Director details

Marco Sodi was appointed as a Non-executive Director on 1 February 2012 and took over as Chairman of ITE Group plc on 23 March 2012. 

Previously, Marco was a Non-executive Director of ITE Group plc from 2003 to 2006 and has extensive experience of the media and technology sectors, and the exhibitions sector in particular.

He left the Private Equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson in March 2010 after 23 successful years as both a General Partner and Investment Committee member.

He is currently Non-executive Chairman of Metro International, a Non-executive Director of EuroTaxGlass’s Int’l A.G and European Directories S.A. Previously Marco has served on the Boards of Hemscott plc, Centaur Communications plc and numerous other European and US companies.

Mark Shashoua was appointed as our Chief Executive Officer in September 2016. He was previously the CEO of i2i events group, the event arm of Ascential PLC where he spent five years and led the internationalisation and diversification of the business to what it is today.
 
He is a prominent figure in the international events industry and was one of the founding members of the ITE Group in 1991, where he served in senior director roles and as a Board Director until August 1999. From 2001, he was a co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Expomedia Group PLC and from 2009-2011, Mark was the operating partner of Advent International, a leading private equity fund.

Andrew Beach was appointed as our Chief Financial Officer in October 2016. He was previously Chief Financial and Operating Officer of Ebiquity plc, the AIM listed marketing analytics specialists, where he spent 9 years overseeing the rapid expansion of the business, which now spans 20 offices in 14 markets and employs over 900 staff.

Prior to joining Ebiquity, Andrew spent nine years at PwC as part of the Entertainment and Media assurance practice where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant (ICAEW). Andrew headed up the UK Publishing sector knowledge network and managed a portfolio of large media clients.

Sharon Baylay was appointed Non‑executive Director of the Company on 1 April 2014. She is Non-executive Chairman of Dot Net Solutions Ltd, and Non-executive Director of Restore plc.

From 2009 to 2011 Sharon was Marketing Director and a Main Board Director of the BBC, responsible for all aspects of Marketing, Communications and Audiences. She was also on the Board of BBC Worldwide, Freesat and Digital UK.

Prior to BBC, Sharon held a number of senior roles at Microsoft Corporation over a period of 15 years from 1993 to 2008, including General Manager of the UK Online and Advertising business.

Sharon is an Advanced Coach & Mentor, accredited by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and a Member of Women in Communications and Advertising, London (WACL).

Neil England was appointed a Non-executive Director of the Company in March 2008 and is Chairman of the Remuneration Committee. He has a breadth of sales and marketing experience and an extensive knowledge of ITE’s key geographic markets.

Neil was formerly Vice President for Mars Incorporated with responsibility for all the CIS countries and he built a market-leading business there.  More recently, Neil was Group Commercial Director on the main board of Gallaher Group plc.

Neil is currently Non-executive Chairman of three companies including BlackRock Emerging Europe plc, an emerging market investment company focused on Eastern Europe. Neil is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Linda Jensen was appointed a Non‑executive Director of the Company on 7 July 2011 and as the Company’s Senior Independent Director on 30 January 2014.

Linda is CEO of HBO Europe, a position she has held since February 2005, and is responsible for all business operations of the HBO channels in the European region, currently covering 14 markets.

From 2000 to early 2005, she was the President of MTV Russia, based in Moscow. Prior to MTV Russia, Linda gained valuable experience in the central European region as the Director of Development at Central European Media Enterprises (CME).

Fluent in Russian, Linda holds a Masters degree in Political Science from Columbia University.

Stephen Puckett was appointed a Non-executive Director of the Company on 1 July 2013 and Chairman of the Audit Committee on 30 January 2014.

He is a Chartered Accountant with over 20 years’ experience as Finance Director of quoted companies. In 2012 Stephen retired from the Board of Page Group plc (formerly Michael Page International plc) after more than 11 years as Group Finance Director, during which time he oversaw a period of significant overseas expansion and growth.

Stephen is also currently Chairman of Hydrogen Group plc and a Non-executive Director of Redcentric plc and chairs its Audit Committee.