Talk us through an average day in your role.
I joined Ateliere recently, and my role is still evolving. Having jumped across from the user side of technology as a broadcaster for many years, I’m experiencing what it’s like to be on the vendor side of the community, and it’s really exciting. I’m learning lots of new things and I’ve got a great team around me.
I’m learning a lot about business development and sales processes. In particular, I’m getting deep inside the product to make sure that I understand how to best take it to our customers and solve the problems that they face in this rapidly changing world that we live in, in the current broadcast and entertainment space.
How did you get started in the media industry?
I began my career in systems integration after graduating from Ravensbourne University, where I specialised in broadcast systems. My first role was with a small, independent UK systems integrator called IPK. It was there that I truly honed my skills in system design and builds. Those early days were marked by the monumental transition from analogue to digital—an era when SDI systems were being installed to replace ageing analogue composite edit suites and broadcast studios. It was hands-on, transformational work that shaped the foundations of my expertise.
This constant transformation has been a defining element of my career. I’ve witnessed groundbreaking shifts, from the rise of HD to revolutionary advancements like 4K, HDR, immersive audio, VR, and 360° video during my time with BT. Each innovation expanded the possibilities of broadcast production, pushing boundaries further than we could have imagined.
Today, we’ve entered a new era—a software-defined world where hardware is no longer the centrepiece. This is where companies like Ateliere thrive, providing the tools that redefine production as a software-driven service. It’s an exciting time, and I’m proud to be a part of this forward-thinking transformation.
What training did you have before entering he industry?
My formal training was with Ravensbourne University, where I did a specialised broadcast engineering systems qualification – it wasn’t even a degree. After that, I worked in systems integrations for about five years, which I absolutely loved. Next, I joined a global sports production company called Octagon CSI as head of engineering at their production base in Wimbledon. For five years I had a fantastic time growing their sports operation, and then there was the opportunity to join BT.
BT had just won the rights for the first time to the Premier League, which was a precursor to the big project that became known as BT Sport a few years later. In 2013, when they properly invested in live Premier League, that was when we launched BT Sport. We had just 18 weeks to build out an 80,000 square foot broadcast centre in East London and launched three channels from scratch. We brought on a brilliant team in a very short span of time and delivered a completely transformational experience. In that time, we had the chance to innovate in all sorts of ways, but always obsessing about the customer and trying to bring the fans what we had promised. That was our motto: how do we get customers even closer to the sport they love?
The culmination of this journey led me into our first foray into cloud production—an endeavour that marked a pivotal shift. Recognising the potential of software-defined production in the cloud, I collaborated with industry leaders like Sky, the BBC, and the Premier League to rigorously evaluate its viability and impact. The outcomes were impressive, showcasing measurable reductions in carbon footprint and validating the transformational power of this approach. What drew me most was the ability to redefine production as a service—a vision perfectly aligned with Ateliere Live’s innovative capabilities.
Why do you enjoy working in the industry?
Whether you work in production, as a technical operator, editor, or a technologist like I’ve been, or in the vendor or service communities – this is not an individual pursuit. It’s a team game, success relies on collaboration, and we live and die by the strength of the team. And I think that’s what’s most rewarding. We all have a part to play and no one is more important than anyone else. You have senior leaders and newcomers in the business, of course, but ultimately we all win or lose together.
One thing I absolutely love is that it’s a very supportive community. That’s what’s been really interesting about my role chairing the charity Rise Academy, which is a non-profit that works to educate, inspire, and inform young people about educational pathways into our sector. Every time I go to a Rise Academy or Rise event, I see almost exponential growth in participation. People really want to help and support others. At last year’s Summer School we had 180 volunteers give their time and share their knowledge. They loved showing the young people learn what they’ve learned, which is an exciting thing.
Because the technology will always change, and the operations will change. Let’s be honest, we’re in a difficult environment commercially these days. TV is maybe not seen as being quite as exciting as it once was, and we’re under huge commercial pressure with transforming landscapes in terms of advertising and other challenges. Yet people here are still smiling because of the joy of working together in these different team environments. That’s what’s been so rewarding and encouraging for me.
What piece of advice would you offer someone looking to explore a similar role to yours?
I’ve never stopped learning about this industry since I started, as it’s constantly changing. I always say to students: don’t worry too much about specifics, learn principles, learn how to learn, how to be engaged, how to ask questions. These are the things that matter because what you learn today will change within 18 months for sure. I’ve been through that journey of having to reskill all the time, from knowing about analogue and digital, knowing about hardware, knowing about software, knowing about IP. I absolutely love it. Every single day is genuinely a school day in our industry. I think that’s what makes it really fun.
The world’s changed now, and people come into the industry in all sorts of different ways. As mentioned previously, one of my other roles that I’m honoured to hold is as the chair of trustees for the Rise Academy. We’re trying to reach a wider cohort of people who traditionally might not have been attracted to the industry, probably because of a lack of awareness about the sector. This industry is very unrepresented in terms of gender, lower socio-economic status and racial diversity and we are working hard to try and change it.
We’re trying to make people aware that there are really fulfilling, rewarding and frankly well-paid technical and operational roles in our industry that could offer people a really exciting career. We want people to be aware of those opportunities and do what I call “join the dots” in the pipeline. This means finding exciting young people in school, pointing out what paths they should pursue in further and higher education. Then starting to look at what those early career paths are so we can get a really strong cohort of young people coming through.
