About me

A graphic designer by trade, I am a multi-skilled creative able to deploy strategic thinking alongside tactical execution and delivery, to an expert level, both visually and narratively.

Personally, I am married with two teenage daughters, an avid fan of popular and emerging music, a guitar player in-training and enthusiastic mid-teens handicap golfer. I am fit and healthy and work on that on a daily basis. I eat a mainly whole food plant-based diet and enjoy an active social life.

Over time, my ‘main hustle’ for work has become the development of brand systems. Typically for scale-up organisations who have successfully negotiated the start-up phase to become established but may have made some hasty decisions around identity and positioning at the start. Decisions that now don’t match their purpose and are hampering development.

My locker is full of transferrable creative and business skills honed in a career spanning nearly four decades in the often unforgiving marketing agency world.

I am able to uncover what is truly important. If I do have a superpower, then this is it. I am able to process swathes of reference and consistently spot common themes. I can to cut to the chase and let that which does not matter simply fade away to reveal true purpose and a clear direction.

I am a creative polymath. As a graphic designer by trade, I’ve been doing that consistently for my entire career, you get first class design and art direction. I am technically proficient and able to deliver for every visual outcome be it analogue or digital. Having worked in many creative departments with skeleton staff over the years, by necessity and aptitude, I have become a skilled copywriter able to craft engaging, descriptive body copy and captivating headlines. I have written for all media and even the odd speech here and there for clients who weren’t quite hitting the mark by their own hand.

I am a brand builder. Over time, I have developed an exploratory workshop-based methodology that informs my work on brand strategy projects. To build a successful brand, you have to recognise your duty which quite often gets obscured by the day-to-day. My interrogative approach digs deep into an organisation’s mechanisms to uncover competitive advantage, turning it into a set of tools that can fuel the next stage of development.

I am able to build rapport. To solve a problem you have to understand it, along with the people who shoulder the burden, completely. Creativity is the most powerful business resource we have, but to deploy it effectively, as creative people, we must build rapport with clients. Since I have been client-facing I have always worked hard to be a partner to clients and not just a vendor. Nurturing affinity means people will open up and offer much greater insight into the challenges you both share.

I am an empathic and caring leader. I started my career in 1987 straight out of college as not much more than a tea boy. I have climbed the ladder from the bottom gaining alternative qualifications rather than the more traditional university approach. This journey has given me an in-built respect for all players on my team and I welcome all points of view. Having also been both a business owner and a sole trader, I appreciate the pressures at the sharp end, meaning I am able to manage up as well as I manage down.

I am a charismatic and persuasive presenter. I have helped to pitch for and win millions of pounds worth of business for agencies I have worked in. I am able to deliver a compelling argument to board-level executives and gain their trust through diligent research, thorough planning and efficient, entertaining delivery. 

I am a committed and curious lifelong learner. Every day is a school day. I can offer an open and inquisitive mind, allied to a fierce work ethic when the task at-hand is one I truly believe in.