Mark Dixon (businessman)

Mark Dixon is an Essex born English businessman, best known as the founder of serviced office business Regus.

Biography

The son of a Ford car mechanic, Dixon was educated at Rainsford comprehensive school (now St Peters College). On noticing that a new housing estate needed nourishment for its gardens, he sold peat distributed by wheelbarrow.^[1]

Career

Leaving school at 16,^[1] Dixon founded sandwich making business Dial-a-Snack, which delivered locally on a butchers bicycle. After the business failed, he travelled the world, becoming: a barman in St Tropez; a miner in Australia; a farmhand in Asia; and selling encyclopaedias.^[1][2]

Returning to Essex, he invested £600 in a burger van, based on London's North Circular road.^[1] From profits he then bought seven other vans, but found difficulty in obtaining good and regular bun supply.^[1] Travelling between meetings on either a bicycle or in one of his vans,^[3] he set up The Bread Roll Company to supply his own and other mobile fast food vendors, which he sold in 1988 for £800,000.^[2]

Relocating to Brussels, Belgium, he set up an apartment rental business. While sitting in a cafe, he regularly noticed how local business people were forced to meet around the small tables of local coffee shops, and resultantly set up Regus in 1989.^[4] Floated in October 2000, it was valued at £1.5bn. By mid-2001, the business worth £2bn, with Dixon's 60pc stake making him a billionaire.^[2] However, in light of the failure of the dot.com boom, Dixon's stake fell and he was value at less than £80m, with the UK arm of the business being sold to Alchemy Partners.^[2]

Dixon has since rebuilt the business, and now owns the Chateau de Berne vineyard in Provence.^[2]

Personal life

Dixon met his ex-wife, journalist Trudy Groves who was then sub-editor on the Luton News, in 1987.^[3] After marrying in 1988 and selling his baking business, they moved to Virginia Water, and have two children. Dixon has three children from prior relationships.^[3]

In late 2003, the family moved to Connecticut so Dixon could improve the US business performance of Regus.^[3] In 2005, Dixon divorced Trudy, the mother to two of his five children, in a £28.7m settlement.^[2] Dixon is presently resident for tax reasons in Monaco.^[2]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Cave, Andrew (2004-07-17). "Mark Dixon, CEO of Regus: A true entrepreneur back on the expansion trail". London: The Independent. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/profiles/5219967/Mark-Dixon-the-Briton-who-wants-to-build-a-new-Google.html. Retrieved 2009-04-25. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Cave, Andrew (2009-04-25). "Mark Dixon: the Briton who wants to build a new Google". London: The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/profiles/5219967/Mark-Dixon-the-Briton-who-wants-to-build-a-new-Google.html. Retrieved 2009-04-25. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d} "Regus founder in £28m divorce". Daily Mail. 2005-03-29. http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=399237&in_page_id=2. Retrieved 2009-04-25. 
4. ^ Regus: The Regus Story

External links

• Bio of Dixon at Regus

Persondata
Name	Dixon, Mark
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Date of birth
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This United Kingdom business-related biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Living people People from Essex English businesspeople British billionaires English expatriates in Monaco British business biography stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат? Mark Dion Mark Dobson Look at other dictionaries: Mark Dixon — For those of a similar name, see Mark Dickson (disambiguation). For the English founder of Regus, see Mark Dixon (businessman) Mark Dixon Date of birth: November 26, 1970 (1970 11 26) (age 40) Place of birth:… …   Wikipedia Mark Dickson — may refer to: Mark Dickson (athlete), Australian hammer thrower Mark Dickson (footballer), Northern Irish football (soccer) player Mark Dickson (tennis), professional tour tennis player of the 1980s and from the United States See also Mark Dixon …   Wikipedia Mark Hinkle — (born January 28, 1951) is an American libertarian activist and businessman. He is the National Chairman of the United States Libertarian Party. He was elected by the delegates of the 2010 Libertarian National Convention in St. Louis, Missouri on …   Wikipedia Scott Dixon — Infobox racing driver name = Scott Dixon pixels = caption = Scott Dixon and wife Emma. nationality = NZL date of birth = Birth date and age|1980|07|22 place of birth = Brisbane, Australia related to = current series = IRL IndyCar Series first… …   Wikipedia Twain, Mark — orig. Samuel Langhorne Clemens born Nov. 30, 1835, Florida, Mo., U.S. died April 21, 1910, Redding, Conn. U.S. humorist, writer, and lecturer. He grew up in Hannibal, Mo., on the Mississippi River. At age 13 he was apprenticed to a local printer …   Universalium performing arts — arts or skills that require public performance, as acting, singing, or dancing. [1945 50] * * * ▪ 2009 Introduction Music Classical.       The last vestiges of the Cold War seemed to thaw for a moment on Feb. 26, 2008, when the unfamiliar strains …   Universalium literature — /lit euhr euh cheuhr, choor , li treuh /, n. 1. writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays. 2.… …   Universalium Negro league baseball — Part of the History of baseball in the United States series. Part of the Baseball series on History of baseball • Origins of baseball • Early years • First league • Knickerbocker Rules • Massachus …   Wikipedia United States House of Representatives elections, 2006 - notable races — Information Summary of party changesElections to the United States House of Representatives for the 110th Congress were held on November 7, 2006. The House of Representatives has 435 seats. In the 109th Congress, Republicans held 230 seats,… …   Wikipedia United States — a republic in the N Western Hemisphere comprising 48 conterminous states, the District of Columbia, and Alaska in North America, and Hawaii in the N Pacific. 267,954,767; conterminous United States, 3,022,387 sq. mi. (7,827,982 sq. km); with… …   Universalium 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”