Partner Article

Non-exec appointments lead to new UK investment and jobs

has connected thousands of businesspeople with companies since launching last year. The benefits of their service go beyond simply match-making senior roles as Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) prove they are directly helping to accelerate business confidence, new investment and jobs in the UK.

A recent example of this phenomena was illustrated when seasoned businessman Tim Hunt was engaged as an NED by an Australasian technology firm looking for guidance, insight and knowledge of where, how and when best to invest in the European region. As a result of Tim’s appointment, the company decided to fast-track its plans and focus investment immediately in the UK.

Marker Studio is a highly successful and award winning digital solutions company specialising in taking corporate enterprise applications and liberating them for use on devices such as iPhones, iPads and other mobile platforms.

Said Tim: “This capability really excited me as I am seeing huge frustration coming from business leaders desperate to get staff away from their desks because of ties to old-school business applications. They wish to embrace mobile applications that will liberate a workforce to be closer to customers, commute less and do business remotely, anytime and anywhere. The reality is there are many thousands of business applications that need to be liberated in this way and Marker Studio’s 14 years of experience in converting traditional applications and achieving a new level of mobility is spectacular. I felt this was something that British businesses would want right now.”

Tim Hunt, a 50-year-old business executive with an impressive CV that includes board appointments on two international tech [TimPic] companies and leadership roles with digital, marketing and business consulting firms. He is adamant that, without Nonexecutivedirectors.com, the opportunity of meeting and encouraging Marker Studio to focus this investment in the UK may never have happened. “I joined the NED network as I didn’t want a typical Board Director role that locked me into one organisation for years but something that gave me the flexibility and opportunity to use my skills and connections to benefit a variety of companies. Nonexecutivedirectors.com works superbly because it is 100% laser-focused on connecting professionals and companies of all sizes in ways that recruitment firms and job-sites simply cannot do. It is the ideal platform for people like me.

“Over the past months, I have received a number of enquiries from start-ups, early-stage businesses and from more traditional corporates looking for specific help but my profile caught the eye of Marker Studio Group’s CEO based in Auckland, New Zealand, when he came across Nonexecutivedirectors.com on Google. We talked on Skype and arranged a week together in London to talk frankly about business in this region and it was clear that our vision and appetite were a match and that the UK was the perfect base for his European operation,” explained Tim.

“It’s been a whirlwind so far but I’m personally delighted that Marker Studio have the confidence to fast-track their investment in to the UK I am already on the trail to help hire new local technology talent and I’m engaging with UK businesses to help them liberate their applications. I’m sure that if Nonexecutivedirectors.com didn’t exist, Marker Studio would have never considered coming to the UK so quickly and with so much enthusiasm.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ian Wright .