Mark Cowgill – Co-Founder & Director

Mark has around 20 years’ experience in the ISP sector, beginning with another local internet service provider, before co-founding Exa Networks in 2003. Exa started out in 2003, in Halifax, before moving to the Bradford District in 2005, again to its current Head Office in the centre of Bradford in 2015. Exa made sure its state of the art DarkLight service was launched first in Bradford, before anywhere else in the UK, and is now available as far afield as West Sussex. Over the past 16 years, Mark has helped develop Exa into a multi-award-winning Internet Service Provider. Mark was a member of the BID Development Board and is currently a member of Bradford Breakthrough, and on the Leadership Group for the Chamber of Commerce. He also works closely with other local organisations such as The Ahead Partnership in delivering support and assistance to schools throughout the district. Mark is a Bradford lad through and through and obviously a BCFC supporter.

The Exa Foundation, a not for profit, part of Exa Networks, was set up four years ago, with the aim to help inspire, support and promote, digital technology, programming and safeguarding in schools. The foundation now runs around 600 events a year, over 99% of them completely free of charge to schools throughout the UK, helping train teachers, run classes, and educate parents into Digital technologies and programming at home.

Sectors worked in and routes taken:

Finance

First Direct / HSBC

Sales

Perrys Toyota, before moving into the Internet Service Sector in 1999.

What I would like to get involved in

Inspirational talk

Mentoring / Coaching young people

Visits to my place of work

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