I am an Innovation Specialist for Business West, where I specialise in the creative industries. I'm a seasoned entrepreneur, having started and sold my own business and am passionate about immersive, storytelling experiences. My role at Business West is to support SW Creative Businesses through the Innovate 2 Succeed programme and other fantastic opportunities available through Business West. Please get in contact / connect if you work in the Creative / Digital sector, it'd be great to chat.

Understory Ltd is a storytelling chocolate company. We work with the University of West of England and Bristol University, exploring how flavour works using EEG brain scanners, music and multimedia. Winner of Pervasive Media Studio new talent award 2014, Arts Council G4A 2014 and CATIM Funding for exploring how storytelling affects flavour with Professor Chris Alford 2014. We have created prototype dining consoles, work with the world's rarest chocolate, built an orgasming pudding and are… Show more Understory Ltd is a storytelling chocolate company. We work with the University of West of England and Bristol University, exploring how flavour works using EEG brain scanners, music and multimedia. Winner of Pervasive Media Studio new talent award 2014, Arts Council G4A 2014 and CATIM Funding for exploring how storytelling affects flavour with Professor Chris Alford 2014. We have created prototype dining consoles, work with the world's rarest chocolate, built an orgasming pudding and are working on our first line of confections for 2016. We have performed an interactive lecture at At-Bristol Planetarium, created a bespoke chocolate experience for the Prince of York and worked with celebrated musician DJ Yoda on how music affects flavour. Show less

I wrote and directed Street Games for Slingshot. These were touring events, with thousands of players and hundreds of staff, staged in city centres around the UK. 70,000 players took part in 2.8 Hours Later in the last 5 years. 2.8 was a cross-city zombie chase game – a mix of tag, street theatre and orienteering. We worked closely with councils, police and local businesses to create a route in which the game takes place, using multiple locations (from shopping centres to listed buildings)… Show more I wrote and directed Street Games for Slingshot. These were touring events, with thousands of players and hundreds of staff, staged in city centres around the UK. 70,000 players took part in 2.8 Hours Later in the last 5 years. 2.8 was a cross-city zombie chase game – a mix of tag, street theatre and orienteering. We worked closely with councils, police and local businesses to create a route in which the game takes place, using multiple locations (from shopping centres to listed buildings), road closures and industrial estates to create an immersive, thrilling and unique experience. 
I wrote, directed and managed the experience, problem-solving issues that arose during the event and worked closely with a production manager to oversee the planning and production of the tour. In 2014, we toured 8 cities, totalling 25,000 players through our event. Each night will typically require coordinating 8 core staff, 1 bus driver, 7 actors, 15 extras, 50 zombies, 20 security, 2 private ambulance teams and 14 stage managers, plus over 500 players. I also contributed to our PR strategy with PHA media and oversaw our social media. Our 2.8 Facebook page had 1500 facebook likes and 3000 followers on Twitter, when I left we had 70,000 followers, twitter 5,000 by the time I left. Show less