Marco Robinson

adversity from an early age.

Today, Marco Robinson is a successful real estate investor, author, and business coach. He first gained widespread attention through the Channel 4 show Get a House for Free, where he gave homes to people in need, and later for his acting role in the action film Legacy of Lies starring Scott Adkins.

For those who have followed Marco's professional career more closely, they will also know him as the founder of the Start Over Movement and the author of the successful #1 Bestselling books series, START OVER: Turn Any Loss Into a Sensational Comeback, which shares genuine people's stories of recovering after financial loss. Marco is also the author of Close The Deal And Suddenly Grow Rich and Financial Freedom Guarantee.

Early Years & Advocating for the Homeless

Born in Buxton, England, Marco Robinson grew up in extremely challenging circumstances. His early years were marked by hardship, including extended periods of homelessness, frequent moves, experiences with bullying, with Marco attending dozens of schools before leaving formal education in his mid-teens.

Despite this, these challenging and formative experiences shaped Marco Robinson's outlook on life, building his resilience and determination - which he has implemented across all elements of his professional life - and inspired his work advocating for the homeless.

Through interviews with media outlets like BBC Breakfast and being an advisor for homeless charities, Marco has highlighted the challenges faced by homeless individuals and has campaigned for secure and stable housing for decades.

Building on these commitments, Marco has developed a successful Business Coaching work, which highlights the impact stable housing can have on achieving personal and professional success, provides guidance on how to secure financial freedom and recover from financial loss.

Early Career: Sales Career & Malaysia

Marco Robinson’s first break came in the world of direct sales. Throughout his twenties, he steadily built his career in the UK, eventually becoming one of the top performers at his company.

In 1997, Marco Robinson was headhunted by Tanco Resorts in Malaysia to lead their hotel and timeshare division. Despite Asia currently experiencing a financial crisis, in 1998, under the guidance of the Tanco Board and Consulting Director, Marco Robinson helped the team achieve a record-breaking $98 million in sales for the year. The following year, he reached the annual target of $250 million, and over the course of his tenure, he brought in close to $1 billion in total sales, breaking current world records. His remarkable achievements earned him the nickname the "Billion Dollar Man" by The Malaysian Star and he won Entrepreneur of the Year twice for his success in disrupting the incentive industry.

Becoming an entrepreneur

By the early noughties, and now a father of two, alongside his successful sales career Marco had established himself as an entrepreneur, a public speaking career, and founded several businesses. This included travel incentives company Max Generation, and Creator of the Naked Restaurant Group which won “Tatler’s Best Restaurants” in its first year which indirectly created thousands of jobs across the sectors.

Dato Seri Title

By 2014, Marco was advocating for better living standards and access for blind people in Malaysia, campaigning for guide dogs to have greater access in public places and better legislation recognizing them as assistance animals.

The initiative started with the release of the short documentary Are You Blind, which Marco features in and co-produces, aimed to increase awareness about how the visually impaired in Malaysia have restricted movement and are often denied entry to public transportation and public spaces.

Sir Marco Robinson

It was due this work and his entrepreneurial contribution to the region that Marco was awarded the "Dato Seri" title. A high-ranking honorific title awarded in Malaysia and Indonesia, the Dato Seri title - the equivalent of a UK knighthood in Southeast Asia - awards an individual's societal contributions, work in charity or services and carries immense prestige within Southeast Asia cultures.

Thanks to this prestigious title some have now come to know Marco Robinson as "Sir Marco Robinson". While not a UK knighthood, Marco uses the "Sir Marco Robinson" title respectfully and appropriately in accordance with international customs.

Work in Film & TV

Despite having a successful career spanning several industries, Marco Robinson always aspired to pursue a career in acting, after becoming inspired by James Bond movies as a child.

In the realm of film, Marco Robinson is best known for his role as MI6 agent Burns in the 2020 spy thriller Legacy of Lies, alongside martial arts star Scott Adkins. The film, although not a true story, was inspired by real world chemical weapon poisonings cases in the UK, and follows Scott Adkins character, a former MI6 agent, who is forced to step into the world of deceit and unveil the truth behind a Russian covert operation.

For Legacy of Lies, Marco came onto the project in 2015 and was the first six figure investor into the project and initially served as an Executive Producer. Despite being released during the pandemic, in recent years the Scott Adkins movie has had great success via streamers becoming a #2 movie on Netflix USA.

Get A House for Free

However, for UK audiences, Marco Robinson is best known as the face of Channel 4 show Get a House for Free. Airing in 2017, the show follows Marco (now a People's Choice Best Real Estate Investor Award winner), as he gives away homes to deserving families, including paying off mortgages and giving properties to those in need. Noted as a positive example of philanthropy during the time of the UK's housing crisis, audience insights state that Get a House for Free sparked honest and necessary conversations about homelessness and highlighted the complexities of how best to address housing insecurity on television.

Published Work

Throughout his career, Marco has documented his wins, losses and the lessons learnt in his books and has become a best-selling author. His first book, Close the Deal and Suddenly Grow Rich, which became an international #1 Bestselling Book shares some of Marco's insider circle secrets in sales, outlining the techniques and mindset needed to close deals successfully - helping sales representative hit sales targets for the first time.

Following this success, Marco Robinson authored The Financial Freedom Guarantee in 2016. The book presented a 10-step property investment system designed to help individuals replace their salary, fire their boss, and achieve financial independence through real estate, using techniques Marco had acquired when building his property portfolio.

The Start Over Movement

Marco Robinson also created the #1 Bestselling Book Series “START OVER: Turn Any Loss into a Sensational Comeback” which operates alongside Marco's Start Over Movement.

Spearheaded by Marco, the movement is designed to empower and equip individuals who have struggled and experienced significant setback - be it economic loss, personal trauma, or professional failure - to rebuild their lives and achieve lasting success.

Individuals who join the movement are then able to write and share their comeback stories in the START OVER: Turn Any Loss into a Sensational Comeback book series. These extraordinary stories of hope are then shared with even more readers who want to rebuild after setback and achieve their dreams.