Mark Sweeny

About Mark Sweeny

Founder story & expertise

Mark Sweeny is a serial entrepreneur and Group Chief Executive of DeNovo Solutions. His career includes public sector digital transformation work and a long association with Oracle technology. He co-founded Certus Solutions with business partner Tim Warner after spotting the opportunity around what became Oracle Cloud, and the company became an early implementation specialist in the UK and Ireland before being sold to an American company in 2018. Mark describes the exit as financially successful but personally difficult, with the loss of purpose and structure eventually leading him to question what came next. With encouragement from his wife Natalie, entrepreneur Emma Sinclair and former colleague Rob English, he chose to build again. DeNovo Solutions was created in Wales and, in the episode, Mark says the company reached around £12.5 million turnover and about 140 employees across Wales, the wider UK and Chennai within five years. He talks openly about cash-flow discipline, brand building, differentiation, founder resilience, leadership teams and the impact entrepreneurship can have on family life. He is also involved in Mazanaz, a family company focused on supporting Welsh entrepreneurs, investment and community activity.