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. Recently, Peter has also been Acting CEO of ProStrakan Group plc until its sale earlier in 2011 and 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 Proximagen Neuroscience plc, Chroma Therapeutics Limited and ProStrakan plc and a non-executive Director of Oxford Nanopore Technologies Limited and TMO Renewables Limited.
Mark Wood
Chief Executive Officer
Mark was named Chief Executive of Future plc in October 2011. He joined Future in September 2010 as Chief Executive of Future UK. Since then, Mark has been accelerating the growth of Future’s digital business and in June 2011 Future won Consumer Digital Publisher of the Year and Grand Prix prizes at the annual Association of Online Publishers Awards. Prior to joining Future, Mark was Chief Executive of ITN, the television news organisation. At ITN he created and developed a range of digital ventures, including a world-leading moving image business. Prior to ITN, Mark was Editor-in-Chief and Head of Media at Reuters, the global news organisation. He started out his career as a foreign correspondent for Reuters and was based in Berlin, Bonn, Moscow and Vienna.
Graham Harding
Group Finance Director
Graham Harding BA, ACA, MBA has worked at Future for 11 years initially as Group Financial Controller before becoming the UK Finance Director in 2004. 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 PricewaterhouseCoopers in Bristol and Johannesburg, South Africa before leaving to join Bath Press Group plc as Group Financial Controller. He gained an MBA from Bath University in 1999 involving a dissertation focussed on Corporate Strategy and the development of an International Group.
Manjit Wolstenholme
Senior independent non-executive
Manjit joined Future as a senior non-executive director in February 2011. She is a non-executive director of Capital and Regional plc, Provident Financial plc and Albany Investment Trust plc. 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 Gleacher Shacklock from 2004 to 2006. She is also a non-executive Governor of Manchester Academic Health Science Centre which is a collaboration between the University of Manchester and six of the leading hospitals in the area.
Seb Bishop
Independent non-executive
Seb joined Future as an independent non-executive director in June 2007 and a member of the Remuneration Committee in November 2008. He is the CEO of (RED) International, the business founded 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 fast-growing digital marketing agency, and a non-executive board member of AdJug, a new Internet advertising marketplace.
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 Farnell plc, 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.
Mark Millar
Company Secretary & General Counsel
Mark has been Company Secretary and General Counsel since September 2002. He joined from Allen & Overy following more than a decade’s experience of City legal work, including a wide range of UK and international commercial and corporate finance experience. He also acts as secretary to all Board committees. He chairs the PPA’s Government and Regulatory Committee and is an industry representative on the boards of the Publishers Licensing Society and the Copyright Licensing Agency.
