Mike Parsons is a British entrepreneur, best known for founding Barchester Healthcare the United Kingdom"s third largest provider of care homes.
Education
Parsons read economics at Sussex and Oxford Universities and became a management consultant. He subsequently took an Master of Business Administration at London Business School and the Diploma in International Management at Hautes Etudes Commerciales, Paris and the Graduate School of Business Administration on Wall Street.
In September 2011, at a conferral ceremony at New College, Oxford, Mike was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Business Administration (Doctor of Business Administration).
Career
He retired as Chief Executive Officer in 2013. He was a founding director, share holder and managing director of a top London advertising agency (KHBB) which he and his partners sold to Saatchi & Saatchi in 1985 thus becoming a major shareholder in that company. He worked at Saatchi for five years and was Chief Operating Officer of the international network.
During this time he rationalised the Saatchi International network which involved the merging of many people businesses.
In 1990 he sold his shareholding and left the company. Parsons is Chairman of the Barchester Foundation.
He also has teamed up with Richard Branson to provide five under-privileged South African school pupils the chance to attend Stowe School. The "Branson Scholars" as they are known have their fees paid foreign