About us

The team

Dr David Crane

Founder & CEO

Dave earned his PhD in app-delivered behaviour change after a lifetime of self-improvement work. Lessons learned give him a wealth of experience in how to help people form new non-smoking habits and keep going when they want to give up.

Edward Warrender

CTO

Ed is an exceptionally talented coder able to solve whatever technical challenge he is faced with. His meticulous, systematic and future-orientated approach to development is precisely what’s needed for an app that pushes code to its limits.

Louise Ross

Smoking Cessation Lead

Lou is a highly respected expert in tobacco harm reduction. As well as being our Business Development Manager, she works as a freelance clinical consultant for the National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training and is Chair of the New Nicotine Alliance.

Kerry Johns

Operations Manager

Kerry is a stop smoking practitioner with over 20 years’ experience. As Operations Manager she ensures that users get consistently effective, compassionate and skilful support. She also leads our efforts to encourage public health bodies to use our service for their population.

Adam McLean

Senior Software Engineer

Adam has years of experience in backend infrastructure development, data analysis, and management. He keeps our systems running and makes sure your data are safe.

Nasima Ahmed

Social media and customer support

Nasima is the person you go to for help and support. She is great at solving problems with creativity and care. She helps manage our growing Smoke Free community and will be there to offer a word of encouragement.

Benedikt Hielscher

Managing director Germany

Bene leads the German team. His expertise in healthcare regulations, strategic approach to decision-making and deep industry knowledge are invaluable in navigating the complex healthcare landscape, ensuring that our app meets both regulatory standards and user needs.

Lucas Keller

Senior researcher

Coordinates efficacy studies and is involved with all things research. Studied behavior change and goal attainment in his PhD and now applies this knowledge to help our users transition to a smoke-free life.

Réut Karni

Project Manager

Manages our localization teams to make our tools accessible in German, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

Vanessa Suffo

Customer support

Helps with all kinds of technical problems, manages our social media channels and moderates our Facebook group with 35,000 users.

Richard Marsh

Customer support

Assists with customer support and brings his years of experience as a translator and proofreader to the team. Rich is great at quickly finding effective solutions to customer issues, and always in a friendly manner.

Jinan Al Badawi

Customer Support

Jinan has plenty of experience in delivering customer service. She loves helping people and being a part of their customer experience. Jinan is a spokesperson for our users and will make sure your issues being taken care of. She also helps manage our growing Smoke Free community.

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Our mission

Our mission is to make quitting 20 times easier.

Most people who smoke struggle hugely with quitting. Only 3 in every 100 attempts succeed long-term.

We can increase this to 60 in 100 by continually finding better ways to help people quit. Essentially, this means more personalised support. Our goal is to deliver the support each smoker wants, in the way they want it precisely when they need it.

We’re about a quarter of the way there already and picking up speed.

If you smoke you can help by using the app and telling us (anonymously) whether you’ve quit.

If you don’t smoke, simply telling other people about us would be of great help.

Stop Smoking Advisors

Lisa
(23 years’ experience)
I also work in an NHS hospital helping people in all aspects of health & wellbeing – including smoking cessation. Working on the app has given me the opportunity to help so many more people around the world.

Simon
(20 years’ experience)
Stopping smoking is the best health decision you’ll ever make, and I feel lucky I get to be a part of that with you. I can’t wait to celebrate your success and help you through any tricky parts of your quit.

Bernice
(10 years’ experience)
There’s no need to be shy, there are no silly questions; every question is important. Please feel confident to ask us anything, we are all here to support you.

Dushika
(13 years’ experience)
This job has always been my passion, helping smokers achieve their non-smoker identity. I love hearing about the benefits people enjoy from quitting and how well they are doing.

Caroline
(21 years’ experience)
One of the most rewarding things about helping someone stop smoking is supporting them through the challenging times and celebrating successes together. I hope to be able to support you too.

Katy
(18 years’ experience)
I feel empowered to help people stop smoking as this expensive habit is linked to so many preventable health problems. We are here to support you throughout your smoke free journey – it’s never too late to quit smoking!

Karen
(22 years’ experience)
I love noticing people’s confidence grow when they realise they can succeed. If you can’t quit the first time, that’s ok, I understand dependence and the challenges it brings. I am here to help you through that too.

Sally
(15 years’ experience)
I know with support you can give up smoking, and with our wealth of experience I am confident we can support you in your journey. Please don’t be shy when asking questions, we are here to support you.

Ruth
(20 years’ experience)
I’ve worked in clinics, schools, hospitals and community settings. I spent many years working with pregnant ladies and their families. We are ready to chat, support and guide you whenever and wherever you are.

Michelle
(8 years’ experience)
I have worked in healthcare for 26 years and just love helping people improve their health and make positive changes. It is great to provide stop smoking support through the app and help people achieve their goals.

Belinda
(21 years’ experience)
I love that stopping smoking has such positive benefits on health and lifestyle. There is no need to be shy, we are all human and here to help, support and advise you whilst you achieve your goal.

Lisa
(23 years’ experience)
I’ve been really pleased to work on the app because it allows me to offer support when needed to people with a wide range of questions. I love seeing how empowered people feel when they kick the habit.

Stop Smoking Advisors

Our Philosophy

Put user needs first
Take time to learn what those needs are. Treat people individually, treat them well.

Help people love not smoking
Make the benefits of quitting feel real, show the gains being made each day, instil pride about being a non-smoker.

Treat quitting as a process
Know it usually takes multiple attempts, see each one as progress. Keep people going until they succeed.

See quitting as a springboard
Help people use success in quitting as proof of how capable they are.

Always iterate
Keep coming up with better ways to help people quit.
 Be a good business
Think long-term; act sustainably; be respectful; look for mutually beneficial solutions.

Scientific committee

Prof Robert West

University College London (UCL)

Robert has an exceptionally deep understanding of smoking cessation and behaviour change. His work has been used by governments to shape policies and is at the centre of how stop smoking support is delivered in the UK, a world-leading country in tobacco control.

Prof Jamie Brown

University College London (UCL)

Digital behaviour change is a growing area of interest for scientists, but few know the field better than Jamie. He is Professor of Behavioural Science at UCL, leads a major tobacco and alcohol research group and co-wrote the “Theory of Addiction” with Robert West.

Prof Felix Naughton

University of East Anglia

Felix’s research focusses on stop smoking apps. He’s studied them in-depth and built one that helps people quit in a really nice way (‘Quit Sense’ sends tailored support and advice when you get to locations you used to smoke).

Dr. Olga Perski

University College London (UCL)

Olga’s research encompasses two really interesting areas for us: app engagement and just-in-time interventions. Creating a more engaging app is critical because all the behavioural science in the world won’t do much if the app isn’t used.

SUCH A HELP

30 days smoke free Update 1 year 3 months… Update 6 years 6 months! I tell everyone about this app! My dad is at 3 months 4 days!

Erin En

Our Commitments

We focus on helping as many people stop smoking as possible, not on making as much money as possible.

Anything we recommend and all the tools we provide will be based on the best available evidence.

We will be positive, encouraging, and empathetic. We will remember how difficult we found it to quit.

We will support you in whatever way works for you. We believe there is no such thing as the wrong way to quit.

We will keep your data safe and secure. In no circumstances will it ever be sold.

We will build a company that generates lasting value for our users, staff, suppliers, public health systems and the environment for decades to come.

GREAT APP!

I love the craving feature. It’s worth the pro price just for the motivation. Also the additional graphs help you see when you most crave. I’ll keep going on about the craving feature a bit more lol.

Francisco0985

Quit for Good

Our Quit for Good programme helps people in low income countries stop smoking.

Buy or donate to the app and we’ll give these quitters the Pro features on your behalf. We’ll also provide technical support and help them learn how to get the most from the app.

Together we can help thousands of people quit smoking for good.

BEST QUIT APP I’VE EVER FOUND

I highly recommend getting the paid version if you are serious about your quitting experience. Thanks for a great app, you are helping me become the best non smoking version of myself.

Wendy