About
Mark Buchan is Managing Partner and Founder of Spice Capital, the Singapore-based boutique investment and advisory firm he established in January 2019. He is also a co-founder, co-owner and director of Spice Advisory, the parent company that owns Spice Taxation, He is also a director of Spice Taxation.
Mark is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (FCA), holds the Business and Finance Professional (BFP) designation from the same institute, and read Engineering at the University of Southampton.
Mark’s career spans more than three decades across finance, management consulting, and technology. He trained as a chartered accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers in London in the mid-1990s, alongside his future Spice Capital co-partner Richard Downs. He went on to roles at IBM and UBS, and EY where he was Partner in the Banking and Capital Markets and then as Managing Partner for Advisory at Grant Thornton Singapore.
Spice Capital combines his technical background with his longstanding personal interests in investment, property, and business-building. The firm’s work spans portfolio management, boutique property development projects in the UK and Australia, and hands-on advisory to founders of start-ups and small-to-mid-sized businesses looking to scale or realise value. His areas of expertise include management consulting, business strategy and planning, operational management and process improvement, investment (including real estate), governance, finance, and business transformation.
Outside work he holds WSET Level 3 (Merit) from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust and is Spanish Wine Scholar-certified through the Wine Scholar Guild, interests he combines with a habit of travelling to wine regions. He is also an active urban photographer, with more than 60 million views of his work on Google.
Education
- University of Southampton, BSc Hons in Engineering
Certifications
- Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA), Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
- Business and Finance Professional (BFP), ICAEW
- WSET Level 3 (Merit), Wine & Spirit Education Trust
- SWS, Wine Scholar Guild
Areas of work
- Management consulting
- Business strategy and planning
- Operational management and process improvement
- Investment
- Real estate investment and development
- Governance
- Finance
- Business transformation
Memberships and affiliations
- Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) (as FCA)
Current roles
- Managing Partner and Founder, Spice Capital, Singapore (Jan 2019 to present)
- Co-founder, owner and Director, Spice Advisory, Singapore (Mar 2022 to present)
- Director, Spice Taxation, Singapore
Prior career
- Former Managing Partner (Advisory), Grant Thornton Singapore
- Former Partner (Banking and Capital Markets), EY Singapore
- Former, UBS Executive Director Technology
- Former, IBM Partner Business Consulting Services
- Former Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he also trained as a chartered accountant (London, mid-1990s, with Richard Downs)
Additional areas of interest
- Wine (WSET Level 3 Merit; Scholar certified via the Wine Scholar Guild)
- Property investment and development, including projects in the UK and Australia
- Urban photography (over 60 million views on Google)
- Travel, particularly to wine regions
Selected media
Firm launch and positioning
- International Adviser, “Ex-Fry Group and EY duo set up expat advisory firm in Singapore” (2022)