After four glorious years studying Graphic Design at Gloucester College of Art I was given my first job working at Art & Design Limited in Gloucester as a junior paste up artist.

The head of Studio, Simon Allen (an all round genius with a Rotring, scalpel and a bit of CS10) took me under his wing. Having served my apprenticeship I then spent two years under the magical influence of Francis Bacon (No, not the one you're thinking) in the Creative department. I was incredibly fortunate that the two most talented people I had ever seen were both willing to share every ounce of their vast knowledge.

In 1987 I became Art Director and was asked to open a sister Art & Design Ltd in Swindon. Having trawled the Estate Agents I was finally given the go-a-head on a wonderful studio space in Old Town. Clients included Marlboro, Castrol, Brown Brothers, Cow & Gate, Kraft Foods and Mitsubishi cars. I spent three years in Old Town before becoming freelance in 1990.

For four years I had been commuting up and down the M4 from Chiswick and had moved to Windsor just before going freelance. I was given a retainer at Owls Limited (Clark Hooper before becoming-Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO) in Slough and was a regular creative freelancer at Barrett Howe Plc in Windsor. More