Touch Press appoints new c.e.o.

Max Whitby [pictured] is to step back from his chief executive position at Touch Press. The new c.e.o is Sam Aspinall [also pictured], who joined the company in November as chief operations officer.

Whitby, one of the original founders of the business in 2010, is to take on a new role as director of special projects.

Whitby said: "I am enormously proud of what we have achieved at Touch Press in our first four years. I am delighted now to hand the reins to Sam Aspinall as incoming c.e.o.; I am confident that she will build on our creative excellence and deliver long-term value for our investors."

The company said Aspinall had had many years of experience leading rapid-growth businesses, most recently at Mind Gym, where she was commercial director.

Whitby, has led Touch Press since he co-founded the business with Theodore Gray, John Cromie and Stephen Wolfram in 2010. Max has overseen creation of a broad range of award-winning apps that have collectively been downloaded 7m times, generating $10m of gross revenue. It now has 30 full-time staff based in West London.

In December, Apple chose Disney Animated, developed by Touch Press, as Best iPad App of 2013. In November last year two of its apps, Disney Animated and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony won FutureBook Innovations Awards.