ABOUT

I wanted to work in marketing since I was about 14 years old.

I completed a Bachelor of Arts degree, in Communications & Cultural Studies and began my career in advertising in 1986 and obtaining a postgraduate diploma in Consumer, Industrial, and International Advertising and Marketing (CAM).

For the next 15 years, I worked in advertising and design agencies in some of the UK’s biggest agencies and on the biggest brands.

I worked in account management with many brands in many categories, including:

• • Abbey National Bank/Santander
  • B&Q
  • Becks
  • Dunlop/Slazenger/Maxfli Golf
  • Peugeot
  • Saab
  • Seven Seas Vitamins
  • Skipton Building Society
  • Volvo

In 1998 I moved from account management to agency business development as a New Business Director/Business Development Director for large advertising, and design agencies. In those roles, my role was to create opportunities, by developing strategically sound and innovative marketing plans for both agency and prospects. Managing and building the awareness and reputation of the agencies through proactive strategies.

In 2001 I set up my own full-service brand communications consultancy, bringing big brand marketing experience to small to medium sized businesses.

In 2010 I founded an award-winning festival for business with aims to inspire, advise, and celebrate my hometown’s world-class business environment with multiple audiences and with multiple objectives. I was primarily responsible for maintaining drive, strategy, and quality.

Over the week of 15th – 18th November 2010, I coordinated around 40 separate events and workshops attended by an audience of approximately 2000 business people, people thinking of starting a business, and business students.

York Business Week was awarded a ‘Badge of Honour’ from Enterprise UK, the organisers of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW). The ‘Outstanding Impact’ award was given because York Business Week ran a series of ’inspiring and impactful events’ during Global Entrepreneurship Week in November 2010.

In 2011 York Business Week CIC was formed as a Community Interest Company in order to raise sponsorship and grow the event. 15 of the events that year won High Impact Awards from GEW. In 2012 York Business Week was awarded 25 High Impact Awards by GEW. Now called York Business Festival it still runs every year and is one of proudest legacies.

Over the years 2001 to 2013, I was also a business Mentor, an Apprenticeship Ambassador for the National Apprenticeship Service, an active member of many local retail and professional business groups, and a co-founder of York Roman Festival.

I sold the company when I moved to Perth in 2014, where I began working in a Subiaco marketing consultancy.

I founded Electric in July 2016 as a full-service, integrated marketing communications consultancy.

Through the early part of my career, I developed a solid background in traditional marketing communication that has been complemented by more than two decades of experience in all forms of digital marketing solutions.

Because of my multi-disciplinary expertise and experience, my clients can expect to hear a balanced media-neutral view on how to invest their financial resources most effectively. Coupled with a passion for providing marketing insights, creative ideas, and excellent implementation to their brands bring practical value to clients.

Those who know me professionally would say I'm a typical Yorkshireman: a non-traditional thinker with a talent for making a little go a long way and saying what I mean. I don't like waste, and I like what works, including words.

As an example of this, one of my first clients in the late 1980s was Dunlop Slazenger Maxfli. They gave me a set of golf clubs as a leaving present. They forgot I'm left-handed. But because I was grateful, and thrifty I taught myself to play right-handed. And still do.

In 2018 I went through a massive health transformation and lost 40Kgs. As a result, I also trained and certified as a health coach.

I have a wide range of interests/obsessions. I'm obsessively curious.

If you want to let me talk your head off for an hour ask me about any of the following: Marketing, Brand Communications (obviously), Health, Nutrition, Exercise, Sports (Golf, Football, Rugby, MMA/Boxing, F1 & Rallying), Travel (especially Italy and Japan), TV, Cinema, and Books (Science, Fantasy and Detective thrillers).