As Chief Executive, Mary-Alice is responsible for the strategic leadership and management of the organisation. This involves a wide range of duties including the exploration of new business opportunities, ensuring our social objectives remain central to the design and delivery of all our programmes and services.

Mary-Alice was instrumental in the establishment of Creative United in 2012 as a spin out from Arts Council England. Since then, she has successfully led the growth and development of the business, working closely with the Board and Staff team, and in collaboration with a wide range of partners across the public, private and higher education sectors.

Having studied at Falmouth School of Art and with a degree in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute, her background and professional expertise is firmly rooted in the visual arts. However, she is also passionate about music and the performing arts. In addition to her work at Creative United, she is involved in a voluntary capacity on the Board of a number of other arts organisations including New Contemporaries and the Oppenheim-John Downes Memorial Trust.

Sam is a chartered accountant and finance professional, with an MBA from London Business School. She has pursued a parallel career in music-based research since completing a PhD at the Media and Arts Technology Doctoral Training Centre at Queen Mary University of London in 2015.

She has experience working with charities, commercial organisations and music conservatoires. She is Treasurer for Open Up Music, who create opportunities for young disabled people to take part in music-making in ensembles. Sam is also a musician, playing saxophone with a number of London based ensembles.

Sarah joined the Creative United team in 2014 to deliver the Creative Industry Finance programme. From 2017 onwards, Sarah spearheaded the launch of a number of programmes, including Prosper, Forge and Prosper. In her current role as Director of Strategic Development, she develops growth and innovation strategies across all of Creative United programmes and services. In addition to her work at Creative United, Sarah is on the Board of Trustees for the Music Venue Trust.

Sarah studied Film and Drama at degree level, but music is her first love. She started her career in the creative industry working in the music sector as promoter and artist managed. She founded up a live agency, booking tours for bands across the UK and Europe, before joining PRS Foundation as Communications Manager.

Alongside her work with Creative United, Sarah is studying for a PhD with Birmingham City University, where she is also a Visiting Lecturer on their BA Music Industries course.

As the Head of Programme Development for Creative United, Stephen is responsible for leading on the strategic planning and development of Creative United’s consumer credit programmes, primarily the Own Art and Take it away schemes. Across both schemes we have a network of over 400 member galleries and musical instrument retailers with whom he provide sales and administrative support alongside the wider Consumer Credit team. Stephen has been with Creative United since 2019 and is very pleased to be part the comapnies continued commitment of increasing social engagement in the arts and the growth of the creative industries.

His background is in the visual arts but he is passionate about all creative pursuits and particularly enjoys attending live music events. Stephen studied at the Cardiff School of Art, obtaining a First in Art and Aesthetics in 2004 and is pleased to say that he continues his own practice as an artist and photographer in his spare time. Professionally, he has over 15 years’ experience in business management within the hospitality and retail sectors, including managing art galleries in the primary and secondary markets.

Laurie leads on the planning, management and delivery of Creative United’s business development initiatives, services, and programmes - including Re:Create, E-learning, and the Creative United Artist Advisory Group. She manages relationships with a range of strategic partners and creatives and helps to identify and develop new growth opportunities that align with Creative United’s goals.

Growing up multi-lingual, Laurie loves meeting people from different backgrounds and exchanging ideas. Since 2013, she has worked in a mix of project management, marketing, and content creation roles in the cultural sector within the UK, Luxembourg, and Aotearoa-New Zealand. Most recently, she co-managed Luxembourg’s newly established National Centre for Industrial Culture, leading on their communications, setting up a monthly podcast and project managing a large-scale exhibition, in the frame of the European Capital of Culture Esch2022.

As an arts lover, Laurie interested in all forms of culture and creativity - she loves discovering new music at gigs and going to exhibitions.

Susie has joined Creative United as a maternity cover to manage and develop a variety of Creative United's support programmes. These include the Re:Create business support programme and Creative United's E-learning offer.

With a background in music, design and communications Susie is passionate about supporting creative businesses to grow, thrive and be accessible to all. Before joining Creative United, Susie co-founded and ran a design business specialising in hospitality design, a Saturday music school and enjoyed a number of years working with the media for central and local government organisations.

As Senior Marketing and Communications Manager, Siobhan acts as a brand guardian across all Creative United’s programmes. Her role is to supervise and develop the work we do to reach new audiences, maintain the quality and effectiveness of all our communications and ensure our marketing output is aligned with our social impact goals and priorities. She keeps the website up to date, manages the production of blogs and editorial content, and leads on the development of long term communications strategies.

After graduating with a degree in English Literature from the University of Lincoln, Siobhan spent 8 years working in the creative and cultural sector, engaging with a wide range of audiences form galleries, theatres, and museums, to schools, local authorities, and funding bodies.

In addition to my work at Creative United, she also work with Get It Loud in Libraries, an organisation bringing emerging and established musical talent to play doorstep gigs in libraries across England and Scotland. The goal of this work is to challenge and change perceptions of libraries and to engage new audiences, particularly young people in using these unique and valuable community assets.

As Business and Social Impact Data Manager, Sara is responsible for data management, analysis and reporting for Creative United. She works with each team, across the Own Art and Take it away programmes and our business development projects, to report on our goals and evidence our social impact.

She studied History at the University of Cambridge and then attended art school where she specialised in illustration and stationery design. She later combined her two loves and completed an MA in History of Art and Archaeology of East Asia at SOAS. Since then, she has worked in both the museum and theatre industries.

Her passion for the arts, history and inclusion continues outside of work where she is a tour guide for the award-winning LGBTQIA+ Tours at the Victoria and Albert Museum and co-runs Housmans Queer Book Club. She also spends as much time as she can on research and is currently fascinated by the publishing industry and theatre fandoms in Edo Period Japan.

As Communications Officer Steph plays an active part in the effective planning and delivery of Creative United’s internal and external communication activities. This includes relationship management with key stakeholders and partner organisations, such as our Own Art and Take it away members, as well as working collaboratively across all departments to maintain strong internal communications.

She educational background is rooted in art, history and visual culture, having achieved a BA in Art History and an MA in Medieval Studies from the University of Bristol. She began working in the culture sector as a member of the Front of House team at the RWA gallery in Bristol, and later moved into to the Marketing Department. Steph spent a  year volunteering with the Art Therapy charity, Studio Upstairs, helping to provide long term mental health support for some of Bristol’s most vulnerable people, through creative expression and exploration.

She is also a self-taught artist and craftsperson, working mostly in textiles. Her work is inspired all sorts of things: medieval images, ritual objects, folklore and her cat, Ginge. Creative United works to help people from all walks of life have better access to different arts environments, with a strong focus on the individuals - on the artists themselves. As an artist, this is something that she resonates with.

As Digital Marketing Officer Anisha looks after Creative United’s digital presence, creative content, and the development of communications strategies. With a BA in English Literature with Creative Writing (UEA), an MA in Creative and Life Writing (Goldsmiths), and a journey through the world of marketing starting in 2018, she enjoys creative approaches to language and communication.

Alongside working at Creative United, Anisha publishes and performs poetry. Her writing usually revolves around the aesthetics of the every day, mixed-race heritage, and queer love.

As the Membership Development Manager at Creative United Ben manages the onboarding, training, and ongoing support for members of the Own Art and Take it away schemes. As part of the Consumer Credit team, he is the first point of contact for any questions related to these schemes.

Ben comes from an acting background, having graduated with a First in Theatre Studies from The University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and later earning an MA in Classical Acting from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, graduating with Distinction. Over the years, he has worked as a professional actor across the UK and Europe, performing at venues such as The Arcola and the Globe Theatre. A highlight of his career was touring with Hamlet in the leading role, and his final professional acting project was playing Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment.

Outside of Creative United, Ben continues to perform regularly, writing and playing original music as part of his folk-rock duo, Weaver Line.

As bookkeeper of Creative United Fiona is responsible for making sure the financial management of the organisation runs smoothly and accurately and to support the Director of Finance and Budget Holders with their financial, accounting and forecasting needs. 

Having qualified as a chartered accountant some years ago, she has worked in mainly media and creative industries for most of my career. Outside of work she has always enjoyed going to gigs, the theatre and art galleries as well as travelling (and bringing up my family). She has also been practicing yoga regularly for 30 years and qualified as a yoga teacher in 2009 when living in Hong Kong. Fiona's yoga practice and teaching influences her approach to living and has helped her through an extremely difficult family trauma.