More accolades for Turner and MacArthur

OC Group swoops end of year business awards

Last Friday night at the Isle of Wight Chamber of Commerce Business Awards for Excellence, Mark Turner and Ellen MacArthur’s OC Group won two industry awards.

These awards came on the back of winning a European Sponsorship Award in the Business to Business Category for the iShares Cup the previous evening in Brussels.

OC Group won the UKTI International Business Award for a company that demonstrates development of its business within the international market place and their technology division, OC Technology, won the Manufacturing & Technology Award.

Since 1998, Mark Turner and Ellen MacArthur have built up a small business focussed solely around MacArthur’s sailing career into a services agency that operates across the globe employing 50+ employees (over half those employees are based on the Isle of Wight), putting millions into the local economy. OC Group continues to manage high-end professional sailing campaigns (BT Team Ellen), but has made a natural progression into the area of event management operated by OC Events, such as, the Barcelona World Race (two-handed, non-stop race around the world); the iShares Cup Extreme 40 Sailing Series (a five-event sailing circuit taking place across Europe); and The Artemis Transat (the oldest solo race in history held every four years from Plymouth to USA).

Using their skills and decade-long experience, OC Group expanded further to create OC Technology, providing onboard media systems and tracking solutions, OC Tracker and OC Vision, a marketing and web solutions company.

The Offshore Challenges Sailing Team has evolved into a multi-national team both on and off the water. Now known as BT Team Ellen, includes Ellen MacArthur, Frenchman Sébastien Josse and Australian Nick Moloney.


Looking towards the next decade, Mark Turner commented: "We want to continue our success on the water with the Offshore Challenges Sailing Team (BT Team Ellen), progress the management of existing high-level offshore racing events, as well as developing other offshore events within the market place."

Many of OC Group’s project sponsors and partners are based in the south, such as, Red Funnel, Dean & Reddyhoff Marinas, UKSA and Gurnard Pines, which makes being an island-based company a viable proposition.

"We are aiming to put in place solid sustainable practices at work – a project very close to Ellen’s heart," continued Turner. "And work with our sponsors in the area of sustainability, energy efficiency and Corporate Social Responsibility. As well as providing employment to leading professionals in our field and to our employees based on the Isle of Wight."