Mark Ward

Background

About Mark Ward

Entrepreneur, business builder, and strategic advisor with over two decades of hands-on experience launching and scaling successful ventures in the promotional products and manufacturing sectors across Australia and internationally. In I founded Handy Imprints, my first business in the promotional products space. It laid the groundwork for what would become a multi-brand portfolio, driven by innovation, strong supplier relationships, and a commitment to customer satisfaction. Building on this success, I launched PromotionsOnly Australia in 2003, which I scaled into one of the country’s leading online providers of branded merchandise. Within five years, the business had reached eight-figure turnover, fuelled by a digital-first strategy, a wide product range, and operational excellence. Since then, I’ve led and exited several other ventures: – PromotionsOnly USA – a lanyard-focused promotional business with a physical office and local team, successfully transitioned to U.S. ownership in 2014 – PromotionsOnly UK – a UK-based promotional products operation with in-market staff, transitioned to UK-based ownership in 2011 – The Resource Group – a wholesale supply business serving the promotional industry – Lanyards Worldwide – a China-based manufacturing facility producing over 1 million lanyards per month at peak I also took over PromotionsOnly NZ Ltd in 2021, leading its operations and strategic growth across the New Zealand market. My core strengths include: – eCommerce and digital growth strategy – Global sourcing and supply chain management – Company governance and board leadership – Market expansion and operational scale-up – Building customer-first, value-driven businesses I’m passionate about driving sustainable business growth and collaborating with like-minded leaders who value innovation, transparency, and long-term impact.