Mark Harrison
'You can achieve anything you want to in life with belief. Believe in yourself, visualise and focus on your goals and don't allow your own thoughts or others to limit your own ability to succeed.'
Mark Harrison is an experienced entrepreneur, investor, author, and business leader.
Harrison, originally from Yorkshire, is passionate about the value of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship to society. He believes that any business owner can achieve success with the right mindset, know-how, and approach.
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He spent the first ten years of his career in the corporate financial world, initially in technical product development roles at Experian and Alexander Howden RE, and then in managerial positions in analytics start-ups within Guy Carpenter RE, part of the Marsh McLennan Group (NYSE: MMC). During this time, he led a number of pioneering projects into new areas of analytical modelling and was the first to market with several insurance risk rating products. For example, UKTheft, a crime location intelligence and risk analysis software tool that received official recognition at the British Insurance Awards in 1998.
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Harrison always had a burning desire from a young age to do his own thing, to be his own boss and run his own company. Following a couple of false starts with failed technology start-ups, ‘ValueInsurance.com’ and ‘MyNest’ in the 1990s, he finally had his opportunity in July 2001. He led a management buy-out of Geological Information Systems (GIS) and the assets of a UK insurance analytics business, Intermediary Systems, from the Marsh & McLennan Group.
The new business (ISL) grew at a rapid pace, reaching over £1 Million net profit within three years. This was a remarkable success and several of the ISL products reached a high level of customer penetration in the UK Property & Casualty (P&C) Insurance market.
ISL was agile, creative, and innovative. Pioneering new products were developed that influenced insurance risk pricing in the UK. This included a risk mapping and analytics software platform called ‘RiskPoint’, which won an Oracle sponsored industry award for ‘Risk Management Initiative of the Year’. This assessed property risk across a range of geographic risk factors by address for every house in the UK. ISL was subsequently acquired by Experian Plc [NYSE: EXPN] in 2004 for millions of pounds.
In 2008, during the backdrop of the financial crisis, Harrison started another company ‘Business Insight’ from a blank sheet of paper. From the initial start-up, this company was scaled successfully and grew into being a leading provider of software, data, and analytical services to the UK & Irish P&C Insurance market with innovative new products such as ‘Premium Insight’ and ‘Location Matters’. Harrison achieved his second successful exit when this business was sold to Verisk Analytics Inc [NYSE: VRSK], a $31 billion-dollar American Corporation, in February 2018.
In the subsequent couple of years after the sale, Harrison worked at Verisk as the General Manager for Europe (Underwriting). During his tenure in this role, the area achieved significant revenue growth. He also led the set-up of an offshoring analytics capability in Poland, helped to integrate several newly acquired businesses, made several significant senior hires, and put in place a new structure and platform to support growth.
In 2020 he decided to take time out on a personal sabbatical, to break from the corporate world, to pursue a new challenge and an interest in writing a book about business. ‘SCALE for SALE’ is his first book, based on his own life experiences and backed up with research. It is aimed at entrepreneurs and business owners searching for advice and inspiration on how to scale and then sell a business.
Harrison holds a post-graduate degree in operational research from Lancaster University, a degree in maths and economics, a higher certificate in Statistics and has expertise in data analytics. He lives in Hertfordshire, England with his wife and three children. In his spare time, he enjoys watching and following most sports, particularly golf, rugby and cricket. He can usually be found either hacking a ball around a local golf course or walking his dog Bailey in the beautiful Hertfordshire countryside.
Mark Harrison
'You can achieve anything you want to in life with belief. Believe in yourself, visualise and focus on your goals and don't allow your own thoughts or others to limit your own ability to succeed.'
Mark Harrison is an experienced entrepreneur, investor, author, and business leader. Harrison, originally from Yorkshire, is passionate about the value of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship to society. He believes that any business owner can achieve success with the right mindset, know-how, and approach.
​
He spent the first ten years of his career in the corporate financial world, initially in technical product development roles at Experian and Alexander Howden RE, and then in managerial positions in analytics start-ups within Guy Carpenter RE, part of the Marsh McLennan Group (NYSE: MMC). During this time, he led a number of pioneering projects into new areas of analytical modelling and was the first to market with several insurance risk rating products. For example, UKTheft, a crime location intelligence and risk analysis software tool that received official recognition at the British Insurance Awards in 1998.
​
Harrison always had a burning desire from a young age to do his own thing, to be his own boss and run his own company. Following a couple of false starts with failed technology start-ups, ‘ValueInsurance.com’ and ‘MyNest’ in the 1990s, he finally had his opportunity in July 2001. He led a management buy-out of Geological Information Systems (GIS) and the assets of a UK insurance analytics business, Intermediary Systems, from the Marsh & McLennan Group.
The new business (ISL) grew at a rapid pace, reaching over £1 Million net profit within three years. This was a remarkable success and several of the ISL products reached a high level of customer penetration in the UK Property & Casualty (P&C) Insurance market.
ISL was agile, creative, and innovative. Pioneering new products were developed that influenced insurance risk pricing in the UK. This included a risk mapping and analytics software platform called ‘RiskPoint’, which won an Oracle sponsored industry award for ‘Risk Management Initiative of the Year’. This assessed property risk across a range of geographic risk factors by address for every house in the UK. ISL was subsequently acquired by Experian Plc [NYSE: EXPN] in 2004 for millions of pounds.
In 2008, during the backdrop of the financial crisis, Harrison started another company ‘Business Insight’ from a blank sheet of paper. From the initial start-up, this company was scaled successfully and grew into being a leading provider of software, data, and analytical services to the UK & Irish P&C Insurance market with innovative new products such as ‘Premium Insight’ and ‘Location Matters’. Harrison achieved his second successful exit when this business was sold to Verisk Analytics Inc [NYSE: VRSK], a $31 billion-dollar American Corporation, in February 2018.
In the subsequent couple of years after the sale, Harrison worked at Verisk as the General Manager for Europe (Underwriting). During his tenure in this role, the area achieved significant revenue growth. He also led the set-up of an offshoring analytics capability in Poland, helped to integrate several newly acquired businesses, made several significant senior hires, and put in place a new structure and platform to support growth.
In 2020 he decided to take time out on a personal sabbatical, to break from the corporate world, to pursue a new challenge and an interest in writing a book about business. ‘SCALE for SALE’ is his first book, based on his own life experiences and backed up with research. It is aimed at entrepreneurs and business owners searching for advice and inspiration on how to scale and then sell a business.
Harrison holds a post-graduate degree in operational research from Lancaster University, a degree in maths and economics, a higher certificate in statistics and has expertise in data analytics. He lives in Hertfordshire, England with his wife and three children. In his spare time, he enjoys watching and following most sports, particularly golf, rugby and cricket. He can usually be found either hacking a ball around a local golf course or walking his dog Bailey in the beautiful Hertfordshire countryside.