational simplicity, revenue capture, and yes, competitive pricing – we’re confident the comparison speaks for itself.”

With Ayres on board, Paythru continues to strengthen its mission as the orchestrator of EV charging payments – turning everyday transactions into opportunities for growth, trust, and long-term competitive advantage.