Mather, Roger

A-LIST 2005

Company: Actebis UK.

Job title: Managing director.

Place of birth: Hampshire.

Year of birth: 1965.

Marital status: Married.

Career highlights: Qualified as ACA with PWC, London in 1990. Transferred to PWC Hong Kong on a two-year secondment. Group financial controller for multi-national FMCG business in Asia. Group financial director for Otto Asia, based in Hong Kong. Transferred back to the UK to be managing director of Actebis UK.

What do you love most about the IT industry? The IT industry is at the cutting edge of corporate and consumer thinking.

Which company do you most admire or respect in the IT business? Microsoft.

What is the biggest technology trend you anticipate in the next 12 months? More corporate insolvencies in the channel as the weak fall by the wayside.

What is the one thing working in the technology industry has taught you? The power of the brand.

Where do you think the channel will be in five years time? More consolidated with fewer, bigger fish.

Which do you think is the most influential vendor in the UK? Dell.

Which do you think is the most influential ISV in the UK? F-Secure.

Which vendor's technology do you think has changed the face of IT? Microsoft.

How do you unwind or spend your spare time? Fatherhood, golf, tennis, gardening, DIY, eating and drinking.

Where is your favourite place to eat? At the Chesa in the Peninsula Hotel, Hong Kong.

What is your favourite drink? Chateau Pichon Longueville, Comtesse de Lalande.

What is your favourite TV programme or film? Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Love Actually, Bridget Jones' Diary.

Who is your favourite musician, band, artist or genre? David Bowie.

What is your favourite book? Woman In White by Wilkie Collins.

What career would you have pursued if you hadn't worked in the channel? A career as financial director of a major corporate group in the UK.

What has been your greatest business achievement? To have turned around the fortunes of Actebis UK.

What is your personal ambition? To play a round of golf in each of the four home nations in a single day.