Mark retired from the Army in 2017 after a full 36-year career.  His principal appointments included command of the Household Cavalry Regiment at Windsor and Military Assistant to the Minister of State for the Armed Forces.  He has extensive operational experience from tours in the Balkans, the Middle East and Afghanistan.  Promoted Brigadier in 2009 as the Ministry of Defence’s Head of Operational Communications, his responsibilities included strategic communications planning and co-ordination for operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere. 

In his final role in the Service from 2012 to 2017 as Head of Reserves in the Ministry of Defence, he led at Defence level the programme to revitalise and increase the size of the UK’s Reserve Forces. This included leading on the development of the government’s Green and White consultation papers, running a public consultation and establishing and co-ordinating delivery of the Future Reserves 2020 programme. 

Mark co-founded Addvantage4U, which seeks to help young people develop the human skills needed to succeed in employment.

Mark has pursued a number of other activities since leaving the Army, including an interim project management role in the NHS in London and has, on a voluntary basis, completed a review of the provision of extra-curricular activity at Queens’ College Cambridge. He has chaired the Sandhurst Independent Advisory Panel, now the Commandant’s Strategic Advisory Group. He is Chair of Governors of the Great Waldingfield CEVC Primary School, and Vice-Chairman of the Suffolk RFCA County Forum.  He became East Anglia RFCA’s Vice Chair Military in March 2023.

Mark has been a fellow commoner of Queens’ College Cambridge since 2016.  He was appointed OBE in 2001 and CBE in 2016.