Marc Biles Email & Phone Number

Bournemouth, Dorset, Gb

Ratio is a software company. Previously owned by Bournemouth-based VC, the Richmond Group; Tara Flynn and I completed a management buyout of the company in October 2013. We’re dedicated to inventing smart products that help make people’s lives better and easier. We've made a price comparison website called choosewisely.co.uk, a social enterprise lender called familio.co.uk, and a credit score and report app called raporto.co.uk

Bournemouth, Dorset, Gb

choosewisely.co.uk is a simple, easy-to-use price comparison website that offers consumers clear, fair and transparent comparison of a range of financial products including bank accounts, credit & debit cards and personal loans. The software behind the site is also available to 3rd parties who can use Choose Wisely's price comparison technology to power their sites. The company's mission statement, "Money For The Many," encapsulates its core aim of matching consumers with suitable financial products. Choose Wisely's goal is to provide a free-to-use financial comparison site that helps underbanked individuals take control of their finances and build towards gaining access to mainstream financial products.

Familio is a social enterprise, offering unsecured loans to young adults who struggle to get funding from highstreet banks or mainstream lenders. We're working hard to position ourselves as a lender of choice to help our community of borrowers get on the property ladder, develop their credit scores and enjoy a brighter financial future as a result.

Briefd is a men's monthly subscription service on a mission to change the way men address their underwear needs. If you're a man who's tired of ageing trollies, or you're sick of stretched waistbands, if you refuse to fight the crowds on the high street for the latest designs, if you're ready to upgrade your underwear: join Briefd. briefd.co.uk twitter.com/briefdukfacebook.com/briefduk

Bournemouth, Dorset, Gb

Remora is website optimisation software for desktop and mobile. The software centres around an Artificial Intelligence engine that uses gesture, touch and behavioural data to detect when a visitor is about to lose interest in a website. The software then changes the page to encourage the visitor to re-engage.As it's a startup, it's all hands to the decks and my role at Remora is a mix of product development, sales, account management, marketing and creative. I'm working particularly hard right now on putting a great team together to drive rapid, worldwide expansion. www.remora.sotwitter.com/remora_ukfacebook.com/remoraUK

Bournemouth, Dorset, Gb

My official responsibility as non-executive director was to constructively challenge and contribute to the strategy, financials and capability of the business; to scrutinise the performance and ability of the team in meeting goals; to monitor the performance and service quality that the business delivered and to make considered recommendations where I felt they were falling short. Unofficially, I'm still the business' biggest fan and I'm exceptionally proud that I was able to contribute to an award-winning, sensitive & intelligent, agile & fast-moving digital agency that makes a difference to people's lives across the globe.

Bournemouth, Gb

I made new companies and fixed broken ones. Since I started working for a tiny little Bournemouth company with just ten employees, I was involved in the launch of every Richmond Group company bar the original one. Those companies now employ around 450 people, have a combined worth more than £1,500,000,000 and as a group has been recognised as the best medium-sized company to work for in the UK and one of the fastest growing companies in the UK for the past nine years.

Loanfinder was a leading UK independent loan broker, finding loans for customers by matching them to lenders without charging any upfront fees. Great little business and a fantastic team of people behind the product.The Loanfinder service was pretty straightforward. The business would assess a customer's requirements and sociodemographic profile then match with suitable personal loan providers. They were able to find the best loan on the market for the client from both commission on non-commission yielding providers. That meant that it's customers had the best choice of credit products anywhere in the UK, with options ranging from Credit Unions, to asset finance, to niche credit providers not available anywhere else in the market.We transitioned the business into being a free and impartial comparison site, leveraging the algorithms and software that we built for the original business. We will sustain the business with a small team of researchers and developers as long as consumers will want to use it.

Conducted research into the viability of international expansion and built a strategy to replicate Richmond Group brands in other countries. · Identified viable target countries with applicable financial and cultural environments in which RG companies would be viable. · Assessed demographic, economic and potential market conditions. · Evaluated legal and regulatory structures of local areas. · Established and negotiated relationships with key local partners including legal council, accountancy & finance support, regulatory advisers and physical logistical assets.

Bournemouth, Dorset, Gb

Amigo provided it's first loan in January 2005, trialling 3 niche lending products for UK consumers. One of those products proved to be a success and now Amigo is firmly established as one of the UK's biggest non-status lenders in the UK, providing guarantor loans of between £500 and £7,500.

Established a micro lending business to take on the rapidly expanding pay day loans market. · Conducted market research to identify market potential and to pinpoint key competitive targets. · Formulated product structure, business model and acquisition strategy. · Redesigned product when initial rollout stalled. · Established systems and processes for sales and collections.· Recruited a small team of promising individuals to partake in start-up phase. · Developed personnel to take leadership of the business beyond initial roll-out.

My favourite start up. Payment Guard was perfect. I had designed the product some years before we actually launched but it took quite a long time to find an insurer who would back me, as I had a firm belief that the product would be massively successful and needed lots of room for growth but had absolutely no track record in running an insurance business. In the end AXA came to the rescue and provided me with the backing I needed to launch the product. In just three months I designed a user interface, documentation and hired an IT project team and startup sales team to launch. After I had completed the initial design phase the project came together in a little over 3 weeks. The company covered it's start up costs and achieved profitability inside of 3 months. Two years on and Payment Guard has provided tailored income protection products to over 50,000 UK consumers.· Designed a product to replace the floored Payment Protection Insurance that was prevalent in the consumer credit industry at the time. · Identified and pitched to Insurers capable of underwriting the product. · Negotiated relationships and contracts with external brokers, underwriters, administrators and insurers to provide the framework for product launch. · Designed and project managed the creation of bespoke CRM software on which to make initial sales, maintain compliance records and provide management and performance information on the book of customers.· Recruited and managed a start up sales, compliance and management team. · Grew the start-up team four-fold to match unexpected levels of growth.

Debt Line was the single hardest business that I ever started. I had seen how Debt Management worked from afar, keenly watching businesses in the north of the UK, in particular Manchester. But beyond market research and some mystery shopping I'd never really experienced this end of the market. I recruited 4 call centre agents from another Richmond Group business and 4 "graduate" types from outside the group and split them into two teams, each with their own brand and approach to how to run a Debt Management company. I gave them two months and £10,000 to get achieve a profit. I led the Morrison Clarke team going head to head against my boss and mentor, James Benamor who took the lead in Debt Line. Unfortunately Debt Line won, something that I will never be allowed to forget!Debt Line is now one of the largest and most profitable UK consumer debt management firms and has helped tens of thousands of people to become debt free.· Designed product and branding for two different business models. · Recruited a team of eight promising junior candidates and conducted an intensive management development training course to develop their business and managerial skills. · Managed and negotiated the purchase and implementation of outsourced software CRM system and designed and developed bespoke sales software.· Created marketing, systems and processes on the fly to meet the rapidly changing businesses through their start-up phase. · Rapidly grew the business from small multi-disciplined teams into fully functioning sales and customer management divisions.We sold the business in February 2012 to the management team, through a Milestone Capital backed management buyout.

Bachelor Of Music (Ba), Performance & Production

Gcses & A-Levels, Music