My first job was as a welder with GEC. Several years later I returned to education and gained a first class degree in the History of Design and the Visual Arts from Staffordshire Polytechnic. I went on to pursue post graduate studies in the area of Film and TV Studies at the University of Warwick before taking up professional roles in the media sector. I became interested in the professional journey of media practitioners, particularly their (often) precarious move into self-employment and enterprise development. This interest lead to professional roles in business support and sector development in the creative and media sector and included setting up and managing two large scale support projects and devising and managing an award-winning international animation festival. My interest in teaching has been a thread through this journey and for the past 15 years I have been involved in part-time teaching at several universities, including the University of Warwick, Worcester University, Derby University and The Open University. In 2015 I took up a full time teaching role at Coventry University where I teach modules on creativity, innovation and business start-up.

Entrepreneurship Education; Cultural and Creative industries; Cultural and creative entrepreneurship; Design Thinking

My current research interests include Creative Entrepreneurship and the role of Effectuation.

I am currently jointly supervising a PhD candidate who is exploring cultural entrepreneurship.

Areas of Expertise:

Business start up; Cultural Entrepreneurship; Design Thinking