Staff Spotlight: Barrie J Davies

Our next staff spotlight episode focuses on Marketing Executive, Barrie J Davies.

Barrie was born and grew up in the Welsh town of Milford Haven in Pembrokeshire, West Wales. Being in a small remote town, Barrie had to find his own form of entertainment and did so through skateboarding, he explained how this gave him a real sense of freedom in a small town where very little happened. Barrie became obsessed with the hobby and would practice every day. Through this, Barrie became fascinated by skatepark graffiti, hip-hop culture, DJ’ing and art – this is really where Barrie’s creative nature was born.

Barrie pursued this path of creativity and art, completing a Foundation in Art at Carmarthen College of Art – the same College where Barrie’s Uncle studied some years before. Barrie then went on to graduate with a Degree from Southampton Institute before advancing his educational qualifications with a Master’s in Fine Art at Cardiff Metropolitan University. During his time at University, Barrie began to DJ more often, collecting an extensive collection of vinyl records spanning genres of drum and bass, hip-hop, techno and ambient music. Many of which he still has today.

Alongside Barrie’s professional working career, he has continued to live his dream as a full-time artist exhibiting his work all over the world. Barrie told us, “From Alaska to Indonesia, New York, France, Italy and the UK – my artwork has taken me on an incredible journey”. Barrie currently resides in Hove and does most of his artwork at his studio in Brighton. Barrie’s authentic and original style combines pop culture and street art to create vibrant and colourful paintings, prints and sculptures.

In 2007, Barrie published a book called ‘Subesque’, showcasing his artwork, that was nominated for Welsh book of the year and the following year Barrie was nominated for the Artes Mundi Prize, an internationally focused visual arts award. Fast-forward to today and Barrie still produced and sells his artwork at local exhibitions and through his website – BARRIE J DAVIES IS AN ARTIST.

Barrie, now Marketing Executive at Roffey Park Institute, has worked in marketing for several years, he explained “I love being involved in marketing, it is a professional role that really allows me to use my creativity”. Barrie has been involved in different industries including fashion, retail, finance, private and now education. Barrie is a vital cog to the Roffey Park marketing machine contributing significantly to growing our social media presence, graphic design, website building, video making and SEO and Google focus.

Barrie explained how he is a self-proclaimed digital marketing nerd. He said, “I think I am a bit of a nerd. I love social media and am subscribed to a load of blogs and YouTube channels”. Barrie is also a huge Apple and Starbucks fan, ensuring that in every country he travels to he visits every store he can!

Fame to Barrie is not something new. Celebrities such as Noel Fielding and Fatboy Slim own Barrie’s artwork. Furthermore, Barrie made the local News and Radio outlets when in 2010 he organised an art piece labelled the ‘Sulkathon’, where Barrie invited people to join and sulk with him opposite Cardiff Town Hall.

Since joining the Roffey Park team roughly 12 months ago, Barrie has brought a fresh perspective to the marketing efforts, significantly contributing to growing our brand and presence on social media. Barrie also has brought amazing energy, creativity, enthusiasm and fun to the organisation and has been a joy to work alongside the past year.

Categorised in: Company News