Brief biographies of each of the executive and non-executive Directors and the Company Secretary are set out below.
Peter Allen
Chairman
Peter was named Chairman in August 2011. He was Chief Financial Officer of Celltech Group plc between 1992 and 2004. In 2003 he was also appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Celltech until the company was sold in 2004. He was Chief Financial Officer of the electronics company Abacus Group plc from 2005 until the company was sold to Avnet Inc in January 2009. Peter is currently Chairman of Clinigenplc, Chroma Therapeutics Limited and ProStrakanplc and a non-executive Director of Oxford Nanopore Technologies Limited and TMO Renewables Limited.
Mark Wood
Chief Executive Officer
Mark Wood was named Chief Executive of Future plc in October 2011. He joined Future in April 2009 as an independent non-executive Director and was appointed as Chief Executive of Future UK in September 2010. Mark has been accelerating the growth of Future’s digital businesses. In the UK the company has won media industry awards as Digital Publisher of the Year in both 2011 and 2012. Before joining Future Mark was Chief Executive of ITN, the television news organisation, where he developed a range of digital ventures, including a world-leading digital image business. Prior to ITN, Mark was Editor-in-Chief and Head of Media at Reuters. He began his career as a foreign correspondent for Reuters and was based in Berlin, Moscow, Bonn and Vienna.
Graham Harding
Chief Financial Officer
Graham Harding (BA, ACA, MBA) has worked at Future for 12 years initially as Group Financial Controller before becoming the UK Finance Director in 2004 and Chief Financial Officer for the Group in October 2011. During his time at Future he has worked on numerous acquisitions and disposals in the UK, Australia, Europe and the US as well as debt and equity fund raisings. In addition he has taken a leading role in rolling out new system developments in the UK and the US. After obtaining a Classics degree from Durham University he trained with Price Waterhouse in Bristol and Johannesburg, South Africa before leaving to join Bath Press Group plc as Group Financial Controller in 1996. He gained an MBA from Bath University in 1999.
Manjit Wolstenholme
Senior independent non-executive
Manjit joined Future as the senior non-executive Director in February 2011. She is a non-executive director of Provident Financial plc, Unite Group plc and Aviva Investors. After qualifying as a chartered accountant in 1988 with Price Waterhouse, Manjit spent 13 years with Dresdner Kleinwort, latterly as co-head of investment banking including more than a decade specialising in the media sector. She was a partner at GleacherShacklock from 2004 to 2006.
Seb Bishop
Independent non-executive
Seb joined Future as an independent non-executive Director in June 2007 and became a member of the Remuneration committee in November 2008. He is the CEO of goop, a digital media and e-commerce company. Prior to goop, Seb was the CEO of (RED) International, the business set up by Bono and Bobby Shriver to fight AIDS in Africa. In 2000, he founded Espotting, the company that pioneered pay-per-click advertising and search marketing in the UK. He expanded Espotting before selling the company to MIVA, a US Nasdaq-quoted company in 2004, and taking up the Presidency of MIVA until 2007. Seb is Chairman of Steak, a digital marketing agency, a Governor of the School of Communication Arts and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders.
Mark Whiteling
Independent non-executive
Mark joined Future as an independent, non-executive Director in October 2010. Mark has a Master of Commerce degree and qualifications as both a New Zealand ACA and an American CPA. He is currently Chief Financial Officer of FTSE 250 company Premier Farnellplc, a leading multi-channel distributor of products and services to design and purchasing professionals globally. His experience includes Group Finance Director of Communisis plc, the pan-European print management/direct mail group and Tibbett & Britten plc, a FTSE 250 logistics company, as well as roles at SmithKline Beecham plc in both the USA and Europe.
