Board of Directors

Richard Last

Chairman

Richard joined Hyve Group as Chairman and Non-Executive Director on the 12th February 2018. Richard is an experienced Chairman, with over 30 years of public company board expertise, particularly in the technology and communications sectors. He is also the Chairman of Gamma Communications plc, which has revenues of £200m and provides voice and data communications solutions in the UK, and Tribal Group plc (£90m revenues), an international provider of technology solutions for the education sector. 
 
Richard has a wealth of transformation experience from his tenures as Chairman and director of a number of companies. His previous experience includes Servelec which is FTSE Small-Cap, £63m revenue company providing software, hardware and services primarily to the health and social care sectors in the UK, Lighthouse, a financial advisory platform and Corero, which provides DDoS solutions.
 
Richard studied Political Theory and Institutions at the University of Sheffield and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (FCA).

Mark Shashoua

Chief Executive Officer

Mark was appointed as Chief Executive Officer in September 2016. Mark was previously the CEO of i2i Events Group, the event arm of Ascential Plc, where he spent five years leading the internationalisation and diversification of the business.

Mark is a prominent figure in the international events industry and was one of the founding members of the company, then called ITE Group, in 1991, where he was a senior Director and Board member for eight years.

Mark’s focus is on evolving the business and working towards achieving its ambition. He spends considerable time alongside regional leaders and event teams, discussing the strategy of each market-leading show, and planning for sustainable growth. 

He is passionate about representing the evolution of customers’ behaviours in the events industry and pioneering constant change, whilst delivering value to shareholders.

Andrew Beach

Chief Financial Officer

Andrew is our Chief Financial Officer. He joined in October 2016 and is also Chairman of our Risk Committee. He was previously the Chief Financial and Operating Officer of Ebiquity Plc, the AIM listed marketing analytics specialists, where he spent nine years overseeing the rapid expansion of the business to 20 offices in 14 markets, employing over 900 people.

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) in 2000.

Andrew’s passion lies in business partnering and he is focused on ensuring that each area of the business has a dynamic and strategically-focused finance business partner at its side. Andrew also believes that the provision of timely event-level commercial finance data allows the business to make effective decisions to help deliver growth. 

Nicholas Backhouse

Non-Executive Director

Nick Backhouse was appointed a Non-Executive Director of Hyve Group on 1 May 2019. Nick has extensive experience at Board level, including non-executive roles at Guardian Media Group plc, All3Media Limited and Marston’s PLC. He is currently the Senior Independent Non-Executive Director at both Hollywood Bowl Group and Loungers plc, a Non-Executive Director of Eaton Gate Gaming and a trustee of Chichester Festival Theatre. Nick was previously the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the David Lloyd Leisure Group, Group Finance Director of National Car Parks and Chief Financial Officer of both the Laurel Pub Company and Freeserve PLC. Nick is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and has an MA in economics from Cambridge University.

Sharon Baylay

Non-executive Director

Sharon Baylay was appointed a Non‑Executive Director of the Group in April 2014 and became Chair of the Remuneration Committee in October 2017. She is Senior Independent Director at Restore plc, Non-Executive Director at Ted Baker plc and a Non-Executive Director at Unique X; a privately owned company. 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 the BBC, Sharon held a number of senior roles at Microsoft Corporation over a period of 15 years, 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 Advertising and Communications, London (WACL).

Stephen Puckett

Non-Executive Director

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 eleven 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.