Mike Hughes talks to Mark Wilkinson about his role as chief commercial officer at razorblue, and how the company’s latest moves are powering its strategy for growth

There’s obviously something about razorblue that suits Mark Wilkinson.

He is passionate about the company, confident and excited about its impressive rate of growth and the potential that lies ahead.

He likes it so much he has stayed through seven different job titles, culminating in his latest promotion to chief commercial officer, taking responsibility for the commercial strategy and development of the group and overseeing sales, marketing, product development, and customer service, all with a focus on driving growth and revenue.

After ten years in council roles around North Yorkshire, he started at razorblue in September 2012 as a technical projects manager, rising through roles such as operations manager and client relations director.

But this is what he was made for – at the top of his game, helping the business grow and making sure it is constantly ahead of the curve and making the most of every opportunity.

‘We’ve got a strong plan for this year,’ he tells me.

‘We have experienced tremendous growth and success over the last few years, but we can still change and part of my job is to position ourselves perfectly going forward under our new chairman Mo Aneese, who has been taken on by our CEO and founder Dan Kitchen as an NED after 13 years at venture capital and private equity investors Livingbridge.

‘Mo’s got a wealth of knowledge and experience and from my side I’ll absolutely be absorbing all of that knowledge that he’s bringing to the table, because as a business you’ve got to be able to look in from the outside sometimes and bring another level of awareness and a variety of great experience.

‘I think it will be really refreshing for everyone here.

‘We’ll always embrace change, but beneath that we also have strategy pillars upon which we build our business, so we are constantly focused; driving forward with them to continue growth and keep evolving, whether it’s here in the North East, or Scotland or Manchester.’

In a tech-driven world no one can stay still for too long. You have to constantly innovate, adapt, reinvent, and evolve, and with Mo coming in and Mark moving up, the company is laying the most solid of foundations for growth with a new emphasis on directors in terms of accountability and ownership of their individual areas.

‘We first brought in Simon Coultas as our CFO and I have seen a fresh emphasis coming from that. Then Chris Gill has been promoted recently and moved into the COO role to look after our professional service and service divisions.

‘One of the biggest pleasures I get is that there is so much going on as my commercial world touches all the others in some respects. We work closely with Chris, our Chief Operating Officer and his team who deliver our projects. As a result we’re constantly in dialogue with one another about the work we provide to clients on a monthly basis.

‘For me, this new role is very much business as usual, but perhaps with an added emphasis on our commerciality with existing and new customers, with all departments – customer experience, account management, new business, marketing and products and vendors – raising the bar on our commercial goals.

‘But it has always remained important for razorblue staff that our work is exciting – it has to give us a buzz no matter what our titles are because there is a huge amount of opportunity for us and we need to make the most of that by making sure our structure allows us to spend a lot of time with our customers and understand where they want to go and what we can do to take them there.

‘We aim for synergy at the highest level with a round-table relationship where we can each find the perfect route to drive our businesses forward. It’s all about building infrastructure for our clients that can benefit from the structure we have put in place ourselves, with clear responsibilities, leadership and the team that has been the driving force behind the company’s success so far.

‘We are starting to build a really experienced senior leadership team and I am lucky to have some brilliant senior leaders below me, including Georgia from a marketing point of view, George from new business, Stephen from products and vendors and Craig who is now our Account Management Director, working with a commercial analyst to really drive the data and the numbers.

‘This feels like a special group if I’m honest. It can be tough out there, so you need the right people behind you and this group can take us to a new level, constantly talking, interacting and reaching bigger goals each time.

‘But we will always be looking for talent to add to that team and Sally, our talent acquisition manager is the person to find those new colleagues and nurture them so they can build a career here. As we’re developing as a business, we are developing our HR function to reflect the importance of growing our own people across the company.

‘That’s something I have already experienced, and I’m excited to see it happen to others. Our chief technical officer, Daniel Smith and I had a very similar journey with razorblue over about 13 years. I joined as a project manager and then went on to be operations manager because I wanted to get more into the people side – and the business allowed me to follow that path when there was a change on the board and I got a position as operations director.

‘We then grew our commercial team and I think found the position which was for me because I enjoy the talking and networking element of it all. That was a route I chose and which the company mapped out for me.

‘Similarly, Daniel started as a First Line Engineer for us and went through the ranks to be a professional sevices engineer. Then he went on to be a solutions architect and now CTO.

‘I think that proves that we will support anybody who comes into this business with a genuine desire to progress, which won’t go unnoticed.’

The company’s unfailing support for its staff even extends beyond the workplace, as Mark is now studying towards a BA (Hons) Professional Management degree at University Centre Quayside. It was a big step to add that to his considerable workload, but CEO Dan Kitchen encouraged the move and saw it as a great opportunity for Mark personally.

‘It’s an opportunity that probably doesn’t come along very often,’ says Mark.

‘But this felt like the right time and the right place, and I knew I was in a fortunate position to be able to take the chance because I don’t mind admitting that I didn’t prioritise education when I was younger. For me, at 16, it was all about football and academia was just not on my agenda, but now I am learning again, and my scores have been decent so far so I’m quite proud to be at that level.

‘Dan’s been great – I remember when I mentioned it to him and he said, “just go for it”, because he knows I’m quite an organised person. It needs a lot of hours and it’s tough progress through a big commitment.

‘But at the end of it all, it’s not just the academic qualification itself, but the discipline that it requires to see it through

‘It all makes razorblue an inspiring place to be – hard work, but so rewarding – and I feel we’re on the cusp of something really exciting. I’m an ambitious person, so this is a good place to be, and I feel the company matches that, which is a good feeling.’

 

The razorblue team

Dan Kitchen

CEO and founder

Tech-enthusiast Dan founded razorblue in 2006 and has been responsible for its rapid growth and recognition as a top 50 Managed Service Provider. He attributes the success to razorblue’s alternative approach to IT.

Mark Wilkinson

Chief commercial officer

Mark initially joined the business as a Project Manager having held a principal technical infrastructure role in the public sector, he is now accountable for our new and existing business teams.

Mo Aneese

Non-executive chairman

Mo leads the board, focusing on strategy, M&A and leadership development. Prior to razorblue, Mo spent 13 years as an investor at a mid-market private equity firm, where he focused on technology investments and supported numerous companies as a non-executive director.

Chris Gill

Chief operating officer

Chris was a founding director of razorblue from its early beginnings. He re-joined in 2021 to bring more focus on the growth of the software division which helps businesses improve profitability and efficiency through digital transformation.

Joanne Finkeldey

Chief people officer

With over a decade of experience in HR, Joanne began working at razorblue in early 2020 bringing a focus on staff development, employee voice and communications. In September 2021, she was promoted to people director.

Simon Coultas ACMA

Chief financial officer

Simon is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and has over 20 years’ experience working globally in board level financial roles. In 2023, he was appointed as razorblue’s CFO and is now accountable for the finance department.

Daniel Smith

Chief technical officer

Daniel joined razorblue in 2013 and is responsible for razorblue’s technical strategy, management of our specialist technical operations teams and provides guidance for our presales and product development teams.

Lee Harris FCCA

Non-executive director

Lee is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and studied Mathematics at University. His financial and commercial experience spans many sectors.