Mark Etherington commenced his training in 1992 as a Quantity Surveyor with Wates Construction Ltd, a main contractor in England and qualified as a chartered surveyor with the RICS in 1997. During this period, Mark started as a site-based surveyor, dealing with the procurement, administration, client management and final accounts. His experience included residential, offices, hospitals, school buildings and fit-out.

In 2003, Mark completed a Master Degree in Construction Law & Arbitration at King’s College, London. In the same year, Mark moved to Driver Consult Ltd, a construction claims consultancy based in London. Mark worked as a senior consultant, and his primary role found him assisting parties in preparing and managing claims through Arbitration and Adjudication, Alternative Dispute Processes.

In 2005, Mark moved to Ireland and Mark was initially employed as a National Commercial Manager at Bowen Construction Ltd. In this role, Mark was responsible for all manner of commercial risk management, including sub-contract drafting, reviewing collateral warranties and contract conditions, risk management, contentious dispute negotiation/resolution and commercial advice. During this period, Mark was involved in several conciliation and Arbitration hearings.

In September 2007, Mark joined KPMG Ireland as Director, Forensic as Head of Engineering and Construction Group. For a period of over 8 years, Mark was engaged in several disputes and taken appointments as Quantum Expert in Litigation proceedings, Arbitration and Conciliation hearings.

Also, Mark was involved in construction receivership work, including taking appointments himself. This included advising the Banks and NAMA in extracting value from development assets. This included managing several €million of assets around the country. During the later years, when the Banks started lending money, Mark was involved in the project management, completing several developments. This also included direct negotiation with planning authorities concerning planning matters, development and planning bonds with councils. The works also involved the recovery of construction debt following companies entering liquidation.

Mark left KPMG in July 2016, having formed ACUA and continues to strive to deliver exceptional advice and results for his clients.