Mark is presently Chairman and Non-Executive Director of two private equity backed companies located in the U.S.A. and the Middle East, and has extensive experience of managing operating and investment portfolios.
Prior to founding Natural, Mark led the growth and development of a Middle Eastern family conglomerate; as well as undertaking a number of international technology investments for its family investment office. In the course of Mark’s tenure as Board Director and ultimately CEO, he led the investment, growth and exit of over 30 businesses resulting in a 6x cash on cash shareholder return.
Prior to moving to the Middle East, Mark was Executive Vice President of Corporate Development for Atos Origin and previously Origin, from 1999 to 2002, leading the merger of Atos and Origin (€5 billion) as well as the outsourcing of KPN’s IT, desk-top and consulting services (€1.5 billion); amongst other strategic initiatives for the group. Mark also served as an Executive VP of Corporate M&A for Philips, where he supported Corporate Venturing and Corporate Redesign. Prior to this he led corporate development activities for Philips’ cutting-edge new media activities such as the CD-interactive platform and in-car navigation systems business NavTech (digital mapping).
Before joining Philips, Mark qualified as a Chartered Accountant in the UK with Price Waterhouse, and helped to establish their highly successful corporate finance practice. Mark is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales, and has a B.A. (Hons) in Accounting from the University of Kent, in the UK.