Mark grew up on a Bedfordshire arable and dairy farm and following 3 years studying Agriculture at the Royal Agricultural University joined Velcourt as assistant manager on a root crop and arable farm in south Lincolnshire. He progressed to a Farm Management role in the Cotswolds and built up a portfolio of agronomy services to compliment the farm management work.

After Velcourt he moved to Strutt & Parker’s farming department and was responsible for developing the department’s client base and services in East Anglia. In 2007 he decided to take a year out to go to Cranfield University to study for an MBA and subsequently joined Syngenta, taking leadership of the UK Marketing team in 2011, Head of Business Development and Strategy in North Europe and Head of Marketing across North Europe. In 2018 he joined Nufarm as Global Head of Commercial Development, leading a project to develop the sales and marketing capabilities of the organization.

In 2020 he and his wife were successful in tendering for a long term Farm Busines Tenancy on a 200ha farm next to the family’s farm in Bedfordshire and have started the new business as a regenerative agriculture system growing wheat, barley, beans and canary seed with a small herd of beef cattle and countryside stewardship scheme options throughout the farm. In January he rejoined Syngenta in his current role, leading the development of Syngenta’s practical research and offers in precision application, soil health, biodiversity and carbon farming.