Mark Eaton is Managing Director of People Puzzles London, where he works directly with founders and senior leaders on structure, people strategy and leadership development. He left school at 16 and began his working life on a building site, later establishing his own construction business before moving into financial services with Sun Life Financial.
At 27 he was appointed to the board of Personal Assurance, leading business development, client strategy and national sales, and played a central part in the company’s flotation on AIM in 2000. In 2013 he co-founded Gee 7 Group, an employee benefits and rewards business he later transitioned to an Employee Ownership Trust. His advisory work includes the growth programme at sports hospitality business Corinthian, which grew from 40 to 60 employees over 18 months while reducing recruitment costs by 35%.
You left school at 16 and began your working life on a building site. Within a decade you had established your own construction business, moved into financial services with Sun Life Financial, and by the age of 27 had been appointed to the board of Personal Assurance, a company you would go on to help float on AIM in 2000. That is an impressive trajectory in a short space of time. Looking back, what was it about those early years that gave you the foundation to move so quickly and decisively through your career?
“Working on a building site gave me a great work ethic no productivity, no pay. It’s as simple as that. When you start your career in that kind of environment, you learn very quickly that results are everything.
“I was always ambitious, energetic, and had a positive mindset. That combination of real-world grounding and a genuine belief that anything was possible if you worked hard enough that never left me. Those early years set the tone for everything that followed.”
The AIM flotation of Personal Assurance in 2000 was a significant milestone, and your role leading business development, client strategy and national sales was central to getting the business to that point. For founders and senior leaders considering a public listing, what does that process truly demand of a leadership team, and what are the biggest opportunities it creates for those who get their preparation right?
“The biggest lesson I took from that process was that investors wanted to know the people side of the business just as much as the numbers. Be equipped with the stories the culture you’ve built, the history of your victories and the lessons you’ve learned along the way.
“Really be able to articulate your operating model: how you win customers, how you keep them, and importantly how you look after your own team. Get those three things right and you’ll give investors something to genuinely believe in.”
After years at the top of a listed business, you chose to return to entrepreneurship, co-founding Gee 7 Group in 2013, an employee benefits and rewards business that you ultimately transitioned to an Employee Ownership Trust. The EOT model is gaining real traction among founders who want to protect what they have built while securing a meaningful exit. What does that structure offer that a traditional sale can’t, and why do you think more business owners should be considering it?
“Trying to execute a private sale comes with numerous risks buyers who aren’t serious, due diligence that exposes every skeleton in the cupboard, and the very real concern about what happens to the people who helped you build what you’ve got. A new acquisition can often mean job losses, organisational change and a feeling of real insecurity for your team.
“An EOT, when communicated properly, does the opposite. It empowers the existing team and shows genuine trust in their capability and ambition. That said, it can only work with the right financial structure in place the business needs to be able to discharge its liabilities to the outgoing shareholders and still trade profitably.
“What I found most powerful was the psychological shift it creates. In our experience it meant better collaboration across teams and a fundamental change in the dynamic moving from a transactional employer-employee relationship to a genuine partnership. When your people become owners, everything changes.”
The transformation at Corinthian, the sports hospitality business behind the Pegasus Lounge, is a compelling example of what structured, intelligent growth looks like in practice. Over 18 months the company grew from 40 to 60 employees while simultaneously cutting recruitment costs by 35%. What were the key structural decisions that made it possible, and how can other founders apply the same thinking?
“Corinthian recognised that their current operating model simply wasn’t going to allow them to scale. A lot of founders find it difficult to let go everything keeps ending back on their desk and it becomes a real bottleneck.
“The key was getting the right people in the right seats and having the discipline to step back from the day-to-day operational noise and work on a clear strategy. That means thinking properly about how you find and keep top talent and genuinely trusting your team to deliver. You can’t scale if you’re still doing everyone else’s job.”
One of the defining moves in Corinthian’s growth phase was streamlining the senior leadership team down to five clearly defined roles, including a newly appointed Managing Director, Finance Director, Sales Director, HR Director and Head of Operations. Getting the right structure in place before attempting to scale is something you feel strongly about. How do founders build a leadership structure that actively accelerates growth rather than simply keeping pace with it?
“It’s fundamental to growth, and yet so many businesses evolve entirely by chance rather than through deliberate planning of an organisational structure that supports where they want to be in the future.
“The starting point is visualising what you want the company to look like. Where do you want to be, and what does that version of the business look like in practice? Then you design an org structure that meets that vision not the one you have right now.
“Leadership also needs to put egos aside and operate in service of the greater good. You need a team that trusts each other, has clear accountabilities, can have healthy conflict, is results-driven and is fully aligned on the overall strategy. Get that right and the structure accelerates you. Get it wrong and you’ll spend your time managing politics instead of building a business.”
Through your work at People Puzzles you spend the majority of your time in direct conversation with founders and senior leaders across a wide range of sectors. What are the most significant growth opportunities you see business leaders capitalising on right now, and what separates the ones who move on them decisively from those who do not?
“A lot of it comes back to what I’ve already said clarity of vision, the right people, the right structure. But on top of that, the businesses that are genuinely capitalising right now are the ones embracing technology. Companies that are adopting AI and leaning into it rather than fearing it are finding themselves operating at a level of efficiency that simply wasn’t possible a few years ago.
“That said, there is no substitute for great, motivated people. When you find good ones, treasure them. Look after them. Give them an environment where they can succeed. The leaders who move decisively are the ones who’ve got both the right people and the right technology working together.”
Executive coaching was a central element of the Corinthian engagement, helping the Managing Director step into his newly defined role with clarity and real purpose. You have seen first-hand how personal leadership development can shift the trajectory of an entire business. How do you view the relationship between a leader’s own growth and the commercial performance of the organisation around them, and how can founders use that lever more deliberately?
“Even superstar athletes have a coach. Having someone who stretches you, counsels you, keeps you grounded and holds you accountable is a vital part of any leader’s toolkit.
“What I’ve seen time and again is that when a leader grows in self-awareness, in confidence, in clarity about how they want to lead it filters through the whole organisation. Decisions get made faster. The energy at the top changes and the team mirrors it. The commercial performance follows. It’s one of the most powerful levers a founder has, and arguably the most underused.”
For a founder running a business, is ready to scale and wants to do it in a way that builds lasting value, what is the single most powerful piece of advice you would give them?
“It’s not one single piece of advice, if I’m honest. But if I had to anchor it in something, I’d say trust your instincts. they don’t often let you down. Make more good decisions than bad, and when you get it wrong, learn from it. Better still, learn from other people’s mistakes so you don’t have to make them yourself.
“Have a clear vision of where you’re going and the discipline to stay focused on it. Look after your people really look after them. And somewhere in amongst all of it, try to have some fun. Building something lasting should be something you enjoy.”