Mark Pavlides appointed new Access Accountancy Chair

Social mobility charity Access Accountancy has confirmed Mark Pavlides, ICAEW interim Managing Director, Operations, as its new chair. Mark replaces Sharron Gunn who left Access Accountancy at the end of November 2024.

Access Accountancy’s mission is to ensure that everyone has an equal chance of accessing and progressing within accountancy based on merit, not background. Its 29 member organisations, which include the biggest firms in the sector, are committed to improving their outreach, recruitment and culture so it is fair and equitable for all.

As part of its mission, more than 6,000 work experience placements have been offered to students who meet Access Accountancy’s criteria since the charity was founded in 2014.

Mark said:

Access Accountancy plays a vital role in ensuring that talented young people, regardless of their background, have a fair chance to build a career in accountancy. There’s still a lot of work to do in improving social mobility in the profession, and I’m looking forward to working with the trustees, signatories, and wider stakeholders to drive meaningful progress. The more we open doors, the stronger and more diverse our profession will become.

“On behalf of the trustees, I’d like to thank to Sharron Gunn for all her input into Access Accountancy over the past year and a half.”

Mark is an experienced senior leader with more than 25 years of operational and commercial expertise across multiple industries, including finance, professional services, transport and technology. He has held senior leadership roles at organisations such as ACCA, Govia Thameslink Railway, William Hill, AIG and British Airways, leading large-scale transformation programmes, improving customer experience and driving commercial growth.

He has extensive international experience, having lived and worked in Australia and across Asia, where he led regional operations and strategic initiatives in highly regulated and complex markets.