Mark Ballett - Career

2003 - Present: Co-Founder, Management Insights Limited - Specialists in Business Growth. Bringing experienced objective help to businesses at a crossroads or with important decisions to make. Helping business leaders to make choices about how best to develop their business - replacing luck, when it comes to important business decisions. The company's proprietary process for the analysis of performance, competitiveness and competing opportunities is based on 25 years hands-on experience of managing growing businesses. Mark is a Director of St. Albans Chamber of Commerce, President of The Chiltern Communications Group, a specialist marketing networking group based in Hertfordshire and he is a Committee member of the Hertfordshire Institute of Directors.

Group CEO, Exi Telecom. Ltd. TO £100m; 1400 employees; mobile phone network installation in 15 countries. Called in to turn the business around, but too late and although some restructuring was possible the group was eventually split up and the UK business sold out of an administration process.

2001-2002: Director, Storm Telecom. Ltd. Non-exec. Director; Consultant; Managing Director, £70M international voice resale business. Worked with Soros Private Equity to try and salvage some of their investment and to limit damage to a failing business.

1999-2001: CEO & Co-Founder, OnCue Telecom. Ltd. Leading UK DSL service provider and ISP. Raised £80M in first round venture capital from Soros Private Equity Partners, Madison Dearborn Venture Partners and Toronto Dominion Communications Partners. Managed everything from start-up to 150 people in 18 months with £1M+ TO. Leading industry voice at the time.

1997-1999: Managing Director, Norweb Telecom. Ltd. (Now - Your Communications) Lead growth from regional TO of £11M, to national business with TO of £100M, in two years. Formed Nor.Web, Powerline JV with Nortel Networks. Won FT Global Telecom Award and finalist Global Telecom Awards for Most Competitive Alternative Operator.

1991-1999: Mercury Communications Ltd.: Supply Director; General Manager Operator Services; General Manager Payphones. Lead the successful turnaround of three large and complex business units, involving repositioning, downsizing, outsourcing and exit. This included up to 1000 staff and significant £10's M operational and capital budgets. Member Institute of Purchasing and Supply.

1987-1991: Director, Laing Super Homes. Responsible for significant part of the operations of the country's fifth largest house builder. Built £10M specialist prefabrication business from scratch, set up and grew international marketing and started export business to Japan.

1985-1986: CEO Designate for subsidiary of Associated British Foods. Running a 300 employee, 6 x 24 production facility, baking about 1M loaves of bread a week. Turnaround of factory performance decline and resolved issues of "lost" stock.

1981-1985: Exploration Consultant, British Petroleum. Searching for oil and buying and selling acreage around the world.

1974-1978: General List Officer, Royal Navy. Good leadership training and many other skills, including navigation, diving and flying.

Education: Science Degree 2.1, Durham University; MBA, Warwick Business School; Corporate Finance, The London Business School.