A photographic portrait of Mark Thompson
R&D drives technological enhancements that lead to productivity improvements and increased economic growth. Government incentives play a critical role in encouraging industry to invest more in R&D.

Mark Thompson

Associate Director, Government Incentives, Ernst & Young Limited

Government incentives specialist with 15+ years of dedicated experience. Passionate about innovation, technology, and sustainability. Loves to go fishing, travel, and brew beer in his spare time.

Mark has extensive experience in identifying government incentive opportunities, optimising the coverage of activities and expenditure claimed, and preparing high quality incentive applications which contain the type and depth of information preferred by regulators to assess eligibility. Mark works with clients across New Zealand and has a technical specialisation in the software/tech and financial services sectors.

Mark joined EY’s Government Incentives team in February 2007 and has worked across Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore. Mark has been extensively involved in policy discussions with regulators on how to define R&D activities, including providing input and feedback on various published guidance and legislative amendments. Mark is currently a member of the New Zealand Government’s Research and Development Advisory Group.

Mark has a double Bachelor of Business and Computer Science from Edith Cowan University, a Graduate Diploma in Chartered Accounting from Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.

How Mark is building a better working world

“Across my career with EY I have assisted hundreds of businesses from start-ups to large corporates to access and optimise government incentives to boost their R&D funding and accelerate innovation, resulting in the commercialisation of new and improved products, services, and technologies. More recently I’ve been supporting businesses to subsidise the cost of developing new sustainability solutions via government incentives, resulting in better environmental outcomes such as reduced carbon emissions.”

Contact Mark