Our people

Sir John Madejski OBE DL DLitt
Sir John is better known for his ownership of Reading Football Club and more recently for his charitable work in the arts field supporting the Royal Academy and the V&A museum. He is also Chancellor of University of Reading and also is sponsor of the John Madejski Academy in Whitley. Sir John invested in Astucia in July 2003 when he acquired a controlling interest in the business. He made further investments in 2004 to fund the R&D program and has supported the acquisitions of both Golden River and Count On Us through rights issues.

John Wood, Chairman

Andrew Burton, Commercial Director
Andrew founded Count On Us Ltd in 1987 from a single office in Basingstoke employing one other member of staff. Over the years he has grown the business through providing a high quality service to many satisfied clients and acquisitions so that today the company can boast 9 offices spread between the United Kingdom & Eire. Prior to his career as Managing Director of Count On Us Andrew had worked for Marks & Spencer & British Home Stores in various Head Office functions. Andrew has gained a wealth of experience in all areas of survey project management.

Nick Lanigan, Supply Chain Director
Hilary Jones, Operational Director - Count On Us
Raj Sood, Group Financial Controller

Simon Hodgson
Simon brings with him 25 years in senior financial and commercial management experience gained in a number of organisations, the most prominent being as Financial Director of the highly successful Hurst Publishing Group, now called Trader Media. Simon's qualifications include an MBA, as well as Chartered Secretary and Chartered Certified Accountant.

Ian Wood-Smith
Ian Wood-Smith is one of the founding partners of FSP.  He has considerable experience in advising companies and professionals on company and corporate issues.  Ian acts on high value share acquisitions and disposals and on business transfers.  Ian also advises financial institutions on company law issues and in relation to loan security and he advises on a wide range of insolvency and corporate recovery issues.

Jean-Christophe Vangenot, Business Development Manager, South
Jean-Christophe joined Astucia in February 2007 as a Products Sales Manager. He has been living and working in the UK since September 2001 where he has gained a wealth of experience in Sales, Customer Support and Technical Support. Before joining Astucia he worked in the IT industry as the Team Leader of the Managed Voice Services division for a major company. His experience has equipped him with a unique skill set ideally suited to building excellent working relationships to enhance customer service & satisfaction levels. He has a Degree in Modern Applied Languages (French – English – Spanish) and Business.

Mark Chermside, Business Development Manager, North
Mark has joined Astucia in April 2008 as a Business Development Manager. He is responsible for customers in the Midlands, North and East. Mark has over 20 years experience within the FMCG marketplace and has gained a wide range of experience in sales and particularly in developing Business to Business relationships.

John Swift, Business Development Manager, Scotland and Ireland
John joined Astucia in April 2008 and is responsible for developing business in Scotland and Ireland. John started his career in Electronic Engineering with a specialism in Radar for 7 years and then moved into Network and Communications Sales where he gained over 16 years experience working both in the Public and Private Sectors. John achieved success with blue chips such as BP and Shell, Major Finance houses and also with major government contracts and many large scale council contracts.

Andrew Burton, International Channel

Regional Directors

Brian McArdle, Scotland and Ireland

Sean Simmons, North

Stephen Jones, Wales and West

Dan Wallace, London and South East      

Aaron Corsi, Midlands and South       

Specialist Teams

Siva Nagarajah, Analysis Director

Matt Swales, Market Research Director

Kevin Martin, Business Development Manager (London and South East)

Nick Tynan,  Product Development Manager

To read more about the Count On Us team please click here