Mark Taylor

Mark Taylor is CEO of the Queen Elizabeth II Centre (QEII), a premier purpose-built events venue in Westminster. Mark has more than 30 years of experience of events, venues and the tourism sector. He started his career working in Sales for Club Med followed by the Sydney Convention and Visitors Bureau, where he became Assistant Director.

Mark moved to the UK in 1990, where he took up the role of Marketing Manager, Wembley Convention and Exhibition Centre and subsequently of Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena, before securing the role of Director of Sales and Marketing for Wembley International. Mark then spent 16 years in the arts sector, firstly at the Barbican as Commercial and Buildings Director and then Chief Executive of the Wales Millennium Centre, before joining the QEII in April 2013.

Since his arrival in 2013, Mark has been taking the QEII Centre on a journey of revitalisation and rejuvenation, both physically and philosophically, working with his team to evolve the brand and deliver the ambition to become London’s finest specialist events venue.

Leading the centre through a major capital investment programme, he has re-established the centre’s "wow factor", transforming the reputation, appearance and performance of the QEII. His commercial prowess has seen the centre achieve its best financial results in its 32-year history and the centre is now attracting an increasingly diverse portfolio of clients and events.

Mark’s commitment and drive to modernise the centre was rewarded when he won the miaList Leadership Award 2015, an accolade for which he was nominated by the QEII staff. In the last five years, the QEII Centre and its teams have won 21 industry awards for work across all areas of the business.

Mark currently serves as a Non-Executive Director on the Board of the Meetings Industry Association and is married with two children.