Our training team

Victoria Smith

Victoria is a Sony-award nominated TV, radio and print journalist with a background at Euronews, ITN, the BBC and The Associated Press.

She was the UK correspondent for Euronews TV, reporting on news and politics and has interviewed everyone from Prime Ministers to pop stars.

Victoria was the welfare correspondent for BFBS (British Forces News TV and radio) where she made films about life after conflict. She was a regular presenter for the channel’s flagship programme, and continues to report on a range of stories. 

For radio, she was the afternoon newsreader for Classic FM, and a senior producer for Vanessa Feltz and Jeremy Vine on BBC Radio 2. She also presented her own radio series on LBC.

Victoria has written for the Times, the Telegraph and Time Out. 

Paul Brennan

Paul has more than twenty years' experience as a journalist across print, radio and TV. 

Over the years, he has worked across regional and network newsrooms for the BBC, ITV and Five News as a reporter, producer and presenter. Paul’s interviewees have been as diverse as Nobel Prize winners to Big Brother “celebrities”. As a news correspondent, he covered countless general elections, floods and major trials and helped his evening magazine programme secure an RTS Award for news coverage - twice.

Away from live television and the studio sofa, Paul has a wealth of experience in media training and presentation skills coaching. He works with public, private and third sector clients including global CEOs, politicians, academics, health and education leaders and international diplomats. This includes crisis simulations, key message management, studio exercises and speech writing.

Jim Rosenthal

Jim is one of the best known presenters of television sport in Britain.

In a long standing career he has worked on most of the major sport across the television networks, including football and rugby world cups and Olympic Games.
He has been the main anchor for Formula 1 motor racing, football, athletics, rugby and boxing for ITV. He has also presented football coverage on Channel 4 and athletics on Channel 5. He currently presents for MUTV and the BoxNation channel.

Jim began his career in local newspapers and BBC local and national radio.

Elisa Colton

Elisa has almost 20 years experience as a journalist, starting out as a cub reporter on her local newspaper, before turning to broadcasting.

Working for the BBC, Elisa has been a political correspondent, presented local radio programmes, reported live on BBC Breakfast, and produced breaking news at BBC Radio 5Live.

Switching to international news, Elisa worked for Al Jazeera English on their European news desk before pursuing a masters in International Security at one of the most prestigious universities in Europe.

Elisa has also led communications for a social policy think tank and has coached and guided numerous guests and spokespeople through their media appearances from start to finish.

Tasneem Siddiqi

Tasneem has had a rich and diverse career in radio and television having reported, presented, produced and been an editor in news and current affairs over a 30 year career.

Some of the highlights have included: championing the cause of the consumer as Presenter on ‘You and Yours’ (BBC Radio 4), producing at ‘Newsnight and ‘BBC Breakfast’, reporting and presenting for ‘Newsroom South East’ and 'BBC East' (BBC TV), presenting ‘Outlook’ (World Service) and producing documentaries for the Asian strand ‘East’ (BBC 2) and Carlton TV. Tasneem currently produces and reports at BFBS (British Forces Broadcasting Services).

Tasneem specialises in delivering presentation, communication and media skills training on behalf of Media First. She is also a qualified English and Media Studies teacher and a guest lecturer in Broadcast Journalism at several universities.

Laura Trant

Laura is a Broadcast Journalist with extensive experience as a TV news presenter and correspondent. She has been a News Correspondent with BBC news for nearly a decade - delivering live broadcasts and packaged reports on breaking news and developing stories, from location and the studio, for a national and global audience.

She has covered a huge variety of hard news and feature stories across BBC Breakfast, the News Channel, BBC World and the One, Six, Ten O’clock news. Laura has also reported for Radio 4 and Five Live.

For 13 years Laura was a Newsreader and reporter at BBC South Today and was known for her warm presenting style. She began her career in local BBC radio and worked at Five News, Newsround, and loved every second of being an assistant producer on the Radio 2 Jeremy Vine show.

Outside of the studio Laura has hosted events and conferences and has worked as a voice over artist on corporate videos.

Mark McQuillan

Mark is an experienced presenter and journalist currently working for some of the country's most high-profile broadcasters.

With nearly 20 years of experience, Mark reports and presents for ITV News and is also a presenter with 5 News and Sky Sports News. This often involves anchoring live news coverage, handling breaking news and working to extremely tight deadlines.

Mark has covered many major stories over the years. He was part of the on-air team at 5 News which announced the death of the Duke of Edinburgh, presented Sky News' sports coverage on the night England played in the Euro 2020 final and anchored a live, special programme on Sky Sports News dedicated to the life of Pelé.

Away from work, Mark enjoys playing golf (badly), running (slowly) and playing football (gallantly) with his son.

Toby Sadler

Toby Sadler is an experienced media and presentation trainer as well as an expert in delivering courses teaching people to make films with smartphones.

His expertise comes from a 25 year career as a broadcast journalist.
He’s still regularly on air with national broadcasters ITV News and Channel 5 News and is a former reporter and presenter with Sky News.

Toby has helped people from a huge variety of sectors, backgrounds and levels to prepare for media interviews. This includes international company CEOs, charity leaders, budding Olympians, senior British and Nato military leaders, three branches of the secret services, ambassadors from the Foreign Office and other senior civil servants.

His style is warm, personable and supportive, but he won’t shy away from asking the tough questions when needed.

Susan Bookbinder

Susan has over 30 years' experience as a radio and TV presenter reporting on numerous historical news and sporting events for the BBC, Sky, Channel 4 News, GMTV and ITN, among many others.

She is a columnist for The Jewish Telegraph and has chaired many corporate and charity events around the world, including government summits, corporate dinners, award ceremonies and product launches. She has also written content and presented on corporate videos for numerous clients and across multiple industry sectors.

Susan was the first woman to read the national classified football results on British radio and is a Patron of Action Duchenne, a charity campaigning for a cure to a debilitating wasting disease.

Chris Maughan

Chris is a highly respected reporter, presenter and producer and has a wealth of experience after more than 20 years with ITV in the south of England. His career began in the print media during which time Chris contributed many front page stories to national newspapers.

After moving into television Chris became a familiar face on ITV Meridian, having presented the regional shows Meridian Tonight and Thames Valley Tonight. He has also represented ITV Sport at football and rugby world cups.

Since leaving ITV in 2009, Chris’s writing, presenting and production skills have been in demand by numerous media organisations, including Sky, ITV News, leading news agencies and production companies. In recent years Chris has also advised numerous clients ranging from multi-national companies to charity organisations on how to maximise opportunities with the media.

Howard Bentham

Howard has been a radio presenter, newsreader, reporter and sports commentator for well over two decades including 15 years at the BBC. He was the main freelance presenter on BBC Radio 5Live Sports Extra and has worked at 5Live and a host of BBC Local Radio stations including BBC Radio Oxford and BBC Hereford & Worcester who won three Radio Academy Gold Awards with Howard as their flagship presenter.

Howard is also a renowned stadium announcer and was the voice of the last three Olympic Hockey competitions in London, Rio and Tokyo. In addition to working at the Paralympics, the Pan Am Games in Chile, the Rugby Union World Cup and European Champions Cup Finals; he covers sports as diverse as Test Match Cricket, Rowing, Judo and Badminton.

Howard played National League hockey and Birmingham League cricket and is now a keen golfer and long-distance walker. He recently completed the 102 mile Cotswold Way in just 4 days.

Mike Pearse

With over thirty years reporting experience, Mike has reported live from all over the world following key issues from plane crashes to interviews with key political leaders
and celebrities.

Mike has produced many live programmes and made himself the front page of every national newspaper when he exposed airport security lapses by famously smuggling a fake gun on a plane in the wake of 9/11. It led to a Government inquiry and the increased security we see today at airports.

Mike was the lead producer for many of ITV News corporate films from leaders' debates and awards ceremonies to highly sensitive and controversial communications issues including major restructuring and changes to working practices.

Most recently he produced a landmark documentary with Julie Etchingham looking at how ITV covered and coped with Covid-19.

Charles Abel

During a 23 year career with multi-media publisher Reed Business Information, Charles led a large editorial team committed to creating compelling content, winning the prestigious PPA Magazine and AOP Website of the Year awards in the process. He is an experienced news, business and technical journalist, with a tenacious determination to discover the truth behind the stories of the day.

Whether it is controversial technologies or new policies, financial complexity or corporate restructuring, new launches or crisis handling - Charles provides blue chip and public sector organisations with the skills to face the toughest interviews.

Charles specialises in providing training to senior executives who want to handle media relationships more effectively, and also brings his extensive expertise in communications, PR and editorial services to Media First. He has worked throughout the UK, Europe, Middle East and Far East to help countless organisations take greater control of their message management.

Lawrence McGinty

Lawrence is the former Science and Medical Editor for ITV News. His role sees him cover all major scientific, medical, health and environmental stories. His reports have taken Lawrence from covering climate change in the Antarctic to the devastation of the Mozambique floods, where he was part of the ITV News team that won a prestigious International Emmy.

During his career he has won many awards including, 2 BAFTAS for Channel Four News and Best News for Outside Broadcast and 2 RTS awards for the best sports news report for the coverage of the drugs scandal at the Barcelona Olympics and the Kings Cross disaster. 

Lawrence was awarded the Science Writer’s Fellowship of the Association of British Science Writers and has the Queen’s silver jubilee medal for his work on the New Scientist, and won the Medical Journalists Association Award for “Health Journalist of the Year” in 2005.

Sian Jones

As well as being a highly professional TV news anchor, conference host and writer, Siân Jones has over fifteen years experience as a presentations, media, web cast, autocue and communications trainer. She is well known as a regular anchor for the ITV Morning News and has presented for many other channels; as a financial anchor for Bloomberg and CNBC, a sports anchor on Sky News, a weather presenter for Five, a lifestyle reporter for Granada and interviewer for the Overseas Property Channel, over a period of twelve years.

Her communications training extends to a huge number of clients in the public and private sector. She works as a voice over artist (BBC One, UKTV Gold, Living TV) and a continuity and features writer. Siân began her career as an actress before moving to Hong Kong for 6 years where she became a broadcaster for RTHK radio and local terrestrial channels ATV and TVB as well as a PR Manager for CNN Asia Pacific.

Michael Crick

Michael Crick has been in television journalism for 40 years. He has served as Washington Correspondent for Channel 4 News, Political Editor for BBC Newsnight, and more recently, Political Correspondent for Channel 4 News. He now works for Mail Plus, the new TV arm of Associated Newspapers.

Michael has won four Royal Television Society awards, including Specialist Journalist of the Year in both 2014 and 2018.  In 2018 he also won the Charles Wheeler/British Journalism Review award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism and the Political Studies Association Journalist of the Year award in 2014.

He has been a lay governor of the University of Manchester since 2012, and a member of the board of Manchester University Press.

He has written biographies of Arthur Scargill, Jeffrey Archer, Michael Heseltine and Sir Alex Ferguson, and is currently writing a book about Nigel Farage.

Jane Deith

Jane is a BBC Radio 4 presenter and a familiar face on Channel 4 News. She also appears on The Today Programme, Radio 5 Live and the BBC World Service.

Although a lot of her broadcasting has a social affairs and health focus she is comfortable with all kinds of news, from crime to culture. She is also an experienced foreign correspondent, having reported for the BBC and Channel 4 News from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Morocco.

Having started her broadcasting career in local radio before moving to regional and then national television Jane has a clear understanding of what the audience wants and how a company spokesperson needs to deliver it.

Keme Nzerem

Keme Nzerem is an award-winning news and current affairs television correspondent and presenter who has worked for Channel 4 News and ITV News for two decades.
In his extensive broadcasting career Keme has held a number of roles from Washington Correspondent to News Anchor. He has covered a huge number of international and domestic news stories, including winning the RTS foreign news award for narrating a mini documentary on the Iraq War US troop “surge”.

He was the sports correspondent at Channel 4 News from 2010 - 2016 covering everything from the Olympics to the World Cups and the Euros, Premier League and grass roots football and has been on the other side of the microphone in pretty much every sports media scenario you might imagine. 

He has also reported on high-profile stories from sex abuse in football, to the Grenfell fire, and is often seen reading the news on Channel 4’s lunchtime news bulletin.

Judy Aslett

Judy began her career as a journalist joining ITN as a graduate trainee in 1986. In 1990 she went to South Africa as Africa correspondent for Channel Four News. For the next five years she covered stories in Africa including the wars in Angola and Mozambique, as well as events in Nigeria, Zambia, Malawi, and, of course, the 1994 first democratic elections in South Africa for which she was nominated for a BAFTA award.

On her return to England Judy became Foreign News Editor for Channel Four News working in Moscow and Europe. She then went on to be Foreign Affairs Correspondent when Five News was launched by ITN in 1997.

Over the past 15 years Judy has combined media training with journalism. She specialises in the business and financial sector working with clients such as JCB, Sainsbury’s, BAA, ABP, Tarmac, BBA and GFC Economics. She is a member of the Hastings Chamber of Business group and makes corporate videos for SMEs all over the country.

Tadhg Enright

Tadhg has almost two decades of experience in 24 hours news broadcasting, having worked for Sky News, CNN International and RTÉ.

He joined Sky News at the height of the financial crisis as part of its business team and he later went on to become a presenter of its hourly business updates. Tadhg has also worked at CNN, RTÉ News and Reuters and is a regular presenter on the Monocle 24 radio station, discussing world affairs, culture and design.

Tadhg uses the skills developed during his extensive broadcast career to help companies and their leaders prepare for interviews and make a memorable impact, understanding the type of language, phrases and arguments that will be most helpful to journalists and persuasive to audiences.

Graham Jones

Graham Jones is a psychologist who specialises in the way people use the Internet, in particular helping businesses understand social media and how it impacts on their customer relationships and marketing.

Graham is the author of 16 books about the Internet, as well as 12 other business books. He is a former radio presenter, magazine editor and an award-winning writer for national newspapers, consumer magazines and trade periodicals.

Graham is a part-time academic, working as an Associate Lecturer with the Open University and as a Visiting Lecturer at The University of Buckingham. He also works as a professional speaker and is the former President of the Professional Speaking Association.

These days Graham is in demand himself as an expert commentator for the media and you can hear him on various radio stations and see his comments about the Internet in newspapers and magazines every week.

Josie Gammell

Josie spent twenty years in New York and Los Angeles as an award-winning actress (‘GIRL, INTERRUPTED’) before returning to the UK in 2016. She has since transferred her extensive training on stage and screen, along with her experience and passion for authentic & effective communication into coaching senior executives and helping them connect with teams and clients across a diverse range of industries.

Working from the inside out, clients grow in confidence, authenticity, gravitas and authority as a natural consequence of learning from her techniques. 

Damian Watson

Damian has 30 years' experience in broadcast and print journalism. He has covered the Handover of Hong Kong, the 25th anniversary of the Falklands War and the 7/7 attacks in London. 

He has run radio stations and presented programmes for BFBS and Abu Dhabi Media, interviewing prime ministers, generals and stars from the world of sport and music along the way, and has written for newspapers and magazines such as Sixth Sense and Autocar.

Outside of work, Damian enjoys playing drums and bass guitar (not at the same time), skiing, squash and riding his motorcycle.

Jonathan Pollinger

Jonathan has been working as a social media trainer providing straightforward, practical training since 2009, before social media for business was a thing.

He's equally comfortable working with a small startup or the CEO of the British Council and his key strength is demonstrating in an engaging and understandable way how organisations can achieve their business objectives using proven social media strategies and tactics that work. 

With over 100 recommendations on LinkedIn, Jonathan is a sought after commentator and regularly discusses social media and technology on BBC local radio, at business conferences and in his blog.

Running is Jonathan's passion which he took up 5 years ago. He manages a running community called Run Racer Run and he ran his first marathon in Manchester in April 2022. 

Alex Iszatt

With a career in journalism spanning well over a decade, Alex Iszatt mixes her live TV and radio work; reporting on breaking news for numerous UK and International channels, with corporate videos, online and in person events, media training, documentaries and audiobooks.

Alex has been an integral part of the ITV family, presenting for ITV Business, and was part of the launch of ITVX, the former ITV Hub and now digital news strand. Her work has taken her all over the world, mixing print, online, digital and TV.

Verity Geere

Verity Geere has been working as a broadcast journalist since 2002, for local and international media organisations. These include the BBC, ITN, Sky News, Magic FM and most recently she presented the breakfast show on BFBS the forces station for 6 years, where she still presents the news.

Verity has also appeared on ITV’s This Morning, Good Morning Britain and a wide range of global TV news stations when she was a correspondent in Los Angeles.

Verity is also a guest lecturer in Broadcast Journalism at several universities. She has been media training for the last few years and loves getting people clued up and excited about the weird and wonderful world of media. 

Christopher Slade

Chris’s impressive career covers not only journalism and BBC broadcasting but also significant experience supporting global companies in internal and external comms strategies and engagement campaigns.

He has worked as a reporter, studio presenter and documentary producer for BBC national and regional TV news, BBC Radio 4, BBC Local Radio, Channel 4 and Channel 5. 

He also supports global brands in better communications, internal video campaigns, improving conferences and pitches, and supporting presentation skills for all levels of management, including developing board room presence for new directors.   

Janet Barrie

Janet's background is in reporting foreign news for the BBC - she was a correspondent in Brussels, Berlin, and in the World newsroom in London, and has reported from over thirty countries. She’s also worked as a business and economics reporter, and as a presenter for BBC World TV and World Service Radio.

These days Janet still reports on the news, but also produces longer features and documentaries for the BBC and other international media. She covers many different areas, and specialises in health and technology. 

She’s an accomplished media and presentation trainer, who knows what journalists want, and how to make the most of a media interview.

Dickon Hooper

Dickon has more than 20 years' experience as a journalist, starting in the trade press and continuing to this day with the BBC. He started at the corporation as an online journalist, before moving into TV as a reporter and producer. 

For the last decade of his career, he has worked primarily as an investigative journalist, including for Panorama, Victoria Derbyshire and Inside Out, winning a number of awards from the Royal Television Society. 

He now works as a media trainer (with the British army and NATO amongst others) and continues to work as an investigative consultant and produces corporate films and social media for a variety of private and public sector clients.

Simon Rushworth

Simon was a cub reporter on Newcastle’s Evening Chronicle before joining sister paper The Journal, where he filled roles including Chief Sports Writer and Assistant Sports Editor.

Fast approaching 30 years as a senior journalist, the multi-skilled reporter, PR specialist, lecturer and media manager retains a passion for clear communication and nurturing the media professionals of the future.

Equally at home teaching crisis media management to a room full of third year university students as he is locking horns with the famously prickly Roy Keane and shock rocker Alice Cooper, Simon runs his own digital media agency and is working on his debut novel.

Mark Dye

Mark began his life as a journalist on local newspapers in East Anglia and London before embarking on a career in business and technology journalism in the capital at the height of the dot com boom. There, he spent more than a decade asking questions of CEOs, CIOs and business leaders as both an editor and freelancer, specialising in the datacentre, fintech and mobile arenas. 

As well as interviewing heads of business, Mark has also covered football, Formula One, international polo, Six Nations rugby and the America’s Cup – writing for The Mirror, Football 365 and Hayters among others.

Mark ran a successful media agency for a number of years, helping businesses to define editorial and communications strategies and bring their brands to life with clear compelling stories. During that time he has advised, coached and media trained CEOs and business leaders on media strategy, ranging from startups to multi-national organisations.

Jane Hoffen Robertson

Jane is an experienced journalist, broadcaster and corporate communications specialist.

She started her career in regional journalism in the South West before becoming a presenter with ITV Meridian, Sky Sports and then the BBC appearing on BBC Breakfast, the BBC’s rolling news channel and Radio 5 Live. She reported from some of sport’s biggest global events including the World Cup, the Ryder Cup, the World Snooker Championships and the Summer Olympics.

Now based in Scotland, she has specialised in content creation and communications for businesses in the technology and wellbeing sectors. From launching a new product to dealing with a crisis, Jane understands what’s required.

She has never lost her love of sport. Jane runs, plays touch rugby and still volunteers in media operations at major sporting events.

Andy Gales

Andy is a former newspaper, TV and digital journalist who has worked for Sky News, ITN Productions and the Press Association.

He started his career as a reporter at the Newcastle Chronicle before moving to the Press Association in London, where he covered breaking national news stories, including multiple deployments to Northern Ireland.

Andy then joined Sky News and became a Senior News Editor, covering UK stories before moving to the international desk. He managed coverage of the day’s news for the 24-hour channel. During his 16 years there, he won an International Emmy for a special report on the rise of the Taliban in Pakistan and led teams in the field covering major news and sports events.

Specialising in media and presentation skills, crisis management, storytelling, writing skills and video production, Andy has worked with senior executives and press teams at large companies and institutions across many sectors including finance, environment, academia and charities.

Marcus Ryder

Marcus Ryder is a BAFTA award winning journalist and has worked across the whole spectrum of news and current affairs programmes for over 25 years. He was head of BBC Scotland Current Affairs Programmes for eight years, executive produced BBC’s flagship current affairs programme Panorama, oversaw all of  the BBC’s documentary content covering the Scottish Referendum in 2014 and launched a nightly news series.

He left the BBC in 2016 to take up the role of Chief International Editor for China’s largest international broadcaster CGTN guiding the broadcaster to become a digitally focused news organisation overseeing a team of over 50 journalists. He is currently the executive producer of online media at Caixin Global, China's leading financial publication.

Marcus is an acknowledged industry expert in both television and digital news and has been called upon to give both evidence in person and in writing to both the British House of Commons Select Committee on Culture and Media and the House of Lords Select Committee on Digital Media.

Yvonne Chan

Yvonne Chan is a familiar face to many in the Aisa region as the host of the popular breakfast show, First Look Asia, and as the anchor for both the day news and business news bulletins on CNA. During her 9-year tenure at CNA, Yvonne interviewed several newsmakers ranging from Richard Branson, politicians, global CEOs, to entertainment headliners such as Chris Hemsworth, the Foo Fighters and the cast of Crazy Rich Asians, to name a few. 

She is a versatile presenter who has taken on a range of roles during her 9 year tenure at CNA; handling live coverage of many historic events such as the Trump-Kim summits, Taiwan & Indonesian presidential elections, etc. She was also the host of the luxury lifestyle infotainment programme, Luxe Asia and has lent her broadcast –trained voice to several other documentaries and productions over the last decade.

An experienced, bilingual broadcast journalist and seasoned host, Yvonne has accrued a wealth of information and useful tips for presenting effectively on camera and speaking confidently in public.

Nick Walshe

Nick's career began in newspapers in the UK. After working for BBC Radio and TV, he spent 15 years with the UK’s ITV News and ITN, as a reporter, presenter, producer and assignments editor. He joined the management team that launched Al Jazeera English in 2006, running the channel’s reporting division and editing global channel content, before moving to Dubai in 2010.

Alongside his high-level career with some of the world’s top news broadcasters, Nick began media training in 1992 in the UK and over the past decade has worked with the leadership teams of many of MENA’s biggest companies and institutions.

Nick now coaches business leaders, government figures, senior executives and corporate spokespeople in media and presentation skills, and in managing reputational crisis in the media. He also works in TV and digital production – scripting and producing films and recently oversaw the production of 11 climate change films worldwide.

Lynne Wallis

Lynne Wallis is a journalist for national newspapers, with almost 30 years experience. Her specialist area is campaigning journalism, covering the care home sector, health, animal welfare, nursing and the damage done to society by cult groups.

Lynne is a versatile journalist who has written news, features, investigations and column style pieces for multiple newspapers and magazines including The Mail on Sunday, The Guardian, The Express, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail, the Sunday Mirror and The Sunday Times. She became Head of Communications for the Fire Brigades Union in 2015 and led the union's media work during the Grenfell tragedy, honing her crisis management skills.

Lynne returned to her true home in journalism in 2018 and now uses her vast media experience to help Media First clients understand how to pitch, frame and deliver impactful print media stories and headlines.

James White

Managing Director

James started his career in journalism before moving into account management. He joined Media First in 2011 and has been Managing Director since 2012.
Aside from being a super boss, James' other diverse talents include playing pool and knowing about antiques. In recent months he has also become highly skilled at injuring his knee.

When he is not in the office, or doing any of these things, James can be found fishing and listening to Rod Stewart and Ben Folds Five on repeat.

Natalia Szewczyk

Operations Manager

Natalia has multiple years’ experience working in the training and development industry. Her amazing ability to spin multiple logistical plates whilst appearing unflappable is only matched by her patience as people attempt to spell her surname. 

After a busy day at work Natalia enjoys nothing more than obtaining another tattoo whilst listening to Linkin Park and finding excuses not to go to the gym.

Iain Wallace

Marketing Manager

With over twenty years’ experience in PR, Marketing and Communications, Iain runs the Marketing side of the business. He was once officially the fastest nine year old in Runcorn and soon after won a story writing competition to choose the school Christmas tree.

It’s all been downhill from there really, though he remains the UK’s only known secret racewalker and legend has it that when conditions are favourable his almighty sneezing action can be heard from the next floor up in Media First Towers.

Aimee Hudson

Project Manager

With a background in project and account management, Aimee has worked with several high profile clients and is passionate about consistently delivering excellent customer service.

Away from the office, Aimee spends her time not liking football. In order to avoid it she has recently taken up running, but would much prefer to be at home drinking tea and watching Netflix.

Laura Middleton

Operations Executive

This is Laura. Laura lists cinema projectionist and teaching assistant as two of her former jobs, combining a love of film and a knack of restoring calm from chaos. At least one of these qualities is highly prized as a member of our unflappable Operations team.

Away from the day job Laura loves nothing more than a trip to the theatre, or to see a band and is never far away from a glass of rosé.

Juliet Drury

Operations executive

Juliet is the newest member of the Operations Team and brings with her many years of administration and organisational skills along with a degree in Media Studies.

Previous positions have included being a Resource Administrator at The Crown Estate in Windsor and a Recruitment and HR adviser at a large secondary school in Bracknell.

When the sun shines, she can be found on a Paddleboard, when the sun is not shining, she is walking the dog. However, she enjoys an Aperol Spritz or a fizzy wine in all weathers.

Debbie Cowley

Account Manager

Debbie has an account management and marketing background and has worked at Media First for over six years. She can usually be found with a phone glued to her ear working with our clients to understand their communications training needs.

Debbie likes her cocktails like her moods, Ooh la la or Dark and stormy, and prefers her music delivered by Elbow. She also likes dog walking with chatty friends and is a super shoulder to cry on if that's what you need.

Andrea Booth

Account Manager

Andrea has spent most of her life in marketing, working with clients in many different guises to produce their customer magazines and catalogues. She loves Media First so much that after previously trying to escape to focus on bringing up her family, she could no longer ignore the magnetic pull of her colleagues and returned in 2015 to resume her role as an Account Manager.

She loves spending time with friends and family and trying to keep fit with her lunchtime power walks, but woe betide anyone who asks to share her calamari.

Julia Hyde

Account Manager

Jules has many years marketing, partnership and account management experience, working across the utilities, automotive, travel and tech industries. She’s passionate about her clients and loves taking the time to really understand their needs.

Out of hours you’ll find her front row at a music venue listening to someone that nobody else has heard of and eating a 12 box of Cadburys Creme Eggs. You're less likely to find her in the kitchen, unless she’s mixing up a Dirty Martini.

Mandie Richardson

Finance Manager

Mandie has been proudly looking after the Media First purse strings for over six years now. She pays our wages and therefore should not be crossed at any time. A top cake baker and the proud owner of more than 150 pairs of shoes, her rather regal musical influences include both Prince and Queen.

Mandie does not take kindly to inconsiderate car parkers and anyone else who has not noted the bit above about not being crossed.

Adam Fisher

Content Editor

Revered as the author of Media First’s critically acclaimed blog, our resident content editor Adam followed his fathers footsteps into journalism and has previously worked for several newspapers, both on the news and sports desks.

Adam can just as easily turn his hand to a range of talents outside of the office. Junior football coach, lunchtime power lifter, craft beer drinker and - golfers look away now – he claims to have once hit a genuine hole-in-one and has never actually played the game.

Thomas Parker

Studio Manager

Thomas is an award winning international filmmaker with an academic background in media, television and film production and has worked at Media First for over six years as our Camera Operator and now studio manager. For most of that time he has been simultaneously growing a beard.

When he is not commuting up and down the country supporting our training courses, he can often be found making the rest of us feel old, as he pursues his other passion as a DJ. If you like your tunes of the tropical house or old school hip hop variety, Thomas is your man. 

Sara Jones

Sara began as a journalist in local newspapers in East Anglia. She moved into local radio and was involved in the launch of BBC Radio Cambridgeshire. After a spell at Independent Radio News, the national commercial radio news service, she went to the BBC Radio Newsroom where she worked as a sub-editor and reporter.

Sara became a reporter and producer for BBC Radio 4’s ‘You and Yours’ for several years and also worked on other Radio 4 programmes such as ‘Today’, ‘PM’ and ‘Woman’s Hour’. She also worked as a researcher and reporter for Thames Television News before going back to radio where she produced the very first phone-ins on Radio 5.

Reece Lipman

Reece is a filmmaker, writer and editor. He has worked alongside Media First as a camera technician since 2018 and has been involved in media training around the world since 2014. Reece's background is incredibly varied with experience in documentaries, short films, music videos and fashion promos for organisations such as the Royal Society, the Royal Collection, Jeep and the Science Museum.

The unquestionable highlight of Reece's career so far has been the 2 times that he has interviewed Sir David Attenborough... though he fears that these moments may already be impossible to top.

Callum Robertson

Callum joined the BBC World Service in 1998 as a radio producer. He moved into the BBC Academy, the corporation's training arm training journalists in video, audio and online broadcast technologies.

A keen photographer since childhood Callum made the switch to moving pictures in 2010. Now he splits his time between a part-time role at the BBC and working as a freelance shoot/edit specialising in educational as well as corporate video production.

When not stood behind a camera or sat in front of a computer Callum is to be found cycling around the Surrey Hills in lycra, completely unbefitting a man of his age and figure.

Rick Everitt

Rick is a camera operator at Media First with over 15 years experience filming interviews for media training companies. He also has an extensive technical background doing everything from vision mixing to live sound, graphics and directing live TV including live racing and premier league football.

Rick is also a DJ and has played at all sorts of events including weddings, London bars and corporate awards shows. Other personal interests include sport, cars and visiting Disney in Florida as often as possible!

Jonathan Griffin

Jonathan has a strong track record in video, starting in the 1980s with a company specialising in agricultural education films for Third World audiences. He travelled widely as a freelance cameraman in the ‘90s, before forming a successful production company. He has directed, shot and edited hundreds of programmes for blue-chip clients.

Memorable locations include banana plantations in the Chilean Andes, Beijing’s Forbidden City, interviewing Michael Schumacher, following Team Audi Sport at the Le Mans 24-Heures, surviving an oil tanker in a Force 8, and many more. Jonathan edited the original London Docklands Development Corporation promo for Canary Wharf, as well as commercials, party political broadcasts and many high-level business communications.

Jonathan is a keen club cyclist and drives his 1969 Alfa Romeo coupe whenever the opportunity arises.

Lucy Chappell

Studio and camera operator

Lucy is the latest member of our camera operators and studio team and brings with her some great experience working in E-commerce; Live-Streaming with social media influencers and other celebrities.

She has also had recent photography publications in both Vanity Fair and GQ magazine.

When Lucy is not out supporting our media training courses, by day you will find her out on the river on a paddleboard.

But after a couple of cocktails you’ll probably find her dancing on a table with people she’s just met. And probably filming the whole thing for TikTok.

Darren Wingham

Studio producer and camera operator

Darren has worked in broadcast media since 1991, where his skills include front line presentation, extensive video and audio production, as well as photography.

He has also coached and managed presentation teams and fine-tuned broadcast output at what was The Capital Radio Group, before he set up his own Video/Photography production business.

During this time, he produced video training and live stream content which caught the eye of Media First who initially brought him in to help set up their new studios. He enjoyed working with the team so much, he joined them full time!

Worst habit? Name dropping. Please don’t get him started on where he’s worked and who he’s worked with, you won’t get a word in edgeways!

Rachel Nicell

Account executive

A former struggling actress, pub manager and food ingredient flogger, Rachel brings her determination and sense of humour to the Media First office.

Outside of working hours she can be found hunting out and visiting weird and wonderful museums and working within community theatre projects.

She has a penchant for a dry rose and is an avid Eurovision fan which she finds go perfectly hand in hand.

Faiza Anderson

Account executive

With a professional background in IT and HR, Faiza brings her international experience of life and work in three different countries to Media First.

She's passionate about personal development and likes to read a lot. She's also into racket sports and teaches fitness based yoga and mediation using the trapeze in her garden. 

In what little spare time she has left, she loves art, gardening and spending time with her five grandchildren.

Karen Billyard

Account executive

Karen has spent most of her working life in business and marketing. Away from work, she enjoys city breaks, the theatre and a glass of red (or white,) she’s not fussy!

Her favourite time of year is Autumn, when you’ll find her and her dog on a forest walk up to their knees in leaves.

Karen loves a spa day where she says she does her best thinking, but we know it’s to plan a change of nail colour.

Joseph Harris

Account executive

Joseph brings senior sales experience with a marketing slant to our account management team.

When he's not looking after our clients, he's juggling a young family and a passion for creating "melancholy electronic music that’s vaguely dancey". 

Joe's opinion on any music related subject is apparently correct. This is unverified.
He appreciates football as an art form. And yet still supports Arsenal :-)