The EIS Association (EISA) has appointed Mark Brownridge as its new Director General.
Mark has over twenty years experience in Financial services and prior to being appointed Director General, he was Head of Research and Development at Mazars, a leading UK financial planning firm. Mark is highly qualified being a Certified Financial Planner, Chartered Financial Planner, Chartered Wealth Manager and Fellow of the Personal Finance Society and also sits on the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments Accredited firms committee and TISA’s Distribution Policy Council. Mark will take up the reins of Director General on the 1st August.
Mark’s involvement with EIS began 8 years ago and he has since championed EIS investing within a financial planning context and is extremely passionate about promoting the industry, increasing its effectiveness and ensuring the private sector continues to drive much needed funding to small companies.
In his first speech to members, at the EISA Spring Technical seminar today, Mark said,
“I’ve championed EIS for many years in my role at Mazars and I’m delighted as the new Director General to have the opportunity to extend the EIS message to a far wider audience and lead EISA into its next exciting phase. The breadth of work the Association undertakes, its significant impact on the industry and its commitment to its members is what makes EISA stand out and I’m strongly committed to reaching out to even more people, IFAs in particular and position EISA as the trusted source of all things EIS.”
Mark’s background and pedigree in financial services will no doubt support the efforts of the EISA financial planning committee that was formed in July 2015 to encourage more financial planners and wealth managers to engage with the EIS industry and explore the investment, financial and tax planning benefits that EIS and SEIS can bring to client portfolios.
Mark takes over from Sarah Wadham, who has been Director General for three years and announced in February that she would step down at the end of March. Sarah will remain on the board and the the EU State Aid Committee, a cross-trade body group established by the EISA and chaired by Tim Hames of the BVCA, to be a campaigning voice in Europe for the UK’s enterprise and venture capital sectors. Sarah has been widely praised for her role in increasing membership and regional growth, encouraging young members to engage with the trade association and forging strong links with Treasury, HMRC and policy markers. John Glencross of Calculus Capital, a longstanding EISA board member, has been acting Director General role in the interim period.
Mark concluded by saying.
“I’m passionate about taking the association forward. EISA simple doesn’t exist without its members and I look forward to speaking to as many people as possible to take on board views and to continue to build an association we can all be proud of.”
Guy Tolhurst, our managing director had this to say on Mark’s appointment.
“We look forward to working with Mark over the coming months to help make EIS more understandable and accessible to a greater number of advisers, and helping him champion the impact of this scheme on the SMEs that are the driving force behind Britain’s economic recovery.”