Testimonials

Testimonials

Mark has been well known to Finatal for almost 9 years as we have tracked his brilliant interim career within Private Equity backed businesses. Over that time, his name regular cropped up as a real marker of quality for what it means to be an Interim FD. In April, I was delighted to present him to Agilitas, a highly reputable house, where he outshone a number of excellent candidates – evidently, Mark was worth the wait. Having been involved in high-profile projects from Day One, he has proven to be of the calibre his reputation suggests. Both PE house and portfolio business are extremely pleased, attested to by excellent feedback from all parties. I look forward to working with Mark on many future assignments – I only hope I won’t need to wait another 9 years!

Jack Lane – Associate Partner at Finatal


Mark had a very positive impact at Beeswax – both at board level and day to day. Mark introduced enhanced corporate governance and financial rigour, he quickly understood the business and enabled the board to have confidence in the accounts and analysis that he produced which facilitated enhanced strategic planning and decision making. Mark is diligent, technically excellent, personable and I would highly recommend Mark.

Carrie Harding – CFO Weybourne Group


Mark joined us and immediately made a difference as he quickly understood our business, tidied up the loose ends, made sense of what was going on and started to present the results of his analysis to the Board in a coherent and strategic way. As chairman of that Board I am pleased with his contribution to our business and can highly recommend him to others.

David Fursden – Chairman – Beeswax Dyson Farming


It was really good to see you last week and I very much enjoyed the food at The Inn at Freshford; makes a change from my usual miserable cooking efforts at Top Lodge. 

The Farm Board has asked me to formally thank you for the work you undertook for the company; it was really valuable to have a forensic eye looking over the finance function and the work you carried out was duly “rewarded” with a clean audit. 

I would like to add my own thanks; BDFL should now move forward with a much improved finance function built on the foundations you have laid. 


We engaged Mark on an initial 6 month project that continued for a year. Mark took on a particularly challenging and complicated assignment, he resolved and cleansed years of historic issues, ensured clearance of 2 audits and took over the day to day management of the back office finance team. A very challenging assignment resulted in a successful handover to the new F.C.

Tom Feeney – Finance Director at Imtec Inviron


I worked closely with Mark in his role as Interim Group FD. I found Mark to be an influential and highly driven professional, whilst also being very personable and approachable. Mark instils confidence in stakeholders through his demonstrable integrity and knowledge, and has a particular aptitude for quickly developing conducive business relationships – a valuable quality in an interim role.
I have no hesitation in recommending him.

Joanne Bunker – HR Manager at Impetus Automotive


We hired Mark as Group CFO during a difficult transition period for the business whilst we undertook a search for a permanent replacement for the outgoing incumbent. Mark very quickly gained the trust and respect of both his team and the executive board and brought with him a style and culture that was welcomed by his direct reports and the wider business community. We extended Mark’s initial contract for a further 2 months and Mark will continue to work with us until the end of May 2013. I would not hesitate to recommend Mark for similar assignments in the future.

Susan Horwood – Group Head of HR at Independent Group


I had the pleasure of working with Mark at the Independent Group where he was the Interim Group CFO. He took on the business at a difficult time and managed to turn around the culture within the Finance department in such a short space of time. He successfully implemented stringent new controls and processes to ensure the business maximised margins and profits. There would be no hesitation of working with,for Mark in the future.

Ben Signey – Interim Finance Professional at Independent Group


Mark is an excellent Interim Finance Director. The key was for Mark to pick up the role and run with it straight away to release me to concentrate on other aspects of the business. Following a two hour handover Mark took complete ownership of the financial functions of the business with little or no hangover for me to worry about. Through his tenure he presented information in a concise to the point style for all to understand, quickly focusing on the main issues of the moment. His contribution to board discussions and day to day thinking throughout the business was also highly valuable.

James Ong – Former FD at Evander Glazing and Locks


Mark joined the business as Interim Finance Director while we conducted a search for a permanent appointment. He got up to speed with the business very quickly and developed a good working relationships with all the key stakeholders in the organisation. In addition he managed his relationship with our investors very effectively giving them confidence and assurance around his delivery and performance. On a personal level I really enjoyed working with Mark and would have no hesitation in recommending him for a similar role.

Alan Horton – CEO at Evander Glazing and Locks


I hired Mark to take over as CFO in a start up business that needed infrastructure putting in place in a new head office including a new finance and reporting system. Mark is very capable and diligent; he is loyal and committed and shows a dedication to his craft. He is strong willed and has a good sense of what is required. he is also confident in his own abilities. There were a number of complexities to this role (lots of different stakeholders) and on the whole Mark managed this well. I would recommend Mark in similar situations again.

Jon Andrew – Value Enhancement Director at LDC


Mark is that rare and highly valuable professional who combines a comprehensive grasp of the core skills in company finance, with an intuitive understanding of the bigger business picture. I thoroughly enjoyed my Board partnership with Mark and he played a critical role in enabling a breakthrough development phase for the company. Mark is not afraid to go straight to the heart of the matter and can be relied upon 100% to deliver results. He’s also good fun to be around!

Simon Long – CEO at International Sportsworld Contributors


Mark made an immediate impact on the control of the business, returning the business finances to a manageable state whilst laying the foundations for a secure business model.
Mark was instrumental in initialising and implementing standard financial practices that are now delivering returns, and which have enabled the smooth implementation of a new business system.

Colin Whelan – Programme Manager at BHW


Mark did an absolutely outstanding job working for me as interim Financial Controller at GE Aviation – he went into a very challenging situation which had previously had a huge turnover of interims at this level who hadn’t been able to turn it around. His attitude toward work, his integrity, his technical skills and attention to detail – plus his interpersonal skills in this particular situation were top-class. I most highly recommend Mark, and wouldn’t hesitate to give him the first call on any interim finance roles.

Philippa Templeton (Valender) – Interim Finance at Michael Page


Mark supported me as Divisional FD as part of the restructuring programme at the Metalrax Group. He proved to have a huge capacity for work, nothing was ever too much for him. Due to Mark’s speedy financial modelling we were successful in the disposal of one of the distressed businesses. And, a great sense of humour!

Carl Laxton – Interim Executive at Metalrax


Mark is a diligent professional with exceptional leadership skills.
His honest opinion is most welcomed in providing turnaround solutions together with his flair for business.
It’s been a pleasure working for you Mark.

Rita Karam – Financial Controller at ISC


I worked with Mark for approx 6 months when I was the CEO at Bacol Fine Blanking ,he was very professional and I knew I could rely on his judgement in a very difficult time.

Bob Whittock – Managing Director at Bacol Fine Blanking


Mark stepped into a difficult and demanding position and quickly got to grips with all the key issues within the business. He gained the respect of both the finance team and the management group and has coped admirably with a multitude changes and initiatives that have been imposed and found time to propose and implement improvements of his own.

David Sharples – Finance Director at GE Aviation


Mark and I worked on a specialist project in the automotive industry. I found Mark to be a great professional and would not hesitate in recommending Mark for future work and have done so on many occasions.

Andrew Coulson – International CFO


Mark is no doubt the finest FD I have worked with. His focus on objectives and can-do approach have changed our Finance dept for the better. I would have no hesitation of recommending Mark for any position in Finance across the globe.

Del Singh – Financial Controller at Hampson Aerospace


Mark was engaged by me on an interim basis to help resolve system and procedural issues at one of my companies. As a key member of the Management team he contributed with technical and commercial expertise to a remarkable turnaround in company performance whilst at the same time reducing his finance team to half of its former size. Marks commercial ability to step back and see the bigger picture combined with his strong personality and ability to manage his contemporaries are his key attributes and I would not hesitate to engage him again or to recommend him to others.

Brendan Johnston – COO Hampson Industries


Apart from being an extremely competent Financial Director Mark has the inate abilty to see the bigger commercial picture. Mark has held senior appointments in a variety of business settings, his experience is clearly demonstrtaed in his ability to see potential issues before they arise and apply tried and trusted problem solving techniques.
Mark employs a humanistic approach to managing staff which promtes a healthy mutual respect and a holistic approach in managing resource.
By nature he is decisive and this gives rise to an optimistic and positive approach to life in general. He strives to ensure that his own business objectives are congruent with those of his department.

Steven Mee – Credit Manager at Bromford Industries


I have known Mark in a professional capacity for nearly 10 years and have been delighted to get to know him more personally over the past few years. Mark is an out and out interim manager – committed to the contract, able to deliver and with a superb attitude to the workplace and the team around him. Working with Mark from a recruitment capacity is always enjoyable and challenging. Highest levels of integrity mean he is often sought out by companies and individuals again and again.

Simon Thomas – Director at Directorbank


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