I trained as an actor and arts administrator at the School of Performing Arts over 40 years ago! During my third-year degree I specialised in performance puppetry, which included a secondment with the amazing John and Lindie Wight at Little Angel Marionette Theatre in Islington and work with John Blundall at Cannon Hill Puppet Theatre in Bimingham. I set up a touring puppet company in Leicester and toured productions around the UK for four years. Two of the productions received Arts Council project funding, and the Cadbury Family were sponsors for a year.

This led me into a full-time position working for the creature shop at Alton Towers where I made props and puppets for productions at the theme park, including “Radio Pippin” a puppet DJ who drove an electric car around the estate. I operated the character for three seasons including during the Diamond Jubilee Year (1987) and the Royal Knockout (pictured below).

As my marketing career took over, I reduced the amount of work on the puppetry side, but managed to find time to write and direct a costume character show for Drayton Manor Park and create a number of walk-through puppet experiences and seasonal grottos.

In 2008 I returned to puppetry for a couple of years and created a series of films featuring a collection of puppet characters for South Yorkshire Police, The Children’s Hospital, Sheffield International Venues, Heritage Great Britain and others under the “Puppetechnics” banner. I also built a 40 seater puppet theatre in Cornwall’s World In Miniature visitor attraction which presented “The Animals of Gooney Farm” throughout the summer, which I wrote and directed.

For the next 18 years I concentrated on my marketing & events career in the tourism industry. I am now planning new puppetry projects in 2026 and beyond!

I am a member of the British Puppet Guild and British UNIMA (Worldwide Puppet Organisation)