Keith Neilson

Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer The Craneware Group (Craneware plc)

Last Reviewed: September 29, 2026

Executive Summary

Keith Neilson co-founded The Craneware Group in 1999 and has been its chief executive for its entire existence, a tenure of more than a quarter-century that now includes over 18 years as a public company. Craneware is incorporated in Scotland but does its business in the United States, where it sells financial and operational software to hospitals and health systems; roughly 40% of US hospitals are customers. In the year to June 2026 it reported revenue of $206.0 million and $185 million of annual recurring revenue. Neilson is also one of its largest shareholders, holding about 9.5% of the company.

Career Highlights

• Co-founded The Craneware Group in 1999 and has served as CEO since then, sitting on the board of Craneware plc.
• Leads a company reporting FY26 revenue of $206.0 million, ARR of $185 million and adjusted EBITDA of $67.1 million, with approximately 40% of US hospitals as customers.
• Holds 3,257,658 ordinary shares, 9.48% of the issued share capital, as of September 2026.
• Named The Entrepreneurial Exchange’s Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year in 2003.
• Won the Award of Excellence in the Business Strategy category as a finalist in the 2004 World Young Business Achiever Award.
• Received Ernst & Young’s UK Software & Technology Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2008 and was Insider Elite Young Business Leader of the Year in 2009.

Professional Journey

Neilson graduated in physics from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh in 1991. He spent the following years in international management, handling sales, marketing and technical consulting for technology companies with operations around the world.

In 1999 he co-founded Craneware, which set out to build software for the financial side of American hospitals. It is an unusual geography: a company incorporated in Scotland whose principal country of operation is the United States, selling into one of the most regulated and complex billing environments anywhere. The company describes itself as the pioneer in what it calls value cycle management. Over the 2000s Neilson collected a run of entrepreneurship awards, from The Entrepreneurial Exchange’s Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year in 2003 to Ernst & Young’s UK Software & Technology Entrepreneur of the Year in 2008.

Craneware became a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market, and by 2026 Neilson could describe an 18-year record as a listed company, observing that delivering growth consistently over that period “is rarely straightforward.” The company now counts approximately 40% of US hospitals as customers. For the year to 30 June 2026 it reported revenue of $206.0 million and ARR of $185 million. Neilson called the year challenging, with growth below expectations, and set out priorities for FY27 of renewing long-term customer contracts, expanding recurring revenue with new and existing customers, sizing the cost base and maintaining strong cash generation.

He remains a significant owner of the business. In September 2026, when a conditional share award vested, he kept the full allocation rather than using the company’s net-settlement facility, taking his holding to 3,257,658 shares, or 9.48% of the issued share capital.

Education

Heriot-Watt University

Bachelor’s degree, Physics, 1991