Software and technology provider essensys has announced that its CEO, Mark Furness, has decided to retire from the position.
He will be succeeded by the firm’s COO James Lowery on 1st May 2025.
Furness (pictured main image, left) founded essensys, which featured on our PropTech 50 ranking last year, in 2006 and has led the business since launch.
Incoming COO Lowery (right) joined essensys in February 2022 as CEO of UK & Europe and was promoted to COOr in March 2024.
Before joining the London-based listed company, he co-founded and scaled British Land’s Storey, a leading flexible office brand.
He also has a background in strategy consulting at Booz & Company, specialising in real estate innovation.
He holds an MBA from London Business School and an MEng from Imperial College London.
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Retiring CEO Furness will continue as essensys’ Chief Executive Officer until 1st May 2025 to support Lowery through the transition process until his takeover.
He will remain on the board of the company and will move to a new role as a non-independent non-executive director of essensys with effect from 1st May 2025.
“As part of our long-term succession planning, it is absolutely right that the next Chief Executive Officer of essensys is our current Chief Operating Officer, James Lowery, who has proved his leadership credentials to our people and customers consistently since he joined,” said Furness.
“I am confident that James has the know-how and skillset to take essensys to the next phase, now that we have an exceptional product suite for the flexible workspace industry. I am looking forward to working with James as part of a smooth handover.”
Lowery added: “I am delighted to have been selected as essensys’ next Chief Executive Officer and excited by the opportunity to lead an outstanding team with products that meet our customers’ needs in the flexible workspace industry.”
The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and, over the past 12 months, has seen its share price rise from 21.5p to 34p as of today.
It has a market cap of £22m.