Mark Purnell

Mark is a highly experienced executive who formed and grew the Intelligent Property Group (IPG) and Derek Smith Associates (DSA), which was established in 1984. The Group, which included a well respected integrated facilities management business and an innovative, web-based technology venture, won numerous industry awards and recognition.

IPG secured contracts with some of the foremost blue-chip property companies in the UK and was acquired by private equity investors in 2008.

Prior to establishing DSA and IPG, and immediately after leaving Southampton University, Mark worked in Whitehall for a number of years during which time he was appointed as Private Secretary to two Government Ministers and Deputy Leaders of the House of Lords.

Colin Payne

Colin was Commercial Director at IPG and has worked very closely with Mark for many years, having spent his earlier career in the field of technology with a specific focus on electronic commerce and latterly on mobile computing solutions for property, construction and facilities management.

Colin’s previous senior positions have included Operations Director at Knowledge Online, Head of Crown Digital for Crown Business Communications and Head of New Media for Williams Lea.

Michael Cant

Michael was born in Zimbabwe and trained as an architect at University of Cape Town. He managed a Southern African property portfolio for one of the continent’s largest industrial conglomerates before completing an MBA at Witwatersrand University.

Moving to the UK in 1982, he worked with Dunlop handling a global property portfolio and qualified as a chartered surveyor. He then held senior posts taking charge of infrastructure services for a range of commercial and leisure organisations before becoming one of the founding fathers of the FM profession in the UK.

Michael is considered to be one of the country’s leading experts on service improvement and innovation and started Larch Consulting in 1995. He has led programmes to develop and improve FM services for many well known organisations including Diageo, Sainsburys, De Beers Diamond Trading Company, the Scottish Government, Kings College, University of London and Hammerson Properties. Michael has been an external examiner for the FM Masters degree at the College of Estate Management, Reading and is Vice Chair of the RICS FM Faculty Group.

Chris Willcocks

Chris has 35 years of commercial experience developing businesses on behalf of international companies.

After leaving University, Chris worked in the industrial sector growing a UK bulk chemical business from start-up to £10m annual turnover in just two years on behalf of the Italian company, ENI. Chris was then asked to deliver the same growth for a US oil company, the Ethyl Corporation, where he was equally successful, before he was approached to join IBM in 1986.

Chris ran international account management and sales teams for IBM's most significant Software Group clients with whom he facilitated year on year business growth for over 20 years culminating in an immensely loyal personal client portfolio that derived hundreds of millions of pounds of repeat annual revenues.

Chris has joined ComplyNC to contribute to our development and success. He will employ his unique combination of sales expertise, customer focus, and team building skills, working in close collaboration with our sector partners and champions to design and deliver solutions which precisely match each client organisations' very particular and precise compliance and operational requirements at every level, in the most appropriate commercial framework.