Mark Starkey

Managing director, Logicalis UK

Career so far I have spent 15 years at Logicalis, including a couple of years at Westcon.

What was your first job and were you any good at it? My first job post-university was at Ernst & Young. Was I good at it? I would say "yes" but I knew I did not want a career as an accountant - I loved hi tech too much.

Who was your top teenage pin-up? Sam Fox (hindsight is a wonderful thing) but also Carol Vorderman.

My colleagues won't know this about me but... I once drove into a car park with my wife and kids in the car and all the bikes on the roof rack, not noticing the height restriction bar in the car park. The scene that followed was simply tragic - roof rack and bikes ripped clean off!

What is your favourite snack? It has to be a Greggs Belgian bun.

What has been your career high point to date? I think it still has to be winning the Welsh Government PSBA contract back in 2007 to build the largest and most complex PSN in the UK.

Has 2013 been good, bad or ugly? It has been a good year. Things are starting to pick up and we are winning some great contracts.

What do you say when asked at a party what you do for a living? I say I work in IT and I watch their face glaze over slowly.

If I wasn't working in the channel I would probably be... the fifth member of Coldplay or Paul Scholes' replacement for Man Utd.

What will be the channel's biggest challenge in 2014? Margins continue to be squeezed, the UK market remains one of the most competitive globally and the channel needs to create value in order to achieve higher margins.