ABOUT ME

Living and Learning

1. grew up in Croydon, Surrey;
2. went to Whitgift School,South Croydon;
3. received a First class degree in English and Art History at Leeds University
4. took an MA course at Reading University in English Literature.

Working

1. joined Macmillan Education as a copywriter, then became Promotions Manager organising direct mail campaigns and advertising in the UK and overseas.
2. moved on to nfernelson, the major publisher of psychological assessments and then to Hamlyn Publishing, which taught me a lot about consumer promotions. Among my jobs was having tea with Barbara Cartland and taking Nanette Newman to author events. As a spare time publishers' reader, I turned down many potential best sellers on the basis of pure ignorance.
3. moved back to nfernelson I worked in clinical, book, journal and educational publishing and marketing planning as well as developing an international network of agents. As marketing director I integrated direct sales, publicity, P.R., customer service and order processing into a unified customer-facing group. It worked because of the exceptional people who worked there. I then became Director of ASE, the consultancy specialising in psychological testing, training and consultancy in business.
4. developed a professional and intellectual interest in the area of human psychology. I was publishers’ representative on the BPS (British Psychology Society) Test Standards Committee, a member of European working parties on testing. I am secretary of the European Test Publishers Group.
5. founded OnlyConnect in 2002, after leaving ASE
6. was part time visiting tutor to final year Graphic Design students at Central St. Martins College of Art and Design.

Training

1. trained at Henley, Ashridge, Chartridge and Insead Management colleges and in a number of techniques as well as test such as 16PF and the AEM-cube.
2. enjoy training people and have run courses in copy writing, design, strategic marketing, brand development, personality theory, public relations practice  and intellectual capital management.

Writing

1. started OnlyConnect Publishing in 2011. My writing influences my work with organisations. I often do the copy writing linked to strategic plans I've developed; I'm interested in what creativity means for businesses; and in recent years I've authored books and tests, usually under contract or as a ghost writer. I do regular journalism work for The Psychologist magazine.

Living (again) 

1. Tracy and I live in Henley-on-Thames.
2. Tracy worked for Macmillan Children's Books but now sells her wonderful photographs at a variety of venues ( see www.tflorancephotography.co.uk.) I recently became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

The rest of this section of the site gives examples of my own writing and other arts projects I've contributed to.