CEO Today United Kingdom Awards

www.ceotodaymagazine.com 80 CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2018 LIFE SCIENCES MARK HOLLINGSWORTH CEO of The Nutrition Society ABOUT MARK HOLLINGSWORTH Mark Hollingsworth is CEO of the Nutrition Society, a scientific Learned Society which seeks to advance the scientific study of nutrition and its application to the maintenance of human and animal health. The Society, headquartered in London, is a membership-based organisation, with 2,800 members. Its principal activities are the publication of scientific journals and textbooks, organising scientific conferences, delivering specialised training through its Training Academy, disseminating science and supporting a wide-range of international capacity-building in nutritional science. Its annual turnover is in excess of £3 million. Mark, who originally served for 16 years as a Squadron Leader in the Royal Air Force, became CEO of the Society in July 2014. The Society was in a stable situation, but the Board of Trustees wished to review how they could use this stability to develop a more contemporary, strategically- focused organisation, yet retain its important historical traditions. Mark’s initial focus helped the Board of Trustees to review their governance model, which included putting the membership back into the centre of the organisation. This was followed by a strategic review, which he led, with the launch in 2016 of a 5 year Strategic Plan. He also began to re-structure the Society’s staff to align with the new strategic direction. Mark built, slowly and carefully, a team of people who are passionate about nutritional science. They have formed a high performing team, through a combination of mutual support, robust communication, and having fun! He places great emphasis on both personal and professional development and continues to invest heavily in staff training. Mark believes the most important decision made in these early years came when the Trustee Board adopted the suggestion that the Strategic Plan become a standing item on the Board Agenda. Hours of each meeting are dedicated to careful analysis and interrogation of the objectives of the Plan. This resulted in continuous, clear, strategic direction from each Board meeting, enabling Mark and the Board committees to have the appropriate powers and authority to deliver. Operationally, Mark has led relentless cost control across all aspects of the organisation. He also believes strongly in the concept ‘cash is king’ and monitors cashflow on a daily basis. An increase in revenue, combined with a reduction in costs, has seen the Society’s Balance Sheet net worth double in 4 years. In addition, he has managed to increase the cash reserve fund from £125,000 to £1,100,000. Finally, an outward looking focus has been developed and introduced with the Board of Trustees to support the concept ‘science knows no borders’. In addition to raising the profile of the Society’s work in the UK Parliament through active involvement on Parliamentary Scientific Advisory Committees, there are now members of the Society in 89 countries in the World. This international perspective has helped in sustaining the vital sources of revenue from the Society’s global publication sales (scientific journals and textbooks). Mark has been actively involved in the expansion (travelling extensively as far as Dubai, Morocco, Brazil, North America, Canada, Switzerland, Portugal, Germany, China and Argentina) into areas where the Society can add value, and leverage its knowledge and expertise. The Society now has a small secretariat providing support to Africa, European and other global nutritional scientific organisations. Mark believes leading in the non-profit sector, and working with UK science, emphasises the importance of being a servant leader, a dual focus on serving both the Board of Trustees and his staff. He hopes his nomination as CEO of the Year helps to highlight the excellent work undertaken in the non-profit sector in the UK, and the many exciting career opportunities it presents.