Mark is Chairman and CEO of Group Rhodes, a Wakefield headquartered engineering group.
Underlining his long-standing commitment to manufacturing, Mark is a Director and Past President of the UK’s Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA). Government appointments include a place on the DIT’s Advanced Engineering Sector Advisory Board and the BIS (now BEIS) Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Investment Board.
Over recent years Mark has been awarded the title of Regional Manufacturing Champion (NE) by the Engineering Employers Federation (EEF) and listed in the Manufacturer’s UK Top 100. He was also appointed the UK’s Advanced Engineering Sector Champion for the London Olympic Games.
On a local level Mark has chaired the Wakefield Enterprise Partnership and sat on the main board of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP), chairing its Employer Ownership of Skills Board for several years. He is currently heavily engaged with EURIS, a body that seeks to deliver a positive outcome for the manufacturing sector from the Brexit process.
Mark was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2011 for Services to Industry. He holds an MSc in Manufacturing Leadership from Leeds University Business School and Honorary Doctorates from Sheffield Hallam University and Leeds Beckett University.
On a personal level, Mark is proud to have been appointed both a “Yorkshire Patron” and Patron of a local brain injuries charity, Move Ahead. He is also President of the Wakefield Sea Cadets. Mark ran internationally as a student and is a qualified Sky Diver and Open Water Diver.
Year Appointed: 2012
Male Deputy Lieutenant Badge
