Team Tuesday: Meet our Investor Relations Director, Mark Weedon

Where did you begin your career?

“My first permanent role after university was as an Account Manager at British Gas/ Centrica in 2003, where I gained early experience in data analysis and client engagement. These skills have been a consistent thread throughout my career, including in my role as Investor Relations Director at Onate.”

What is the best career advice you’ve ever been given?

“I have been lucky to work with a number of fantastic bosses and managers, who have backed me and encouraged me to back myself, when opportunities to make a difference and progress have come around. I think the most useful long-term advice has ultimately been occasions when people that I respected have pointed out that I might not know as much as I thought I did!”

What tips would you give to someone starting in your profession?

“Be adaptable, don’t stop learning and never take yourself too seriously. With the power of AI in the workplace increasing at an incredible rate, making the most of opportunities to add the human touch is more important than ever. Business still relies on strong relationships and people will want to engage if they like talking to you, even if a robot can produce a research report or investor deck in 1000th of the time that you can. Approach all of your interactions with good grace, confidence and integrity, whether the immediate opportunity appears promising or not. You never know when a contact from the past will pop back up and it will pay dividends if they have positive memories of your previous engagement. ”

What is your greatest professional achievement to date?

“I’m happy with the decisions that I have made throughout my career. When I look back on the roles I’ve taken, the times I stayed, the times I left and the approaches that I politely declined, I feel good about every one of those decisions. I’m not sure how much of it is luck, but being regret free after 22 years of career decision making is an achievement of sorts! Hopefully the best is yet to come at Onate.... ”

Tell us something people may not know about you

“I’ve got a big noisy family at home. A wife, two daughters, two step sons, two dogs, a budgie and a hamster. Although, anyone who’s been on a few video calls with me probably does know about them!”