Who Is Stockport County owner Mark Stott? Net worth, business interests, club plans and more | OneFootball

Mark Stott completed his takeover of Stockport County in early 2020, following success the previous season in the National League North, and with his investment has managed to take the club to new strengths.

His stewardship has seen progress made in all areas of the club, from recruitment to results on the pitch, from fan experience to stadium facilities.

Compared to some other football club owners, Stott keeps a relatively low profile and communicates in public rarely, but his public appearances and interviews with club media over the years have given some insight into who the man at the helm of Edgeley Park is.

Who is Mark Stott?

Stott was born in Hazel Grove and grew up in Poynton, meaning much of his early life was spent in and around Stockport.

One of the 51-year-old's first jobs was selling advertising space for the Stockport Express Advertiser, before moving into car sales, then IT and finally landing in the property business.

He is still the CEO of Vita Group, his main property business and front-of-shirt sponsor at County, but is listed as 'founder' on Select Property Group's website. He now owns both County and non-league side Stockport Town, among other businesses.

Mark Stott Net worth and business interests

The most public-facing arm of Stott's business interests is Vita, sitting on the front of County's shirt and at various points around Edgeley Park.

The property business is based just down the road from Edgeley Park, in Alderley Edge, and began life as a student accomodation property development company in 2012, before expanding into other city-based markets, including the company's first international acquisition in 2019 in Barcelona, Spain.

Working closely with Vita, out of the same address in Alderley Edge, is Select Property, a property investment and management firm with additional offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong, which was founded in 2004.

The website boasts that the company has sold over £2.8billion worth of property to global investors across its various brands, selling over £1billion in the last three years across two of those brands; Affinity Living and the Prestige Collection.

Stott's personal net worth is not publicly available, but in the last published accounts for Vita alone, in the year to December 2022, showed revenues of £356.7million, with profits of £10million, having reportedly invested heavily into the future growth of the firm.

Though it isn't known what Stott is personally worth, it is clear that, through his two main businesses, he is operating successfully at the top end of the property industry, with plans pointing towards further growth.

Mark Stott future plans for Stockport County

The ambition shown by Stott in the property world has been matched equally on his arrival into football club ownership.

In his first interview with club media, just after he had bought County, he told interviewer Jon Keighren: "Championship in 7 years is our plan."

That plan, to reach the second tier by 2027, is one he's stuck to ever since, with director of football Simon Wilson often also mentioning the plan in his more frequent updates with Keighren.

With County mounting a real challenge for promotion to League One in 2024, it would appear that the Hatters are on track. Promotion this time around would give the club three opportunities to climb through the third tier, no easy feat but one that seems measured with the backing that the club has.

Another key talking point in that 2020 interview, and which is still regularly discussed now, is the development of Edgeley Park.

Keen to stress his belief that County should remain on Hardcastle Road, where it has been since 1902, Stott did make clear that he wanted to expand the stadium, and plans have since been developed to increase the ground's capacity to around 20,000.

The plans have been updated slightly since the initial announcement, with the County CEO Jonathan Vaughan revealing via the Stockport County Supporters' Cooperative forum that the four stands would no longer be filled in at the corners due to cost.

However, Vaughan also revealed that the Railway End could be developed as early as this summer, with plans to extend to a 2000 or 4000-seater stand on the table, designating this area as a family stand with family activities brought in behind the stand.

Plans for other areas, including corporate facilities in an extended Together Stand, are also in the works, but Vaughan confirmed that the phasing of the upgrades has been linked to forecasts of ticket demand, which will likely, to some degree, be impacted by success on the pitch.