Board of Directors

Richard Last

Non-Executive Chairman

Richard joined Hyve Group plc as Chairman and Non-Executive Director in February 2018. He is also the Chairman of Gamma Communications plc, which has a market capitalisation of over £1.5bn, revenues of over £300m and provides cloud, voice and data communications solutions to UK businesses, and the Chairman of Tribal Group plc, an international technology solutions provider for the higher and further education sectors which is listed on AIM.

Richard, who is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, is an experienced chairman, with over 30 years of public company board experience.

Richard is keen to promote the use of technology to improve customer experience, efficiency and profitability. He is also very passionate about the promotion and development of young talent and promoting wider diversity in organisations.

Nicholas Backhouse

Non-Executive Director

Nicholas was appointed a Non-Executive Director of the Group on 1 May 2019 and Chair of the Audit Committee in January 2020. He is also the Senior Independent Director and a member of the Remuneration and Risk Committees. 

Nicholas has extensive experience at board level and is currently the Senior Independent Director of both Hollywood Bowl Group plc and Loungers plc and the Chairman of the Giggling Squid restaurant group. He has also held positions as Senior Independent Director of Guardian Media Group plc and Non-Executive Director of Marston’s PLC, All3media Limited, Eaton Gate Gaming Limited and Chichester Festival Theatre. Nicholas 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. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and has an MA in economics from Cambridge University.

Nicholas has significant experience with companies undergoing operating model and cultural change. 

Rachel Addison

Non-Executive Director

Rachel was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of the Group on 1 March 2022. She is Chair of Hyve's Remuneration Committee and a member of the Risk and Audit Committees. 

Rachel has nearly 30 years of finance and operational management experience. Rachel is currently a Non-Executive Director of the business-critical services and software provider, Marlowe plc, where she is also Chair of the Audit Committee, a Non-Executive Director of housing developer and manager, Watkin Jones plc, where she is also a member of the Audit, Remuneration and Nomination Committees, and a Non-Executive Director of Mango Publishing Group, an innovative independent publisher based in Florida, USA. From July 2020 to October 2021 Rachel was the Chief Financial Officer at Future plc. Prior to that she was Chief Financial Officer at TI Media Limited and has held a number of senior financial, operational and board level roles at Trinity Mirror (now Reach) Regionals, Local World Limited, Northcliffe Media Limited and Boots the Chemist where she was Head of Risk Management.

Rachel is a chartered accountant and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Rachel enjoys working with businesses with ambitious strategies to innovate and develop at pace to meet the ever-changing needs of their customers and consumers.

Anna Bateson

Non-Executive Director

Anna was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of the Group on 1 March 2022. She is Chair of Hyve's ESG Committee and a member of the Remuneration and Audit Committees. 

Anna has a leadership and management background spanning media, retail, news and technology. Anna is currently the CEO of Josh Wood Colour Ltd, a founder-led fast growing home hair colour brand. Anna was previously Chief Customer Officer and, latterly, interim CEO at the Guardian Media Group. Prior to that, Anna served as Global Consumer Marketing Director at YouTube, and also held marketing roles at ITV and MTV among others.

Anna has been a board member of the Scottish Ballet since 2017 and also sits on the board for Which?, the charity DocSociety, and the visual AI company Picasso Labs.

Anna is passionate about brand and putting the customer at the heart of the business. 

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 was one of the founding members of Hyve Group plc, then called ITE Group, in 1991, where he was a senior Director and Board member for eight years. He is also a prominent figure in the international events industry and was recently appointed to the Board of UFI, the Global Association of the Events Industry. 

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.

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

John Gulliver

Chief Finance and Operations Officer

John was appointed as the Company’s COO in October 2017. With effect from 1 October 2020 John took up the newly-formed combined role of CFO and COO. He oversaw the rollout of best practice as part of the TAG programme. John also has responsibility for implementing and maintaining our best practice operating model across our global network of exhibitions.

Prior to joining, John held senior financial positions in the media sector, including Interim CFO at Emap/Top Right Group and also Divisional CFO at Ascential, and CFO of i2i Events Group from June 2012 to June 2017, where he worked alongside Mark Shashoua, CEO. Prior to that, John was Finance Director at Precise Media from 2008 to 2010.

John’s background in finance and operational transformation, as well as his experience in the events sector, underpins his passion for bringing about positive change and disruption within the industry. John enjoys working in a change-led environment and loves the passion, energy and sense of achievement that occur as the company, and the people working within it, realise their potential.