ABOUT
 

Working in agencies such as Ogilvy, Wunderman and Leo Burnett/Arc Worldwide I’ve had the privilege of learning from outrageously talented people during my career. They helped hone my ability to craft persuasive, engaging customer communications.

 

My copy background has given me a breadth and depth of channel experience across multiple sectors. This has helped shape my understanding of how people respond to each one and how subliminal triggers influence behaviour.

 

As a Creative Director, I’m known for building effective, fruitful partnerships with key stakeholders and managing client relationships thoughtfully and capably. Confident and calm under pressure, I quickly grasp objectives and believe leading by example delivers a superior creative product and results. I am not one to shy away from getting involved in the hands-on aspects of a project.

 

I believe that creativity can only flourish in a collaborative, inclusive environment where people feel truly valued and motivated. I provide clear direction while fostering ambition and disruptive thinking, inspiring teams to embrace new ideas and emerging technologies. This approach is key to delivering brand-defining creative work.

 

My experience at board level across global networks and independent shops has given me a unique perspective on maximising opportunities in a digitally powered economy — for both clients and agencies. This insight has been invaluable in consistently achieving creative, strategic and financial objectives in every agency I’ve been involved with.

CAREER SUMMARY

Freelance
Creative Director | Copywriter | Consultant    Feb 2019 – present
 

Recent experiences
 

Working as a content creation associate for this newly established internal communications agency, I help enhance employee engagement, drive organisational alignment, and shape a strong internal brand identity. As part of this network of communication and engagement specialists, I support companies in building high-performance cultures through HR, reward, and benefits communication. Current projects include:
 

• Supporting a global technology company specialising in data management and cloud storage solutions to engage and connect with over 16,000 employees worldwide

 

• Helping a non-profit transform the lives of vulnerable children and enrich senior adults by strengthening internal communications to boost engagement, align teams, and foster collaboration

 

• Mentoring a junior writer at a leading U.S. cybersecurity company to help develop her core skills in content creation, storytelling, and effective communication
 

Currently part of a boutique marketing consultancy supporting both start-ups and established bioscience businesses in developing their brands and marketing capabilities. Our clients include:

• A CRO and protein analysis lab in Denmark that helps accelerate drug development through impurity analysis and analytical protein characterisation services based on mass spectrometry

• A plant-based biotechnology company in France that has successfully developed an automated,
  proprietary bioproduction system available to produce high-value molecules from plants

• One of Europe’s largest CDMOs offering bespoke bioproduction journeys for innovators to achieve
  successful market entry for their viral vector or RNA therapeutics

 

• A leading organ-on-a-chip company based in the UK, specialising in developing advanced
  microphysiological systems that replicate human organ functions

Other projects

Engaged by one of the world’s largest employee communication agencies to support its partner – a global leader in IT digital transformation – in reinventing the employee and employer experience for UK’s largest work-based pension provider. As part of the leadership team I helped:

• Oversee the creation of communications that would be sent to 10 million members and nearly 900,000
  employers nationwide

• Set up a production communication team – SMEs, writers, designers and PMs – to deliver ‘comms at
  scale’

• Played a key role in redesigning the retirement journey for multiple cohorts, seamlessly integrating online
  and offline communications

• Co-designed and implemented a creative product delivery process to ensure alignment with brand, quality
  assurance and compliance requirements

​

• Copywriting consultant for a tech start-up funded by one of the world's largest automotive groups helping
  define the company's values framework alongside the writing of core brand communication assets
 

• Collaborated with a marketing consultancy to deliver a cervical cancer vaccination campaign for  girls
  aged 9-14 (sponsored by UNICEF and Gavi, implemented by the global charity Girl Effect)
 

• Creative strategist and writer for one of the UK’s leading B2B experiential agencies – clients include
  HSBC, Canon, Intel and VMware

KHWS, London

Creative Director  April 2017 – Jan 2019

 

Board member of an integrated agency of 90+ people, managing, inspiring, and motivating the creative department of eight. Billing nearly £8M, the agency has a strong B2B heritage in both the energy and technology sectors.

Achievements:

• Repositioned the agency through the development of a proprietary planning model that makes

  behavioural science led marketing accessible for brands

• Defined a creative vision that aligned with the agency’s overall commercial strategy

• Raised the creative ambition of the agency by making its new behavioural-led proposition relevant to clients

• Played a key role in new business, bringing greater clarity to the agency’s new proposition and purpose

• Embedded heuristics into KHWS culture by redefining the agency’s founding values

• Created a development framework for the agency that now drives its commercial, creative and people growth through smart decision making

• Led the drive to create a more entrepreneurial spirit and pro-active way of working across the agency

• In collaboration with the Creative Services Lead, developed and successfully implemented a more effective scoping, scheduling and resource planning process for creative workflow

• In partnership with HR, standardised job descriptions for each creative discipline and developed personal performance plans for each member of the creative department 

• Led numerous pitches, winning three back-to-back

 

Key responsibilities:

• Managed the department’s productivity and financial performance

• Ensured all conceptual, design and artwork met the highest standards alongside managerial oversight of the multimedia and motion graphic disciplines

• Alongside Creative Services built productive business relationships with clients that delivered effective, inspiring creative work

• Defined and managed the agency’s creative expectations for each client alongside the strategic and financial goals

• Setting the highest creative standards during the project scoping phase

 

Freelance

Creative Director | Copywriter | Consultant  Oct 2015 – March 2017

Partnered with a senior Art Director as a freelance integrated creative team in numerous agencies.

In addition:
 

• Acted as a creative consultant to a major UK utility company helping their B2B marketing team raise the quality of their creative output

• Helped an innovation company develop effective strategies to launch and drive sales of their household products

 

WDMP, London

Creative Director   Jul 13 – Sept 15

Board member of independent integrated agency (primarily CRM) of 40 people. Annual turnover of
£2.2M across a range of sectors.

 

Achievements:

• Restructured and grew the creative department from 3 to 12 employees in 18 months to reflect the changing needs of the client base and to raise creative standards

• Oversaw the output of high-volume financial client Tesco Bank across both owned and paid for media channels

• Alongside Client Services Director and Planning Director, managed and successfully won seven pitches (50% win rate)

• Achieved highest level of nominations for the agency in five years at the MAA BEST Awards 2015

 

OgilvyAction, London

Creative Director  Dec 11 –  Jun 13

Head of Copy  Nov 09 – Nov 11

Board member of the brand activation arm of the Ogilvy Group in London with over 200 people working in shopper, trade, experiential and promotional marketing. As joint Creative Director managed a creative department of over 50 people.

 

Woo Communications, London (The ENGINE Group)

Head of Copy  May 08 –  Oct 09

 

Arc Worldwide, London

Creative  Partner  Oct 05 – Apr 08

Senior Copywriter  May 02 –  Sept 05

 

Harrison Troughton Wunderman, London

Copywriter  May  00 – Apr 02

 

OgilvyOne Worldwide, London

Copywriter  Nov 97 –  Apr 00

 

Cogent Elliott, London and Birmingham

Copywriter  Jul 95 – Oct 97

 

SELECTION OF AWARDS

As Creative Director:

MAA Best Awards 2016

Nominated: Best Effectiveness, Lansinoh

DMA Awards 2015

Gold – Best Customer Journey Wyevale Garden Centres

Chip Shop Awards 2015

Highly Commended - Best press ad without a headline, CafePod

MAA BEST Awards 2015

Nominated - Best Direct Marketing Campaign, Monarch

Nominated - Best Creative Direct Marketing, Monarch

Nominated - Best Business to Business, Freeview

 

Travel Marketing Awards 2015

Gold - Best Use of Multi-Channel and Best Direct Marketing

EDUCATION

Buckinghamshire College of Higher Education Sept 91 – Jun 93

HND Advertising

REFERENCES

Available on request