Creative Boom Hubs

Creative Boom Hubs are regional online magazines that aim to celebrate and support the creative industries throughout different pockets of the UK.

They include news, events, features, lookbooks and opportunities covering a wide range of creative sectors whether that's fashion, photography, film, marketing, PR, gaming, digital, media or animation. It's a fantastic platform for you to raise your profile locally, network and secure more work while helping other local freelancers or businesses.

If you'd like to run your own Hub, email the team at Creative Boom at hubs@creativeboom.co.uk to find out more.

Don't forget that each Creative Boom Hub has its own online directory where you can add your business for free! Just email your details to the relevant Hub and we'll add you on there. Now it's time to meet our Hub editors...

Nick Vellacott

Creative Boom Bath is run by Nick Vellacott who heads up Highlight PR, a Bath-based PR agency which he founded in 1999. Highlight PR specialises in PR for creative agencies and brands, hence Nick’s desire to support Creative Boom. Prior to launching his own agency, Nick spent a number of years in leading London and Bath PR agencies. He also worked briefly as an advertising copywriter in Hong Kong. When he’s not working, you might find him with a guitar, a golf club, a paintbrush or a young son (he’s got three).

Alan Anderson

Creative Boom Belfast is run by Alan Anderson, the Lead Designer at Blue Tube Design, a Print and Web Design agency. He used to work in advertising and sales as well as being a freelance desktop publisher and designer. Blue Tube Design specialises in Corporate Branding and has just ventured into the creative world of Ambient Marketing and Event Management. When not working you will find Alan shoulder deep in a DIY project or reliving his youth by building lego cars and bridges with his son.

Mandy Chana

Creative Boom Birmingham is headed up by Mandy Chana along with a team of regular contributors. Graduating in Multimedia Technology, Mandy now works within the iMedia/Marketing department at Gas Street Works - a digital creation agency specialising in engaging video and web products. Her current projects have her working across all areas of the company from video production, web development, social media and design. She loves travelling and has spent time living in China and backpacking around the world. Check out their blog, We Love Videos.

Amy Wass

Creative Boom Brighton is run in partnership with PWS Design, a small design and communications agency based in Hove. PWS Design was formed in 2001, by Jasia Winstone and Stewart Henderson, who worked together in London before PWS was created. The hub itself is run by Amy Wass, who has been with PWS for two years. PWS Design enjoys working with clients in the insurance, finance, education and charity sectors. They specialise in brand identity and the production of corporate collateral, and more recently, have been working on digital literature and web design.

Tom Stutt

Creative Boom Bristol is headed up by Tom Stutt, a freelance graphic and web designer from Bristol who also likes to dabble in a little illustration work. He's recently set up his own business, Tom Stutt Design. and finally pursuing the career of his dreams after spending most of his working life in IT. When Tom isn't working, he's either watching football and films but mainly, he enjoys being at home with his family. To find out more about Tom and his work, visit Tom Stutt Design.

Karen Jinks

Creative Boom Cambridge is managed by Karen Jinks, an artist and freelance illustrator currently living in Cambridgeshire with her partner and two children. A graduate of graphic design and illustration from the Norwich School of Art, Karen's work ranges from clean, minimal design to richly textured collage and paintings. She also sells on Chalk Hill Studio, which reflects her love of nature and is the person behind UK Handmade. She's proud to be a part of Creative Boom.

Natalie Rose Smith

Creative Boom Cardiff is headed up by Natalie Rose Smith, a freelance graphic designer based in Wales. A former student of Birmingham Institute of Art & Design, she has developed a keen interest in type and print. Her work is fun and quirky, bright and bold designs with strong graphic and geometric influences, often with little comic twists. As well as freelancing, Natalie is now working at a graphic/web company. As well as art & design, she also has strong interests in fashion, photography, travelling, and loves music.

Holly Knowlman

Creative Boom Cheltenham is run by Holly Knowlman, a freelance copywriter and PR type with a passion for creative things and a killer social media habit. After graduating from University College Falmouth, where she studied English and Media, Holly returned to her home town of Cheltenham. Most of her time is spent searching for chunks of internet gold, writing and drinking tea. She is passionate about promoting up and coming artists and has a particular penchant for organising bespoke events and launch parties.

Lorrie Whittington

Creative Boom Chichester is run by Lorrie Whittington, a visual artist and designer based in Chichester. Operating as Illusio Creative, Lorrie specialises in painting, illustration and photography, and offers web design servics. Having trained in the 80’s in Art & Design, and Fashion Textile Design in London, Lorrie has been working freelance for the past 20 years. Her art is generally abstract, incorporating the themes of nature, and easily recognisable for her bold use of colour and form.
 Lorrie is also part of the editorial team for online magazine, UK Handmade.

Gill McColl

Creative Boom Edinburgh is run by Gill McColl who relocated back to Edinburgh almost four years ago after many years in London. Her time is split between the world of publishing, working for Mainstream Publishing, and freelance graphic design. She recently started Paper Robot Studio, with partner Steve Marshall – a multi-disciplinary agency with a focus on graphic design and film production. A graduate of English Literature with a postgraduate degree in Community Education, she's just about to complete her qualification in graphic design at Edinburgh’s Telford College.

Natasha Sexton

Creative Boom Gillingham is managed by Natasha Sexton, a self-employed designer from Kent who specialises in fashion accessories. She is also currently learning fashion design and dressmaking and hopes to one day have her own fashion line. Her hobbies include music, photography, collecting vintage fashion, video editing, writing and of course Creative Boom! To find out more about Natasha, visit Natashasexton.webs.com.

Mhari McMullan

Creative Boom Glasgow is run by designer Mhari McMullan who looks after Welcome Home, a multi-disciplinary gallery and retail space based in Glasgow's West End. Focused on making art, design and craft accessible to all, it provides a constantly evolving space for new designers and people to showcase, create, learn and educate. Mhari is a graduate of Textile Design and likes applying herself and her work to a variety of end results, bridging gaps between art, craft, design, fashion, illustration and teaching.

Dean Wales

Creative Boom Ipswich is managed by Dean Wales who has worked in journalism and the creative industries for over 17 years. As PR Director, he now heads up White Space Public relations, with freelance journalist work filling the gaps whenever any open up. Very active in theatre and other live performance around the county, Dean is also a theatre critic for the local press.

Sally Paddock

Creative Boom Leeds is headed up by Sally Paddock, a passionate creative who is always looking for adventures! Graphic design and typography are at the heart of her creative background. Whatever the brief, Sally always thrives on meaningful communication by using an array of skills to connect with the audience. She enjoys getting the word out using copywriting and visual specialist skills. In her spare time, Sally enjoys creating illustrations that spring from interesting topics she has been writing about, seen at the theatre, or spotted during spent time walking in the dales or in the garden.

Rebekah Harriman

Creative Boom Leicester is managed by Rebekah Harriman. Having trained to Masters level in Fine Art (with an MA in Art & Design in the European Context) alongside a career as a personal assistant and office manger, Rebekah chose to combine this passion for a creative outlook on business with her organisational abilities and R&R VA Services was born. This Virtual Assistance service is focused on the Creative Industries and offers a bespoke administrative service which caters to the differing needs of different clients, from Design Consultancies to the individual professional photographer.

Ash Garrod

Creative Boom Liverpool is run by 23 year old graphic designer Ash Garrod who is based in Liverpool. Ash primarily practices as a graphic designer but loves to explore other avenues. She has a keen interest in pattern making and type design and hopes to become successful in as many areas of design as possible. She graduated from Liverpool John Moores University in July 2009 with a BA Hons in Graphic Design. Ash became one of the first Hubs to launch back in November 2009 and is passionate about supporting the creative industries throughout Liverpool and Merseyside.

Russell Thomas

Creative Boom London is managed by Russell Thomas at THECUBE, a co-working space in London. Russell is a freelance copywriter and intern at THECUBE, which offers a fresh and sleek working environment that will stimulate your productivity and focus your business. Its pricing is economical and flexible; affording your business with a great workspace and professional impression. Most importantly, business is about people. THECUBE allows you to access a community of entrepreneurs and business experts ready to share their ideas, contacts, and resources with you.

Alex Wood

Creative Boom Manchester is managed by Alex Wood, a multi-talented creative monkey who enjoys turning his hand to all sorts of geeky things and works at STAN – a traditional and digital PR agency based in Manchester and London. He cut his teeth in the music industry before moving to the sports industry and on to agency work. His creative portfolio includes websites, columns, photography, music and graphic design, but his main love has always been writing. In his spare time he likes walking, swimming, climbing things, and raising money for The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.

Adam Kirkman

Creative Boom Nottingham is headed up by designer Adam Kirkman along with Nottingham based illustrator and good friend Matthew Savage. A graduate of Nottingham Trent university where he studied Graphic Design, Adam now works full-time at a design studio in Leicester. His interests lie in typography and branding but he also is passionate about printed media. Adam was in fact one of the first artists we ever showcased and he's been with Creative Boom ever since.

Lucy McShane

Creative Boom Reading is run by Lucy McShane who owns and runs jammmedia, a creative design agency, based in Reading. Lucy loves graphics, animals and building websites. She also does at least one stupid thing a day, the most recent is flooding a public bathroom by breaking the tap. Lucy and her team have designed banners, background and Twitter graphics for Creative Boom. She now runs her own Creative Boom Hub.

James Whitworth

Creative Boom Sheffield is run by James Whitworth, a writer and cartoonist. Following a post graduate English degree, James took the plunge into freelancing and has since written for a wide variety of newspapers and magazines. James has also contributed to many blogs including his own, Some Music Matters. In 2008 he became the Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook’s official blogger. James draws a topical news cartoon every week day and has published a number of gag cartoons, many of which can be seen at his dedicated James Whitworth cartoon website. When not writing or drawing, James buys far too many CDs.

Stina Jones

Creative Boom Stoke-on-Trent is managed by Stina Jones, the face behind Creative Elements, a graphic design and illustration agency that serves young entrepreneurs and the creative industries. Stina is passionate about design, working on her own art projects in her spare time. She sells prints through Art for Urban Spaces and has also just launched a Daily Doodle to raise money for charity Shelter, something that Creative Boom is supporting throughout 2010. When Stina isn't drawing, she loves Kundalini Yoga, seeing gigs and going to art galleries.

Les Donaldson

Creative Boom Swindon is run by Les Donaldson who heads up Aesthetik, a graphic and web design company which he founded in 2008 (Previously Design Tree). Aesthetik is focused on spreading design brilliance across the globe with clients both locally and throughout europe. Before Aesthetik, Les has held Graphic Designer and Creative Director roles for a number of companies but has quickly found out that running his own creative studio is where it's at. Away from the studio he's a keen climber, has a wife and two dogs that he spoils way too much.

Joanna Kinch

Creative Boom Wrexham is managed by Joanna Kinch, who runs KinchPrint, a local design, print and promotional products company. Describing herself as a creative butterfly, she was born and brought up in the Wrexham area, but lived and worked in Plymouth for a number of years. Her head is often full of ideas and she loves to create using different types of media. She also enjoys making jewellery, as well as paper crafting. Professionally, she has a varied background from finance and admin to design and procurement. When she isn't working, Joanna likes to spend time with husband Ralph and their family of animals, including Jacob the Jack Russell and our cat called Queen Tess.