Our team

About:  Adam’s journo career peaked early, interviewing Prince by candlelight. After that he scribbled on/off for the likes of Time Out and The Guardian before becoming editor of gay glossy Attitude, for which he won Men’s Magazine Editor 2005 at the BSME Awards. He joined Zone in March 2009 and, as entertainment editor, knows the difference between Piggley Wink and a Chop Socky Chook.

Strange but true:  Adam once bounced up and down on a four poster bed with Mariah Carey.

About: Adam joined Zone in September 2009 on a month’s Internship after graduating from The Arts Institute at Bournemouth as a Graphic Designer. He’s now a full time member of the Design team.

Strange but true: Adam was born with three sets of teeth and had had 24 removed by the time he'd turned 14. He now has a regular old set.

About: Adrian joined Zone in April 2010. He's been in the digital agency world since 2004, working on digital strategy and delivery for clients including Lonely Planet, PwC, Ray-Ban and ITN.

Strange but true: Adrian was invited to attend the 2007 Golden Globes Awards ceremony in LA, but never did, due to the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike.

About: Alessandro joined Zone in 2010, just days before completing his PhD thesis dissertation. He spent the previous four years researching Grid computing and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Westminster.

Strange but true: Before joining Zone, Alessandro seriously considered a career as a pastry chef.

About: Allan works closely with designers and writers to deliver effective communications online and in print; and liaises with clients, print brokers and image libraries to ensure the smooth running of various Zone projects.

Strange but true: Allan once sold a puffa jacket to Jon Boy Walton, an art theory book to Sharon Stone and slept next to the whole of Westlife on a transatlantic flight.

About: Andy leads Zone's technology team in the production of database driven web sites and Intranet applications. Qualified as a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer, he has strong skills in .NET, SQL Server, ASP, XML and systems design.

Strange but true: In his youth Andy achieved three gold runs on cult quiz show Blockbusters.

About: Anna joined Zone in February 2010 after a two-year stint as a senior sub on Runner's World magazine. She started her career in journalism long before university, spending her time interviewing celebs from Amy Winehouse to Mark Owen and the Sugababes. These days she's a little more office-based: watching movies, drinking cups of tea and subbing for BT.

Strange but true: Anna recently won the inaugural Iron Cupcake London competition.

About: Anna is the director of business and legal affairs, and a founder of Zone. A graduate of Yale University, she received her MBA from the Wharton School of Business and an MSc in International Political Economics from LSE.

Strange but true: Anna has conducted the London Symphony Orchestra and danced with Eric Cantona. But not simultaneously.

About: Charlie graduated with a first class degree and MA in classics, specialising in the role of food and nutrition in Roman medicine. Before returning to food writing, she wrote for History Today and historytoday.com. Like many a journalist before her, Charlie dabbles in writing fiction and had her first work published in January 2007.

Strange but true: As a child, Charlie featured in a Dutch TV programme after the director thought she looked more authentic than the actual Dutch actress.

About: Chris landed in his current position at Zone via a three-month work-experience spell with Icons back in the heady days of 2007. He now throws word-shapes at all manner of subjects, including the work of Tinchy Stryder, Marouane Fellaini’s hairdo and Thomas The Tank Engine.

Strange but true: Former England wicket-keeper Alec Stewart once swore at a ten-year-old version of Chris at a charity cricket match.

About: Chris has five years' journalistic experience working across sport, lifestyle and property titles, including regular work for the property section of The Times. He joined Zone in September 2007 and writes about sport, film, TV and music.

Strange but true: Chris has played football with some of the biggest names in football and showbiz: Tony Robinson, Sting's son, some bloke from Hollyoaks and Watford full-back/winger Jon Harley.

About: Dan joined Zone in the summer of 2007. Prior to this, he spent time writing for and editing numerous publications and websites about technology, travel and sport.

Strange but true: During his hard-up backpacking days, Dan was once pictured on the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald in a sandwich board promoting a software programme.

About: South African Dom has worked as a developer since 2000. Before joining Zone in August 2008 Dom spent four and a half years working at World Golf Systems where he was responsible for designing and implementing a variety of back end systems.

Strange but true: Aged 12 Dom won a Coca-Cola-sponsored Yo-Yo contest, completing over 180 loop-de-loops to claim first prize

About:  Du keeps Zone ticking along by looking after PCs, Macs, printers and pretty much everything else with a plug on it.  And he never suggests that you "turn it off and turn it on again."

Strange but true:  Du was once hired as a wedding photographer, shooting more than 4,000 pictures in three action-packed hours.

About: Gina kicked off her career as music editor on the Time Out-style listings magazine, SA Citylife, before moving to the UK in 2001. She joined weightwatchers.co.uk in 2002 and worked her way up to editor. She joined Zone in May 2008 to lead the 4Food team, before moving on to Coca-Cola.

Strange but true: South African Gina spent her very early years in the UK, but didn't make a good impression: she was expelled from her pre-school in Wakefield for hitting a small boy over the head.

About: Hannah joined Zone from the FT where she spent two years delving around in the murky world of pensions. Dedicated to gourmet cuisine, Hannah co-runs a food blog celebrating fine dining in and around Hackney. She is also a trained language teacher and has worked across Europe eating cheese and teaching English.

Strange but true: Hannah spent several months working as a steel worker's wench in a Sheffield museum where, due to a lack of custom, she spent her days dressed in full 17th century garb doing the Metro crossword

About: James launched Manchester United magazine in 1993 - it became the biggest-selling sports mag in the UK.  As Chief Executive of Zone, he's overseen the brand development of some of the world's leading sports and entertainment brands.

Strange but true: James is a three-times undefeated winner of the Groucho Club pub quiz.

About: Jen joined Zone in April 2010, having previously worked in television. Her TV career began in 2001 as a white van driver in the heady days of property makeover shows. After leaving the Ford Transit behind a year later, she trained at CBBC and moved into live entertainment and reality formats including The Hotel Inspector, Space Cadets and the brilliantly-titled Fat Families, before going on to produce The Richard and Judy Show.

Strange but true: Jen loves Michael Schumacher so much that she took time out of her TV job to work in Formula 1 hospitality. These days she settles for an (almost) life-sized doll of the racing driver.

About:  Joanna is an experienced online account manager who has worked across private and public sector clients over the years on large scale, international design and build projects.

Strange but true:  Joanna went to school with one of the Gladiators.

About: Jo has worked as a journalist for nine years, writing mostly for kids, teens, women's and celebrity titles. She joined Zone in March 2009 and covers film, TV, music and sport.

Strange but true: Bryan McFadden, ex of Westlife and Kerry Katona, called Jo boring because she refused to join in his drinking game.

About: Jon joined Zone in the summer of 2005. Prior to joining Zone, he edited the award-winning website for London's successful 2012 Olympic Games bid. Before London 2012, he was editor of the travel and leisure website lastminute.com.

Strange but true: Jon once sat in the audience for a recording of the Jerry Springer Show in Chicago

About: As Client Services Director, Karen leads Zone's account management team. Karen has 13 years' media marketing experience, most recently as Head of Marketing at The Evening Standard. She previously worked at The Guardian and The Observer where she was responsible for promotion of their Berliner re-launches as well as managing a number of other major above-the-line campaigns.

Strange but true:  Karen auditioned to be a young gorilla in the Hollywood blockbuster Greystoke:  The legend of Tarzan, but didn't get a re-call...

About: Kate is a seasoned online project manager with more than six years' experience managing web design and build projects for the likes of Sainsbury's, eBay, easyJet, the BBC, Matthew Williamson and Jigsaw.

Strange but true: Kate represented Wales at Lacrosse for almost 10 years.

About: Lauren started writing a column for her local newspaper when she was 14, which she's still writing eight years later. Along the way she's also written freelance for Time Out, the British Journalism Review and Shiny Style. Since graduating from UCL in summer 2009 she's worked at The Guardian, written fashion features and columns for Shiny Media and joined Zone as a freelancer on New Look TV in January 2010. She now works on 4Food.

Strange but true: Lauren once cried on Prince Edward after winning an inter-school dance competition. Aged 16.

About: Lucy joined Zone as a freelance Project Editor in 2007, then took a permanent role in 2009. Prior to Zone, she was editor-in-chief of the Conran Magazine for the Terence Conran Group.

Strange but true: Lucy grew up in the most haunted village in England. But she still doesn't believe in ghosts.

About: Marc studied Maths at Cambridge and then did a post graduate degree in Computer Science. After working as a Management Consultant, he set up Quantum, specialising in bridging the gap between senior management and IT for blue chip clients. Now a board director, he heads up the development of IT systems and database solutions for our clients.

Strange but true: Marc once had a doctor's certificate allowing him to chew gum at school

About: A former make-up artist, Marissa joined Zone in May 2009 via Grazia, John Lewis Direct and Family Circle magazine. She is the account manager on BT Vision.
 
Strange but true: In her previous guise as a TV make-up artist, Marissa assisted on a then unknown Kaiser Chief’s music video for Oh My God.

About: Matt has degrees from Durham and UCL in English and History of Art. After flirting with a host of interesting jobs, including TEFL teaching, he joined Zone in early 2010. He has previous digital media experience working as a PPC executive.

Strange but true: Matt has been interrogated by Chinese special police, locked out of Kazakhstan and driven across Russia under a pseudonym. That was one hell of an afternoon...

About: Matt began his journalistic career in Hong Kong, interviewing visiting bands and DJs and then mostly losing his dictaphone. In between spells in Australia and on celebrity weeklies he's worked at Zone for many years, on everything from BT Vision to lastminute.com.

Strange but true: Matt played in his school cricket team alongside Ashley Giles. Ashley went on to play for England. Matt didn’t.

About: Before joining Zone in 2007, Neil enjoyed a rather different career as a research chemist. He worked at Oxford University and Georgia Tech, Atlanta on organic LEDs and non-linear optics.

Strange but true: Neil is envious of so many Zone employees having met famous people. The most famous person he's met is a cat. He lived with up to 20 Maine Coons in Atlanta, and followed them to the occasional cat show.

About:  Nic makes sure all our staff and suppliers get paid on time, which means everyone is very nice to him. He is currently a Junior Fellow at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and directs a chamber ensemble. He is also studying for an AAT - which is apparently some kind of accounting qualification.

Strange but true:  Nic is one of only two Colombian harpsichordists currently living in the UK.

About: Paul is Zone's lead information architect, determining the structure, specification and user experience for websites, internal management systems, games and phone applications.

Strange but true: In a previous role, Paul once held the memorable job title 'Head of Puzzles'.

About: After studying Psychology at university, Rich opted to throw all that education away by becoming a journalist. Luckily his time on student mags paid dividends when he landed a lowly editorial assistant job at GQ. Alas, renowned hedonist James Brown proved too much for him and drove Rich back to academia and an MA in Film from the BFI. Since then stints at the Telegraph, the (then) National Film Theatre, Titan Magazines and Future Publishing followed, including a spell on Sky Movies Magazine before coming to Zone in November 2009. Rich does the odd bit of freelance scribbling for Total Film, DVD & Blu-ray Review and TVBite.com and writes screenplays for fun in his spare time (not that his agent likes him referring to it as "fun"). 

Strange but true: Rich was thrown out of an MTV studio audience for audibly calling the presenter a  bad word live on air.

About: Richard has returned for his second stint at Zone having spent the previous three years developing a medical search engine. He works mainly with the technical team to specify, design and develop data-driven websites in ASP.NET.

Strange but true: Richard was once interviewed by an early version of Ali G on Cable TV.

About: Rich has been working as a designer for ten years, moving over to online from print seven and a half years ago. He’s worked both in London and in his home county of Kent, on a wide range of clients, for brands such as Adidas, London 2012, Warner Bros and EA Games.

Strange but true: Rich was eight years old on the eighth of the eighth, eighty eight…which apparently was very lucky in Japan.

About:  After graduating from Central Saint Martins in 2008, Rio had stints on Dazed and Confused and In London magazines before joining Zone as editorial assistant, working across BT Vision, 4Food and New Look.
 
Strange but true:  Rio wanted to be a geisha when she was younger, before she realised what a geisha actually did.

About: Ros has been at Zone since it started. She looks after reception and ensures that the building (and everyone in it) is ticking over like a well-oiled machine.

Strange but true: Long before her illustrious career here at Zone, Ros demonstrated Spacehoppers for a living.

About: Sarah began freelancing at Zone in 2004 and joined us permanently in 2006. Among many other projects she’s worked on Cheltenham magazine, lastminute.com and BT Vision.

Strange but true: Between the ages of five and seven Sarah drank a glass of Guinness every day - on doctor's orders.

About: Sam graduated with a first-class degree from the University of Nottingham and enjoyed a stint at a Soho visual-effects company before joining Zone midway through 2008. He now spends his time constructing websites as well as writing noise-rock and pretending to be interested in pretentious art movies.

Strange but true: Sam has sung on stage with Japanese punk band Polysics. He doesn't speak Japanese.

About: After dropping out of school because it interfered with her busy schedule of drinking in parks and wearing too much eyeliner, Sarah worked as a picture researcher at Zoo magazine. After two years of looking at pictures of naked girls, exploded animals and Danny Dyer, she joined Zone as picture editor in February 2010.

Strange but true:  Sarah once got dumped in a News of the World article. Ahh.

About:  Tim joined Zone in 2009, having previously worked on web-based interfaces for medical devices back home in Australia.  He works on both back and front-end development, with a particular specialism in the Drupal open source content management system.

Strange but true: Tim spent six months working as a roadie whilst taking a break from his university course.

About: Zoë spent seven years working in women’s, teen and bridal glossies before she saw one frock too many, went travelling for a year, and joined Zone as Production Editor in April 2009.

Strange but true: Zoë likes to bake, has held hands with Tom Cruise (interlocking fingers and everything) and won the Weakest Link.