Mark Esho

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Mark Esho at the Leicester Mercury Sports Awards in January 2008.

Mark Abayomi Esho MBE (born 17 August 1962) is a British entrepreneur. He is the founder and co-owner of both Easy Internet Services Ltd and Easy Internet Solutions Lt.[1]

Background[edit]

Esho was born in Leicestershire in 1962. At the age of five, he contracted polio, leaving him paralysed from the neck down.[2] He was originally given a 10% chance of survival, but was eventually able to regain limited mobility.[3]

Esho moved to Nigeria at the age of eight to start mainstream school, before returning to Leicester at 18. He later completed an MBA at De Montfort University.[3]

Business career[edit]

Esho worked for seven years in Leicester as a Service Manager for Mosaic, a local charity.[1] Due to chronic fatigue caused by his childhood polio, he decided to start his own business instead of continuing a nine-to-five job.[2]

Esho started Houses-Online in 1999, a property listing website.[2] The project ended shortly afterwards, and Esho started a second business in 2000 under the name Rank4U. At the time it was one of only four search engine optimisation companies in the UK, and serviced clients including The Guardian and The Co-operative Group.[1]

In the following years, Esho developed two companies simultaneously: Easy Internet Services (search engine optimisation, now under the name 123 Ranking)[4] and Easy Internet Solutions (later Free Virtual Servers, later FVS Hosting).[5] Both businesses were early adopters of employing remote workers, and Esho has been a vocal supporter of remote monitoring software for employees.[6]

In 2020, Mark co-founded Access Rating, a social enterprise and disabled access consultancy. The Access Rating app was released online, allowing disabled people to submit access reviews for public venues across the UK.[7]

Honours and recognition[edit]

Esho was the winner of first ever National Diversity Award for Business Excellence in September 2012.[8][9][10] Easy Internet went on to sponsor the National Diversity Awards in Leeds the following year.[11] In October 2012, he presented the Young Person Award at the 11th African and African Caribbean Achievement Awards.[12]

In February 2013, Esho was interviewed on BBC Radio Leicester about his own story and government support for disabled jobseekers.[13] In July 2013, Esho met with Prime Minister David Cameron and featured as a case study as part of the government's Disability Confident programme.[14][15][16] Esho's continued support for disabled employees and jobseekers in the UK has also been cited by the government's Great Business initiative and the Minister of State for Disabled People at the time, Mike Penning.[17][18]

In November 2013, Esho was part of the judging panel for the Leicester Mercury's "Leicestershire's Young Business Executive of the Year Award".[19]

In 2016, Easy Internet Solutions became a patron of the Leicestershire Law Society.[20] Later the same year, Esho was nominated at the Institute of Directors East Midlands Director of the Year Awards, which took place on 30 June 2016.[21] He was awarded a Highly Commended certificate in the category of "Director of the Year SME – Small".[22][23]

In 2019, Mark won the Institute of Director's East Midlands Director of the Year Awards for Inclusivity, making him a finalist for the nationwide awards.[24]

Esho was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to business.[25]

In 2022, Mark was included in The Shaw Trust Disability Power 100 list, recognising the 100 most influential disabled people living and working in the UK. [26]

Writing[edit]

In 2018, Mark's first book, 'I Can. I Will.' was published by Rethink Press.[27] The book describes how he contracted polio at the age of five and the effect it had on his life. It discusses the difficulties he experienced in accessing education and the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father, before eventually becoming a successful businessman.[28] Esho covers topics such as racial discrimination and disability and ends each chapter with a reflection on his struggles and lessons he has learned.[29] The Leicester book launch took place on Thursday 27 September 2018 at the Queen Victoria Arts Club in the city's cultural quarter. It was attended by local business representatives, Rotarians and friends and family.[30] This was followed by a London launch hosted at Rotary HQ and attended by the Rotary polio ambassador Konnie Huq.[31]

Sport[edit]

Esho is a keen player and supporter of wheelchair sports teams.[2] His company Easy Internet Services has sponsored The Leicester Cobras, a local wheelchair basketball club and charity, for a number of years.[2][32] Esho has also participated in several wheelchair tennis tournaments. He was involved in the first ever Loughborough Wheelchair Tennis Open at Loughborough University in 2014, and the first Grantham Tennis Club wheelchair tournament in August 2015.[33][34]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Online pioneer". Leicester Mercury. Archived from the original on 27 March 2014. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e Kitchener, Helen. "'I had to build people's trust without meeting them...'" (PDF). Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  3. ^ a b Esho, Mark. "About me". MarkEsho.com. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  4. ^ "Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Leicester and Beyond". Easy Internet. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  5. ^ "What are the differences between Easy Internet Solutions, FreeVirtualServers, etc.?". Free Virtual Servers. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  6. ^ Pegden, Tom. "Easy Internet Services and Solutions boss says monitoring software maintains productivity". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  7. ^ "Access Rating | About Us".
  8. ^ "Interview: Mark Esho (Entrepreneur of Excellence: Race)". Disabled Entrepreneurs UK. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  9. ^ "Disability Role Models: Mark Esho". Disability Group. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  10. ^ "FVS Managing Director, Mark Esho, Wins at The National Diversity Awards 2012". FVS Hosting. 28 September 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  11. ^ "Easy Internet Solutions Ltd Sponsors 2013 National Diversity Awards". Disabled Entrepreneurs. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  12. ^ Pollock, Sandra. "11th African and African Caribbean Acheivement [sic] Awards". Open Mind Training and Development. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  13. ^ Dixon, Dulcie (27 February 2013). "Paralysed with Polio, and bouncing back in business – Leicester". BBC Radio Leicester. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  14. ^ "One year on – breaking down the barriers to employment" (PDF). Department for Work and Pensions. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  15. ^ "Disability Confident: downloadable and video case studies". Department for Work and Pensions. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  16. ^ "Mark Esho talks about the skills disabled people bring to a job". Disability Confident. Retrieved 6 July 2016 – via YouTube.
  17. ^ "A man who knows no barriers". Great Business. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  18. ^ Penning, Mike (7 February 2014). "Columnist: Mike Penning MP". Able Magazine. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  19. ^ "DMU graduate named Leicestershire's Young Business Executive of the Year". De Montfort University. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  20. ^ "Easy Internet Solutions". Leicestershire Law Society. Retrieved 6 July 2016.[permanent dead link]
  21. ^ "IoD East Midlands Director of the Year Awards 2016". Institute of Directors. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  22. ^ Pegden, Tom. "Institute of Directors Annual Awards: Leicestershire Winners". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  23. ^ "Winners announced for IoD East Midlands 2016 awards". East Midlands Business News. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  24. ^ "East Midlands - Director of the Year Awards | IoD". www.iod.com. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  25. ^ "No. 63571". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 2022. p. N19.
  26. ^ "Mark Esho MBE". 8 September 2022.
  27. ^ "I CAN. I WILL. By Mark Esho | rethinkpress.com". rethinkpress.com.
  28. ^ "INTERVIEW: Leicestershire Entrepreneur & Best Selling Author, Mark Esho - DLUXE Magazine". dluxe-magazine.co.uk. 27 September 2018.
  29. ^ Rushin, Tess (25 September 2018). "Author Review: I Can. I Will. By Mark Esho". www.leicestermercury.co.uk.
  30. ^ "Bestselling Leicester Author Celebrates Launch of Chart-Topping Book". dluxe-magazine.co.uk. 4 October 2018.
  31. ^ "Konnie Huq: Why the world can defeat polio". www.rotarygbi.org. 24 October 2018.
  32. ^ "Information About Sponsorship". Leicester Cobras Wheelchair Basketball Club. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  33. ^ Warrington, Pete (13 February 2014). "Lambert nets two titles at the inaugural Loughborough Wheelchair Tennis open". Loughborough Echo. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  34. ^ "TENNIS: Grantham club hosts first wheelchair tournament". Grantham Journal. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
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