Portfolio
2006-2009
Adestra
After graduating with a degree in Software Engineering, I realised I didn’t want a career spent staring at code all day. Instead, I took a role with Adestra, an Email Service Provider based in Oxford. The role combined platform support with designing, building, sending, and analysing email campaigns. The coding came naturally, but I also enjoyed the broader mix – design, strategy, client relationships, and data analysis – and how all those elements worked together to drive results. Within a year, I was leading the managed services department, responsible for delivering all client projects.
2008-2009
Freelance
After three years at Adestra, I decided to go freelance—a real eye-opener. Delivering projects was well within my skill set, but learning how to pitch, position myself, and win clients was a whole new challenge. It pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped me grow quickly. I was proud to secure work with several prestigious clients, including Aston Martin Racing, Radisson Blu, and Fujitsu.
2009-14
Emailcenter UK
The hardest part of self-employment wasn’t the work – it was getting paid on time. Without the cash reserves to handle that uncertainty, I took a role with Emailcenter UK (later acquired by Xtremepush) as an Email Marketing Consultant. Compared to Adestra, this was a far more consultative role. We acted as extensions of our clients’ teams, often spending days onsite to understand their business goals. From there, we’d collaborate to shape and deliver strategies that improved email performance. After a couple of years, I became the senior consultant, managing all key accounts.
2014-
Group GTI
In 2014, after more than four years at Emailcenter, I moved client-side to take on the role of Head of Email Marketing at Group GTI. I was keen to focus on one business, take full ownership of the channel, and put all my experience into practice. I joined the team behind targetjobs, delivering campaigns to a database of over one million students and graduates. The commercial model revolved around delivering high-quality early-careers applicants to top employers in the UK and internationally. My role was simple in principle: maximise the value we deliver to clients.
At first, that meant rebuilding the entire email suite – introducing hierarchical dynamic content, behaviour-led automation and personalised journeys. The results were immediate: I drastically reduced send volume and cost while significantly improving engagement and outcomes.
But there was a deeper issue: email was sold in bulk packages. That meant sales were incentivised to push as many sends to as many people as possible, regardless of whether it was the right approach. My team was then obligated to deliver these campaigns – even when they didn’t align with what would actually drive performance. Clients focused on short-term outcomes, while I had to protect long-term engagement. It was a constant balancing act.
In 2021, I was able to test a new philosophy. I ringfenced 20% of our database, shielding them from client-sponsored email and giving my team full control over their experience. The theory was simple: if we applied our best-practice strategy across all touchpoints, performance would rise.
The results in just one quarter:
18% reduction in email volume
47% increase in open rate
28% increase in click rate
19% increase in conversions
37% drop in unsubscribes
The commercial model has since changed. Clients no longer buy emails – they define objectives, and my team builds the strategy to achieve them. We became the eCRM team, with a clear outcome-focused approach. Since then, performance has compounded: when I joined, email drove under 10% of total conversions. Today, it delivers over 50%.
As Head of Performance Marketing, my remit has expanded again. I now oversee all performance marketing activity – including email, push notifications, paid social, partner marketing, and job distribution. I’ve also taken on responsibility for platform acquisition strategy. After analysing the full user lifecycle – from acquisition to hire – I developed a framework to understand the long-term value of different sources. That analysis now drives our acquisition plan and commercial investment decisions.
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