Who is Mark Stott? The Financial Clout Behind Stockport County's Push for Success
Dubbed, "Stockport's most successful businessman" the founder of Select Property Group and VITA Group is quickly earning himself a new title; Stockport County's Saving Grace.
Unlike many of the wealthiest in this country, Mark Stott didn't inherit any family fortune.
Born in Hazel Grove and raised in nearby Poynton, the 49-year-old spent his formative years living on the Parklands estate. Despite not being one of the most deprived areas in the borough, Mark and his sister were not free of money issues, requiring food tokens whilst attending Poynton High School.
Stott's introduction to making his own money was working in the kitchen at the Strawberry Pig chip shop. Shortly after this Stott took a role, which he bills as his first career move, at the Stockport Express Advertiser selling newspaper advertising space to companies.
It was here, shuttling through Romiley in his Ford Escort, that Stott found his natural gift for selling, having, by his own admission, not excelled academically at school.
Following his work for the Stockport Express, he took his sales talent to the automotive industry, selling cars for Graham Knight at Smith Knight Fay. This would prove to be Stott's last position as an employee, before embarking on a journey that would see him working for himself, with mixed success along the way.
He showed the first inkling of his entrepreneurial spirit buying and selling cars from his home address with a friend. In just six months, he managed to move this small start-up away from his driveway and into a commercial garage facility, by which time he was dealing primarily with trade vehicles.
However, Stott's ascension from independent trade vehicle salesman to international property tycoon and football club owner was not all plain sailing.
He faced his first major setback when he attempted to move away from the vehicle trade to invest in a Wilmslow-based bar. Within a couple years, the bar was no longer viable and Stott was left with nothing but a debt of £250,000 for his trouble.
Far from admitting defeat, he managed to clear those debts by 2002 and within the following two years, seemingly suffering no drop in confidence from the recent setback, founded Dubai Select Limited.
This company, which would later become Select Property Group (SPG), was to be the cornerstone of the successful, ever-expanding property empire that Stott now holds.
As the company's former name suggests, the primary focus of SPG's early work was set in Dubai, the midst of its astronomical property boom in the early part of the 21st century.
Stott told the MEN, in an interview over a decade ago, that a friend had opened his eyes to the arising opportunities in the then relatively small city of Dubai, in late 2003. He wasted no time in catching a flight to assess the landscape himself.
He admits to "blagging" his way onto the Emirati property scene, being given exclusive UK rights to market apartments, firstly in The Point, Dubai Marina. Along with his friend, Stott told the owners of The Point building that he had a strong sales and marketing background. Up until this point, their combined sales experience amounted to selling second-hand cars in Greater Manchester.
Together they proved that previous experience isn't always necessary, and that sometimes natural flair and self-belief is enough. After successfully contributing to the The Point selling out, they went from strength to strength, assisting numerous similar Dubai Marina projects to sell out over the following years.
SPG then looked to diversify it's portfolio, taking on Manchester-based projects alongside breaking into numerous additional international markets, most notably opening offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
To date, SPG has sold over 13,700 properties worldwide that hold a combined value of £1.1 billion.
The immense success of Mark Stott's property empire doesn't end there, having ventured into further domestic markets through SPG's sister brand, VITA Group.
Fans of Stockport County will perhaps be more acquainted with VITA branding, seeing it appear throughout Edgeley Park and on the front of County's 2021/22 official kits.
Founded in 2013, the VITA Group was created alongside, but separately from, SPG. It's initial venture, now branded VITA Student, was to set it's sights on the student accommodation market. Stott identified that many existing student accommodation blocks were, "characterless halls with no real attention to detail", so set out to change this.
VITA Student's story began with their Liverpool site, but has now expanded across multiple UK cities, comprised of 16 sites, and recently taking the project across the continent with the opening of a site in Barcelona.
Additionally, housed under the VITA Group umbrella, are the VITA Living and CitySuites brands.
VITA Living, previously named Affinity Living, is VITA Group's premium residential property brand. These "built-to-rent" properties offer a wide-range of modern facilities in central city locations, currently all Manchester-based.
CitySuites is Stott's first venture away from residential properties, billing itself as a "new concept in corporate travel". These serviced apartments offer the 24/7 service expected in a hotel, along with the facilities expected in an apartment, allowing business travellers the space and comfort they need whilst on their visit. Much like VITA Living, this brand is currently establishing itself and therefore only available in Manchester. If Stott's other brands are any indication, it is unlikely this will be the case for too long.
Despite sitting at the head of two ever-expanding, international companies, Mark Stott still felt he had space in his diary for a project like no other he had faced before, taking over Stockport County.
Although the sum of money involved may have seemed relatively ordinary in comparison with Stott's day-to-day business, it is unlikely any deal he has done in the past replicated the attention this deal brought to his door.
Naturally, he was at first met with a healthy dose of apprehension from Stockport County fans, many of whom have seen first-hand the fallout when a new owner arrives promising the world, and leaves having delivered very little.
Stott wasted no time in showing that he was taking the role on for the right reasons. Having spent many years riddled with debt due to previous bad ownership, Stott purchased the club for cash, and cleared the clubs debts at the same time.
All of this comes without mentioning Stott's local charity efforts. He created a free school meals Christmas campaign to fill the void created by government failure in 2020, fronting up £100,000 of his own money to kick it off. Furthermore, he has been a regular supporter of local health services, providing financial assistance to Stepping Hill Hospital and donating a percentage of Stockport County shirt sales to the local Beechwood Cancer Care unit.
It goes without saying that Stott's early actions have bought him more than enough good favour with Stopfordians, but there is no sign of him letting up here. Since his first interview given as Stockport County owner, he's made it clear how important this project is to him.
Stott has always remained close to his business interests, which will fill Stockport County fans with confidence in his commitment. In his first two years at the club, his drive appears as strong as ever.
For the first time in over a decade, the trajectory of Stockport County is positive, and it is thanks in no small part to the investment from Mark Stott.
He has boldly set his sights on the Championship with the decade. A combination of his business acumen, relentless commitment and healthy resources makes that more achievable than any County fan could have previously dreamt.
If Mark Stott's track record is anything to go by, Stopfordians have ever brighter days lay ahead of them.
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