Lis is an experienced marketing communications professional and has supported Bristol Creative Industries since 2010. Lis was elected Co-Chair of BCI in 2023 and, along with Heather Wright, drives the vision of the organisation and nurtures key stakeholder relationships.

Prior to founding AMBITIOUS, Lis held board level positions at some of the UK’s leading independent and integrated consultancies including Bray Leino, working with regional, national and international brands, businesses and organisations.

She previously chaired the Chartered Institute of Public Relations South West, served on the CIPR’s national council and was awarded a fellowship for her voluntary work in the sector.

With a particular interest in building better relationships between the creative industries and education providers, particularly Post 16, Lis has been an industry adviser for Cabot Learning Federation, Access Creative College and a Governor of City of Bristol College.

Find Lis on LinkedIn

Heather is a BAFTA-winning animation Executive Producer and Creative Industries Consultant. She is a collaborator and connector with a passion for creativity. Heather was elected Co-Chair of BCI in 2023 and, along with Lis Anderson, drives the vision of the organisation and nurtures key stakeholder relationships.

Prior to working as a Creative Industries Consultant, Heather spent 22 years as Executive Producer and Board Director at Aardman Animations, where she was credited with being a major contributor to the cultural, commercial and creative success of the company.

She has many credits to her name but is most proud of her work as Executive Producer on BAFTA winning ‘Tate Movie Project’ actively engaging over 35,000 children across the UK, to co-create ‘Itch of the Golden Nit’.  As Chair and Trustee of Creative Youth Network she supported the CEO and the Board during a time of transformation from being a local activity centre to being one of the South West’s most respected youth arts groups.

Heather is also an active member of the AHRC Creative Industries Advisory Group.

Tom is an experienced creative agency leader specialising in digital experiences and creative technology solutions.  

Tom has held leadership positions in industry leading creative agencies across both the UK and Australia that have be recognised at prestigious awards including Cannes Lions, BIMA and The Effies. Tom eventually landed back in the South West to head up creative technology studio, Aer Studios. Proudly B Corp Certified, Tom and his team have be ranked in the top 100 best workplaces in the UK and have recently been appointed to the BBC UX Design roster as the only agency representing the South West region.  

Tom’s passion is in creating meaningful digital experiences that have a positive impact on people & planet. He believes that bringing the creative and technology sectors closer together can have a huge benefit to the South West.  

Robert is a qualified accountant with over 25 years’ experience, specialising in the Media, Creative and Technology sectors. He supports businesses from start-up through to growth, fundraising and exit and advises on tax, VAT, R&D and Making Tax Digital, helping clients navigate both day-to-day and strategic challenges. He is also a Director of The Sustainable Soils Alliance CIC and the West of England Design Forum CIC. 

Kate Sikora is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Noble Performs, a digital performance marketing agency based in Bristol renowned for helping organisations achieve remarkable results. Highly commended as the IOD Director of the Year 2023 and serving as a Taan European Governor, Kate is committed to driving excellence and innovation in the digital marketing landscape.  

Beyond her professional endeavours, Kate finds joy in family life, practicing yoga, and exploring new culinary creations in the kitchen. 

Adam brings over 16-years of commercial film production experience, serving as a founding director of B Corp BLANKET™ 

With his roots in documentary filmmaking, Adam has honed a talent for uncovering the essence of stories, establishing profound connections with his subjects. While he remains a practitioner, he also dedicates significant time to nurturing relationships with agencies and brands, earning him a reputation as a trusted partner in the industry. 

Adam now collaborates with globally recognised brands, leveraging his expertise to drive innovative projects. He maintains a keen interest in the intersection of education and creativity, aiming to foster greater connectivity within the Bristol Creative Industries (BCI) around film and video and create a space for collaboration through BLANKET™ Studios 

David is the co-founder and Operations Director of Atomic Smash, a Website performance agency based in Bristol, specialising in optimising WordPress, WooCommerce and Shopify.   

Since its inception in 2010, Atomic Smash has prided itself on a caring team culture, emphasising continuous learning, creativity, and problem-solving. In this role, he has been recognised for kindness in leadership by being nominated as a Kindness & Leadership Leading Light. David’s approach to business reflects a deep understanding of the web’s potential to transform how companies and individuals communicate and conduct business.  

Gail is a freelance consultant, working in strategy and policy development and specialising in the creative industries. She is currently working as an advisor to the Creative Industries Council. Gail has worked in national government for over a decade, primarily as Head of Creative Industries Policy at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Working across the private, voluntary and not for profit sectors, she has successfully secured major funding bids, overseeing programme delivery and advocating with, and for, a range of interest groups including people with learning disabilities.

Gail was Head of Policy for Creative England. She worked with governments and agencies in countries including Columbia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Germany to share best practice.

My experience combines senior consultancy (10+ years) and academic leadership (10+ years), designing and delivering training to support business development and career growth in marketing.  My current focus is on bringing together regional and academic expertise to support business growth within the creative industries.   

I studied my PhD at the Digital Behaviour Lab (University of Bath School of Management) and my research and teaching now focuses on applying psychology to creative processes.  My recent work at Bristol Business School includes investigating behaviour change with Bristol City Council, researching the Bristol brand with Visit West, and understanding the effectiveness of social media advertising.  I also created and led the MSc Digital Marketing at UWE Bristol, led several successful Digital Marketing Bootcamps, and I now co-host the Digital Behaviour Podcast. 

Nicky is an agency growth advisor and former agency founder with over 20 years’ experience across the creative, employee engagement and communications sectors. 

She co-founded Bristol-based creative agency Synergy, growing the business over 13 years before its acquisition by McCann Worldgroup in 2020. Under her leadership, Synergy became one of the UK’s leading employee engagement agencies, working with global brands and earning recognition, including The Drum Marketing Agency of the Year and IOIC Best Agency. 

Today, through Nicky&Co, Nicky works with independent agency owners and leadership teams to strengthen client relationships, improve retention and unlock more sustainable growth from existing clients. 

Passionate about the future of the creative industries, Nicky brings a strong commercial lens to the BCI board, with a focus on agency growth, collaboration and helping build a thriving, resilient creative sector in the South West. 

Aimée Norman is a strategic consultant for the international entertainment industry. She runs business communications agency Liberi Consulting with Janet Balmforth and is co-founder of The Growth Partners, in partnership with VJC Media, which offers a ‘Get Investment Ready’ programme for SMEs in the creative sector. 

With clients across the globe working in multiple genres, Liberi offers a forward-thinking and 360-degree approach to international B2B and executive communications. It aligns corporate PR strategy for creative businesses with coaching and consultancy, and the ethos that success and impact is built on clear purpose, clarity of message and confident delivery.  

Aimée and Janet are regular contributors to conferences and webinars on effective presentation, pitching skills and B2B communication strategy, and are consultants for Creative Enterprise under its Business Builder Initiative. 

Aimée’s career in entertainment started in film and television production and film finance. 

Alli joined the team in 2012 with responsibility to support and grow the membership base. Whilst membership is her prime focus, Alli is involved in all day-to-day operations, including supporting BCI’s events and managing community initiatives.

Prior to joining Bristol Creative Industries Alli spent 20 years working in recruitment. Alli focused on placing people in the creative industries in London and the South West and, in fact, many of the businesses she supported are part of the BCI network 20 years on!

Get in touch with Alli

Dan joined the Bristol Creative Industries team in January 2021 to help create website content & provide community management support of our busy social media channels.

Having started his career in journalism at Sky News, Dan’s background as a small business journalist, content creator and event host over 18 years has led him to interview hundreds of entrepreneurs from famous names like Sir Richard Branson and Deborah Meaden to the founders behind the newest start-ups.

Alongside his work for Enterprise Nation as their Local Leader for Bristol, Dan has also run live webchats from inside 10 Downing Street, helped run small business trade missions to countries including United Arab Emirates, China, USA, France and Germany and is also an ambassador for Social Media Week Bristol

Having previously worked for Bristol Media from 2009 to 2011, Lynda re-joined the team in March 2015. Lynda provides daily administrative support for Bristol Creative Industries and is responsible for managing our finance requirements.

Lynda has over 30 years’ experience as a professional PA and Office Manager, working in both the UK and in Spain. During much of this time, she worked in the Marketing, PR and Creative recruitment industry and brings a wealth of knowledge of the creative sector.

Rachel joined Bristol Creative Industries in March 2025 to support and develop our membership community. She supports membership and marketing initiatives, ensuring our members feel valued, supported, and connected.

Originally from Texas, Rachel has proudly made Bristol her home. With 15 years of experience in TV production, she understands the challenges faced by creative professionals and is passionate about fostering a supportive environment for those working in the creative and screen industries.