Mark Thomas

As co-founder and Commercial Director of Aprios AV, I’ve led the company’s commercial strategy and operations for over two decades - helping businesses across the UK and Europe enhance communication, customer experience, and brand presence through AV and digital communication technologies. Key achievements & responsibilities: • Built a specialist AV integration business delivering bespoke solutions for clients across a wide range of industries and verticals, including BMW and Ralph Lauren. • Led business development, consultative sales and account growth, securing consistent project wins across retail, corporate, hospitality, and transport sectors. • Designed and implemented full-funnel marketing strategies (PPC, SEO, SEM, automation, and copywriting) to drive inbound lead generation and long-term growth. • Oversaw commercial operations, including contract negotiation, pricing, supplier relationships, and customer success management. • Directed complex AV installations from concept to delivery - liaising with IT teams, designers, architects, and contractors, both in the UK and overseas. • Introduced proprietary AV maintenance systems and SLAs to ensure fast, reliable support with minimal downtime. • Managed Health & Safety compliance, including RAMS, engineer training, and site supervision. Core competencies: Business Development | B2B Sales Strategy | Project Delivery | GTM Execution | Marketing Leadership | Contracts & Commercial | Operational Efficiency | Stakeholder Management

At Ruesch International, I held roles in both client relationship management and new business development, supporting a portfolio of 500 business clients across a wide range of sectors to manage their international payments and FX risk. I consistently exceeded KPIs and became one of the top-performing salespeople in a team of 30 - by developing a consultative, high-trust sales style that helped convert and retain high-value clients across multiple sectors. I also served as the London office’s lead contact for a specialist house-purchasing FX service, managing personal and corporate transactions for clients purchasing overseas property. This early-stage exposure to business ownership, client care, and structured sales processes was a key catalyst in my decision to launch Aprios AV in 2003. Core competencies: Client Management | Consultative Sales | FX & International Payments | CRM & Process Design | High-Value B2B Relationship Building

My first full-time role after university was in the executive search industry, working for a boutique firm focused on building high-performing teams for international tech companies entering the UK market. The role gave me early exposure to the executive search side of recruitment and insight into the tactics used by firms to attract both top performers and disengaged employees. Core competencies: Research & Intelligence | Outreach Strategy | Executive Recruitment | Client Insight

As part of my degree, I completed an industrial placement in Hays’ Business Development Training Division - a specialist department responsible for giving new recruitment consultants a structured foundation in client acquisition and consultative selling. I also helped train new recruitment consultants, delivering hands-on sales coaching sessions focused on structured lead generation, open questioning, and objection handling techniques - providing them with practical skills and confidence to succeed in competitive environments. Witnessing how effective training could transform individual performance and, in turn, positively impact business revenue sparked my interest in the psychology of sales and communication and led me to specialise in Human Resource Management (as part of my Business Studies degree) in my final year at university. Core competencies: Outbound Lead Generation | Sales Coaching | Structured Selling | Stakeholder Engagement | Early Sales Enablement