Marke, Nathan

A-LIST 2005

Company: Prime Business Solutions.

Job title: Sales and marketing director.

Place of birth: Sherborne, Dorset.

Year of birth: 1970.

Marital status: Engaged.

Career highlights: Worked with my team at Prime Business Solutions to take us from a start-up business based in a barn to the most respected provider of converged infrastructure solutions in the UK, with £40m revenues and lots of happy customers.

What do you love most about the IT industry? The constant change.

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

Which individual do you most admire or respect in the IT business? John Chambers [of Cisco].

What is the biggest technology trend you anticipate in the next 12 months? The clash of the giants as Microsoft, IBM and Cisco meet head to head in the collaboration and presence space.

What is the one thing working in the technology industry has taught you? To embrace change.

Where do you think the channel will be in five years time? Split in two, with commodity distribution houses and manufacturers delivering tin direct to the customer, and integrators becoming 100 per cent services practices.

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

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

How do you unwind or spend your spare time? Yachting, windsurfing, hillwalking, mountain biking, birdwatching.

Where is your favourite place to eat? Fat Lemon Cafe in Totnes, Devon.

What is your favourite drink? Red wine.

What is your favourite TV programme or film? Withnail and I.

Who is your favourite musician, band, artist or genre? Michael Stipe.

What is your favourite book? A Farewell to Arms [by Ernest Hemingway].

What career would you have pursued if you hadn't worked in the channel? Ornithologist or yachtsman.

What has been your greatest business achievement? The success of Prime.

What is your personal ambition? To sail round the world.