HIGH GROWTH TEAM

CHRIS VARLEY [USA] 

Chris Varley specialises in Technology Commercialisation/Strategic Business Planning and Development

Chris was formerly New Market Development Vice President for AT&T Labs where he established and managed a new division focusing on commercialising technologies and developing intellectual property outside of traditional AT&T businesses. Before that he was Managing Director of AT&T Interactive where he managed the group responsible for the WorldNet site, AT&T corporate site and AnyWho directory services.

He has also held several positions at Compuserve:
As Director of Business Development where he was responsible for exploring new forms of content, new business models, and new technologies as well as direction and acquisition of consumer- and entertainment-related properties.

As Creative Director where he was involved in the creation of the QuickStart©, the industry's first multimedia acquisition disc, developed both intellectual property and creative elements of CompuServe©, the first CD-ROM/online "digizine." Exec'd the premiere Internet broadcast of The War of the Worlds. Additional multimedia projects with Jimmy Buffett, Todd Rundgren, Rolling Stone Magazine, NARAS (The Grammys®), Lollapalooza, and America's Funniest Home Videos.

Chris has also been an Independent Writer/Producer, undertaking projects in film, television, book, and multimedia projects for Disney, Paramount, Western Publishing, Bantam, Times-Mirror, and Lexus, including Bare Ruined Choirs, Secret Bodyguard, and A Pair of Jacks. Chris created The Little Mermaid's Treasure Chest, one of Disney's best-selling continuity series to date and received an Environmental Media Award for work on Disney's Adventures in Wonderland. Chris has been an O’Neill Centre finalist and the winner of Maxwell Anderson Series.

MURRAY BUCHANAN

Murray Buchanan is a lawyer, adviser, consultant, thinker and educator who has specialised in the media, entertainment and technology sectors since 1995. 

Murray trained as a solicitor in private practice in his hometown of Glasgow before relocating to London to join Warner Bros as their in-house lawyer. He advised the company internationally on the acquisition, commercialisation and protection of its intellectual property rights across music, film, television, theatre, advertising, book publishing and interactive media.  

He then moved to the multinational Bertelsmann Media where he had a similar role at a promoted level in their London office. He was then asked to join V2 Music - Sir Richard Branson's return to recorded music and music publishing following the sale of Virgin to EMI. Murray was instrumental in setting up a network of licensees, joint ventures and wholly owned affiliates in over 100 countries. He was also responsible on a day-to-day basis for developing policy and strategy in relation to the acquisition, commercialisation and protection of the company’s intellectual property rights and for giving legal and business advice to the company’s UK and international offices. 

Murray then decided for family reasons to return home to Scotland and was asked by Maclay Murray & Spens, one of Scotland’s “Big Four” law firms, to join them.  Accepting their offer but electing to work with them as a self-employed consultant Murray developed his own practice and client base from a standing start. Over a period of 6 years Murray established a highly regarded practice advising clients in the creative industries generally with a particular focus on media, entertainment and technology. 

In January 2007 Murray elected to leave Maclay Murray & Spens and he set up MBA with his existing client base. MBA gives legal and business advice to a broad range of clients in the various sectors comprising the creative industries including music, television, film, interactive media, software, advertising, book publishing, design and visual arts. MBA’s clients include PLCs, SMEs, entrepreneurs, high-growth start-ups, creative talent and universities. 

Murray teaches Honours Media Law at University of Glasgow and is a director of Citizens' Theatre and a former director of Scottish Book Trust, Scottish Music Centre, Scottish Opera and Sounds of Progress. He also advises Scottish Arts Council and Cultural Enterprise Office. Murray is frequently asked to give talks on a range of topics including rights, technology, the digital economy and the methodology of business. As his friends and connections will testify Murray has fully embraced social networking and is a regular user and commentator on various sites.

TONY HARDING

As the Recruitment Sales Manager for the Guardian Tony established a regional office for the Guardian sales team in 1995, before starting up Feather Brooksbank recruitment in 1999. Tony was the first recruitment focused winner of The Drum’s Media Buyer of the Year in 2003, and oversaw the growth of that division to in excess of £8 million by 2006. 

Now working as an independent media consultant Tony  provides strategic and operational advice to creative and media businesses. WIth his background in media Tony has worked across many marketing disciplines and has significant experience working on behalf of blue-chip clients, including Scottish Power and Standard Life, Cairn energy and BT.

MARK GORMAN

Mark's career in marketing and marketing services began in 1985 at Hall Advertising from where he moved to The Leith Agency before becoming joint owner and MD of 1576 advertising. He left 1576 in 2003 to pursue a career in consultancy but was soon drawn back into the agency world running a PR and advertising agency, as Chief Executive for two years. He returned to the consultancy world in 2006 and works with a range of businesses in both business management and marketing capacities. Mark was chairman of the IPA in Scotland from 1999 - 2001 and is a fellow of the institute. Mark is current Chairman of the Scottish Marketing Association (SMA) and is a past winner of Grand Prix's at the IPA effectiveness awards. He has also chaired Whitespace Design, a web and graphic design agency and Metis, a sales promotion and direct marketing business.

From 1985 - 1988 Mark Gorman formed part of the team that developed the strategy and advertising to reposition Leith, Edinburgh's seaport, as the "Greenwich Village" of Edinburgh. And to position Motherwell, through it's newly established Foodpark, as a distribution centre unrivalled in the UK for the food industry. He was also a member of the Scottish Development Agency's advertising team at Hall Advertising. From 1996 - 2002, Mark led the VisitScotland advertising team responsible for all UK and Ireland advertising of the country as a visitor attraction. In 2004 Mark was responsible for developing a strategic positioning for Edinburgh and Glasgow as a financial super-metropolis aimed at targeting the financial services industry and attracting them to relocate in Scotland.

PETER FOSTER

Peter Foster has 25 years experience in market analysis and consultancy in the ICT sector at product, business and corporate levels.  He is a partner with Market Focus, where his focus has been on the software and IT services sector, with a particular emphasis on the public sector vertical, and also the telecoms/media market, particularly where IT and telecoms converge.  In addition, since 2007 he has also been researching the impact of environmental issues on the ICT market.

Before re-joining Market Focus in 2005, Peter was Managing Director of Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC) Limited, the UK arm of the software and IT services research and consultancy group.  He joined the company in 2002 to set up the UK office.  Whilst with PAC he was a contributor to the company’s information and analysis service, produced PAC’s UK Public Sector and Telecoms market reports and was responsible for all custom research and consultancy in the UK. Prior to joining PAC, Peter was a Principal Consultant with Ovum, having joined with the acquisition of Richard Holway Ltd.; He worked on the Holway Report (subsequently Holway@Ovum), an analysis of the corporate activities of UK software and IT services companies, and was also responsible for all custom/consultancy projects related to the market and players

Before his time with Holway, Peter had been a partner with Market Focus for 10 years, working with IT, telecoms and other high tech organisations on a variety of research-based projects.  This followed increasingly senior market research and marketing roles with high tech and business-to-business companies.

SASKIA JORDAN

An experienced media strategist, Saskia has worked across all media, predominantly in the commercial TV market.  Saskia has expertise in business strategy, research, consumer insight, and facilitation.  

Prior to consulting Saskia was Head of Strategic Projects at UKTV (a BBC Worldwide/Virgin owned pay TV network) where she led the strategic planning for the business, the assessment of emerging markets and the research department.   Previous positions include Director of Business Development at BBC Worldwide and Media Director positions in advertising agencies (McCann Erickson, Starcom, Zenith, Mediaedge:cia).  Her experience ranges across all media and industries; she has been responsible for clients such as Coca-Cola; Procter and Gamble; BT; and NatWest.

Saskia was on the UK board at BBC Worldwide and was responsible for the business strategy and research departments.  She was involved in developing the BBC Shop web application and subsequently at UKTV led the investment strategy for their lifestyle websites.  Saskia spent three years working in Sydney where she ran the Coca-Cola South Pacific media account at McCann Erickson.  She won the ‘Best Use of Television’ in the Australian Media Awards, 1998.

Saskia has an MA in English Literature from Cambridge University.

LARRAINE CORBELLI-WITHEY

Larraine is an experienced Business Development Consultant with a proven track record of success in blue chip Digital Media, Web based and Telecommunications environments. Providing high-level consultancy advice building consistently improved business performances through strong leadership, strategic planning & business development expertise. Larraine is results orientated & quality focused, with excellent relationship management skills.

She is a pro-active leader, empowering staff to take ownership, providing coaching and mentoring to build cohesive teams working together to achieve individual targets and company objectives.

Larraine has been responsible for the development of a visionary, innovative internet domain name registration company, established a new media division of IPcenta achieving set targets & subsequent NASDAQ floatation and introducing an integrated marketing solution to Moonfish doubling sales to £3 million in 2 years. Most recently she has developed a new lead generation system achieving lead revenue of over £800k in the first 6 months. She is experienced in business development consultancy, marketing management, PR strategy, client relationship management, budget management, promotional management, key account development, P&L, presentation skills, coaching & mentoring, sales team management, global communications.

TUNDE COCKSHOT

Tunde is an IT creative professional, experienced creative thinker experienced in creative concept generation, pitching, problem solving and strategic thinking.  He has expertise in e-learning concept generation, design and workflow.  As an articulate, resourceful, mature, hands-on leader he has the ability to quickly grasp core problems with an analytical and diversely inspired mind.  Expert knowledge and experience of: web development process, game design, Web 2.0, e-learning, e-marketing, knowledge management, interface design, usability, and accessibility.

Tunde has been working on projects for a variety of clients including Amaze Europe Ltd, Toyota Europe, Lexus Europe, BT, First Personal Injury and NetIDme. His work has included web strategy consultation , concept generation, user modelling, brand development, and user modelling.

HOLLY HESSON

Holly has extensive experience of working in senior strategic and operational contexts in complex multi-stakeholder environments across the public, private, academic and third sectors.  Her knowledge and expertise extends across the media, creative and digital industries sector; the skills, business support, innovation, knowledge transfer and economic development field; the regeneration, environment, housing and sustainable communities arena; marketing and PR; the service sector; retail; and national and international charities.

Clients include Media Training North West (now incorporated within Northwest Vision and Media), Manchester: Knowledge Capital, RENEW Northwest (now part of the Northwest Regional Development Agency), University of Salford, Greater Manchester Learning and Skills Council, Creative Concern, Carlisle City Council, Northern Edge, Elevate East Lancashire and the Academy for Sustainable Communities (now part of the Homes and Communities Agency).

Prior to setting up her independent consultancy, Holly held senior management positions for Skillset, the Sector Skills Council for the media industry; Manchester: Knowledge Capital, the strategic partnership driving innovation and economic transformation across the Manchester city-region; Groundwork, the national environmental regeneration organisation and MAG, the international landmine clearance charity.

STEPHEN GRIFFITHS

Stephen Griffiths has 15 years experience delivering business strategy and innovation (growth and turn-around) consultancy and advisory services, to the management and non-execs of global brands (such as BBC, Nokia, O2, BT, Metro Int.) and innovative start-ups (such as Velocix and Volantis), across the converging arena of media, Internet, IT and telecom.

He helps clients: turn-around business units, develop business strategy, identify and value new propositions, enter new markets, design business models, roadmap products, select vendors, etc.

His achievements include: advisory and due diligence for VC and private equity firms in UK, Asia and US; setting-up new business divisions for online agencies; creating Europe’s first cross-platform online portal and, cross-platform downloadable product; and, authoring strategic reports read by thousands of decision makers.

LINDA SUMMERS

Linda Summers is an experienced corporate development and marketing executive having worked in the telecoms, web, mobile content, broadcasting and digital media sectors in the UK, Europe and Asia. Working with market leaders including O2, Red Bee Media, BT and more recently Peel Media on the development of Mediacity:UK where she was employed as the Strategic Business Development Advisor responsible for the MediaCityUK proposition development, business development pipeline build for web, mobile and technology sectors, public sector partner relations and connectivity. Linda has extensive experience in strategy development and M&A, brand building, interactive marketing, managing customer and audience experiences, launching new products and developing new markets. Linda has been privileged to work on a number of ground breaking market initiatives including: the first live text vote for a TV programme (Big Brother), the UK's mobile broadcast television trial, the launch of Europe's first mobile music download service, the opening of digital media companies in China, India and Singapore, web TV and video-on-demand services and the build of the O2 brand.

NICK  JASPAN

Nick is an accomplished and respected entrepreneur within the professional services and publishing sectors. He is a high level networker and relationship builder, with a passion for innovation, creation of new businesses and services and identifying new market opportunities. He pioneered the UK's first free on-line grants information service, co-founded Newsco Publications in 1992, an MBO backed by 3i and founded CorpfinUK, a company monitoring corporate finance transactional data and its successor "eurodeals" which was sold in 2002 to the Belgian publishing company BVD and renamed ZEPHYR. He possesses strong leadership and an ability to bring together the right people and skills to grow and develop companies and organisations and is a strategic thinker, with a no-nonsense approach, yet with ability to relate and develop relationships at all levels within central and regional government and across the private sector.

JANEY de NORDWALL

After realising a niche in the computer games industry, Janey set up Silver Films in 1996 to service the games industry only. She successfully produced commercials, promos and live events including the International launch of Tomb Raider III and the game launch film of Omikron with David Bowie. Although Silver was becoming a very successful business with a great reputation, Janey felt that she needed to develop her instincts as a film producer so in 2000 she decided to focus her attention on raising investment into the company in order to produce three short films in three years. To sell equity of a production company to initially make short films with a view to producing feature films was an untried model but through the Business Angel network she was successful in securing 3 investors for 25% of Silver Films. Together with sponsorship deals and matched funding Janey went on to produce 3 highly acclaimed films and won the BAFTA for About A Girl in 2001 (a film that has been heralded as the most successful short film of all time) and was nominated for her second film Talking With Angels in 2003. Silver now holds an option for a book called Nalda Said that has been developed into a screenplay.  Janey is the lead writer of the script. In 2006, she developed a new business model for the company where a new commercial division would fund the development and production of short films and features. Janey decided to take on a Commercials Director as her business partner.

Silver Films found themselves in another successful and highly lucrative niche, this time shooting prestigious cars for Lexus and Toyota around the world proving their reputation through repeat business.

In yr 2007/08 Silver turned over £1m.  A small percentage of profits were spent on the production of another short film called Gardens With Red Roses.  This film is currently on the festival circuit and was premiered in the Boston Film Festival.  Once again, Janey has found another business opportunity which is being currently developed and, to test the market, she has given the film to the charity Action For Elder Abuse.  They are successfully using this powerful film as a tool to raise awareness, change policy and raise funding.  This model is now being rolled out to other charities and brands to produce more short films that can make a difference. This time, the films are funded through the corporate responsibility departments of socially aware brands and not via profits from Silver Films.

In summary, as a Producer and Managing Director, Janey’s key skills and experiences are:

1. Entrepreneur

2. To profitably deliver on a vision

3. To deliver above expectation on time and on budget

4. To manage an effective cash flow, forecasts, management accounts and coding system

5. Manage teams, schedules and sales.

JOHN O'NEILL

John’s career began with Ernst & Young in 1988. A qualified accountant he then transferred to Ernst & Young in Los Angeles specialising in the Technology, Media and Entertainment sector where he focussed on IPO’s, due diligence and strategic planning for clients such as Sony and Dreamworks.

Upon returning to the UK, John took up the position of Finance Director at MTP Ltd, Scotland’s largest commercials production company. With offices in Glasgow, London and Manchester John’s role in the growth and development of the Group that followed was significant.

Since leaving MTP Ltd in 2004 John has operated as a Consultant Finance Director and Business Advisor providing advice to clients on a range of issues such as Business and Financial Strategy, Business Planning, Management Reporting and Performance Analysis.

EWAN MCINTOSH 

Ewan specialises in researching how people use the digital media around them, and advises public services and startups on how best to design their services around that. He works internationally, particularly in advising education departments on policy and matching classroom practice with the aspirations of learners. He has worked with thousands of teachers across the world, in China, India, New Zealand, North America and Europe.

He was also a key player in setting up one of the most ambitious investment funds from a public service broadcaster in the UK, himself making the call on investing over £1m in cutting edge and high impact digital media products. He is also the founder of 38minutes.co.uk, the creative industries platform for the North of the UK. In education, he helped set up and grow an active community of educators over a large school district, the adoption strategy of which has been replicated countless times around the globe.