Mark Whitehead
Profile Verified by The Marque
Last Updated: 22 Sep 2026
Founder, Owner & Consultant
London, GB
Profile Verified by The Marque
Last Updated: 22 Sep 2026
THE MARQUE
In Their Own Right
Biography
Mark Whitehead is the Founder & Owner of MMS Consultancy which offers business advisory services, predominantly in the sports, media and entertainment sectors.
An experienced CEO, entrepreneur and investor, Mark originally trained and practised as a corporate M&A lawyer in the City before moving into the sports industry in various executive positions. Mark was CEO of market-leading sports law specialists Couchmans LLP for 8 years, and subsequently CEO of divisions within the Virgin Group and global marketing agency CSM Sport & Entertainment.
Mark has created, bought and sold a number of companies and has a wide range of domain expertise in both B2B and B2C environments; he is now a trusted advisor to several businesses on matters ranging from strategy and investment to business structures and management support.
Mark is currently Non-Executive Chairman of The Running Channel, the world’s fastest growing online community of runners.
The Record
Background
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2019 — Present
Founder, Owner & Consultant
MMS Consultancy
MMS Consultancy was established by Mark to provide advisory services to growth businesses in the sports, media and entertainment sectors. Recent work includes leading Backyard Cinema to a major investment from Sony Music Entertainment; leading an investment fundraise on behalf of The Running Channel and leading an investment fundraise to bring to market 'Newlane', a revolutionary new cycle helmet.
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2004 — 2012
Co-Owner & CEO
Couchmans LLP
Mark led Couchmans from start-up to become one of the United Kingdom's pre-eminent sports and media law firms. Under his leadership, Couchmans worked with a long list of prominent clients, including the FA Premier League, ATP, FIFA, Nike and many elite sportspeople. Couchmans is now part of City law firm Charles Russell Speechlys.
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2000 — 2003
Group Business Affairs Manager & General Manager, Global Cricket Corporation
World Sport Group
World Sport Group was a global sports marketing, event management and media company which is now part of the Lagardère Group. Mark was Group Business Affairs Manager before becoming the General Manager of WSG subsidiary GCC (a joint venture with NewsCorp), the company which held the $550m commercial rights contract for the Cricket World Cup 2003-2007.
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1997 — 2000
Associate & Head of Commercial Department
Townleys
In the 1990s Townleys was the United Kingdom's leading specialist sports law practice headed by sports law pioneer Steven Townley. The firm worked with many high-profile clients including Rugby World Cup, ITF, UEFA, International Rugby Board and Formula One. During his time working with Steven, Mark headed up the commercial team and worked on major projects such as Rugby World Cup 1999.
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1993 — 1997
Solicitor, Corporate Finance and M&A
Denton Wilde Sapte
Mark trained and practised as a corporate M&A lawyer at Denton Wilde Sapte (now Dentons). Dentons is one of the biggest and most successful law firms in the world with multijurisdictional capabilities and a network of highly experienced corporate lawyers across the world in over 50 countries.
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2016 — 2019
Founder, Director & CEO of Active Division; Member of Group Senior Leadership Team
CSM Sport & Entertainment
CSM is a global sports marketing agency with over 1,000 employees in 18 countries. Mark established and ran a new division within the agency aimed at creating new event IP. As a divisional CEO, Mark was also a member of the Group Senior Leadership Team.
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2013 — 2016
Founder, Director & CEO
Virgin Sport (Achieve Events)
Achieve Events was founded after the 2012 Olympics by Mark Whitehead with Sir Clive Woodward as Chairman. It quickly became one of the most successful consumer participation businesses in the United Kingdom and was subsequently sold to the Virgin Group in 2014.
Formative Years
Education
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University of Birmingham
History, BA (Hons)
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University of Sussex
Post-Graduate Common Professional Examination (Law)
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The College of Law
Solicitors Final Examination
Areas Of Focus