FROM PAINTER & DECORATOR
TO IN-HOUSE AGENCY CONSULTANT
I started my working life decorating some of London’s most prolific advertising agencies, wilfully spending weekends and school holidays working with my father, a painter and decorator. The ad agency 'Allen, Brady & Marsh' was a truly amazing place, especially the creative department. Seeing hand-drawn artwork for Guinness and Weetabix one week and then seeing the same artwork as a 48-sheet poster a few weeks later totally fascinated me.
After leaving school in the late 80’s, I became a carpenter and partitioner, working once again in advertising agencies; Young & Rubicam, Ogilvy & Mather and McCormick Publicis kept me gainfully employed. I left the building trade in 1994 after being accepted on to the UK's best Copywriting and Art Direction course at 'Watford College'.
I finished the course with a new copywriter (Simon Davenport), a portfolio of ideas and the title 'Student Team of the Year'.
I've lived and worked in numerous major cities around the world, plying my trade for global brands and businesses. I've collaborated with incredibly talented teams, been hired by some of the world's leading agencies and worked side-by-side with brilliant clients 'in-house'.
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Never one to be pigeonholed, I've consistently invested my time and money to learn in-demand skills; Photography, Video Production, Customer Research, Workshop Facilitation, Growth Hacking, SEO, Digital Design & Website Building. This allows me to offer a completely diverse 'Generalist' approach to all the work I do.
I believe "Forever Learning" is beneficial not only to myself but to all the people/clients I work with. Business, culture, technology, communication and creative execution are constantly changing. To stay up to date, I always up-skill to improve what I think I already know.