News

Smart Media Group, the holding company of UK digital out-of-home media owner Smart Outdoor, today announces that M Core Ventures has acquired the shareholdings of founder Mark Catterall and the other founding shareholders, moving to full ownership of the Group. M Core Ventures first invested in Smart in July 2024 and has been its principal backer since.

Steve White, a non-executive director of the Group and former Global Marketing Director at JD Sports, is appointed Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect. M Core Ventures is committing new capital to fund Smart’s next stage of growth.

Full ownership gives Smart a single owner, faster decision-making and investment to expand the network. Retail property is a priority growth area, supported by access to M Core’s UK retail estate, as Smart builds its position as a challenger in UK out-of-home.

Founder-built, from zero to more than 2,000 screens

Mark Catterall founded Smart Outdoor in Sunderland in 2019. Within two years it was running more than 220 screens across the North East and Scotland, reaching more than 12 million people a week. When M Core Ventures first invested in 2024, the estate stood at around 450 screens. Today it exceeds 2,000, from Edinburgh to London, across high streets, retail, leisure, sports venues and petrol forecourts.

Milestones include:

* a national digital forecourt partnership with Shell
* a retail media network with the Co-operative Group
* Smart Hub, the Group’s own platform for planning, selling and delivering campaigns

In 2025, the Group moved its headquarters to The Yard at Keel Square, part of the Riverside Sunderland regeneration.

Mr Catterall is stepping back from his executive role for health reasons. He has lived with Parkinson’s disease since 2019, the year he founded the business, and will shortly undergo a planned procedure, followed by a period of recovery.

He has been a prominent supporter of Parkinson’s UK. Smart has donated digital billboard space valued at around £950,000 to the charity’s World Parkinson’s Day campaigns and hosts an annual golf day in its aid. He will remain with the business for a transitional period to hand over key client relationships, and intends to return to work in the sector once recovered.

Mark Catterall, Founder of Smart Media Group, said: “I have been living with Parkinson’s for six years, and I have a procedure coming up that I am genuinely hopeful about. It needs proper time to recover from, and that made this the right moment to step back. Smart was built by a team that was told more than once it was too small to do what it did. Handing it over with the ownership simplified, the
business properly backed and a leader of Steve’s calibre at the helm is the right outcome for the people here and for our clients. I am proud of what this team has built, and I know it is in good hands.”

Steve White, Chief Executive Officer of Smart Media Group, said: “Smart has a strong estate, a loyal client base and a team that delivers well beyond its size. My priority is continuity for our clients and partners. My second is giving this team the platform to take the business to its next stage. It is a privilege to lead it.”

Max Percy, Chief Executive Officer of M Core Ventures, said: “Taking full ownership allows us to accelerate Smart’s growth. The business has a strong network and a talented team, and closer integration with M Core’s UK retail estate will open up new opportunities. We’re excited about what it can achieve. We thank Mark for building a solid foundation and for his support through the handover.”

The transaction has no impact on Smart’s day-to-day operations, client contracts or partner agreements, all of which continue as normal.