Welcome to the geek squad

Being the man at the top can be a tough job – sometimes you’re a smooth talker, sometimes you’re a super geek – but I can assure you that today, as I sit here in my Orpington garden shed HQ and watch the kids sweep leaves off the trampoline, I feel nothing but pride as I reflect on the TPD team who always give 110% in everything they do.

Since our squad began, we have built new partnerships and reinforced existing ones. Personally, it’s been a privilege to be the guardian of this company and watch it grow. I’ve learnt more than I could have imagined and, at times, have been overwhelmed by the pace of it – and we’ve assisted more amazing goals than Beth Mead.

But, above all that, I am happy to be part of a team who truly care for each other. So it’s my pleasure to share with you some words on our team. I hope you enjoy reading about them as much as we enjoy having them on the field for this adventure.

Enjoy the read – best enjoyed with a cup of tea.

Joe

1,2,3 and to the 4, it’s THE Briony Leivers at your door. 

Briony is our Operations Director, always pushing for operational excellence and making sure shiz gets done at an olympic level of greatness. We are lucky AF to have this amazing person on our team. And don’t even get us started on the processes! She makes MacOS look like a Speak & Spell. 

Briony’s testimonials from partners and clients alike make the Dalai Lama sound like Jim Royle. ‘Prodigious, precise, diligent, energetic, dedicated,’ are just some of the words used to describe her. Not to mention all the praise lavished on her for her freakish ability to reel off details without looking at a piece of paper once. Add to that her amazing rapport with colleagues, clients, and suppliers and you have a true one-off. 

With roots in Australia, Briony gave the northern hemisphere the gift of her talents when she came over here in 2015. 

She is an awesome producer, show caller, production manager, and has extensive experience on large scale events in Europe and the United States. She’s built large exhibition stands for tech conferences, plus smaller pop up experiences in and around London and the UK. 

(She’s so good, we feel that simply writing all these things down here won’t come close to doing her justice. But we’ll carry on.)

The experience bit 

Briony learned her craft studying technical theatre at the amazingly named Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne. 

Since then, she has worked as Boat Operations Coordinator (innit!) at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games, Senior Stage Manager at the 15th Asian Games in Doha Qatar, Stage Manager for Spamalot and Sister Act, The Musical (hands up who’d like to see a mashup of those two shows?) and become a self proclaimed master of Google Sheets. Not to mention Chinese New Year 2013 & 14 in Sydney and the Rugby World Cup 2015, high five!

Need a sit down? So do we. In fact, let’s just fall to our knees and shout “we’re not worthy!” to one of the best people in the business today.

Fun Briony Facts

Best food eaten on the job: Love all food in all countries

Best thing you did that no one asked you to do: Ate the food (any food, in any country)

Best feedback from a client: “Briony is a dream to work with”

Albert is a Senior Production Manager with a background in architecture, a serious eye for detail and a talent for turning event designs into reality. With experience spanning conferences, exhibitions, bespoke builds and large-scale live events, he’s particularly good at navigating the tricky bit between what looks brilliant on paper and what can actually be built, delivered and installed.

Before joining the events world, Albert worked as an Architectural Technician at Broadway Malyan, contributing to international projects including a €60 million residential development from detailed design through to construction documentation. He then took that technical design experience into events, managing production and construction for multi-million-pound corporate events and trade fairs, where he became well versed in budgets, schedules, suppliers, risk and all the other exciting things that keep a production manager awake at night.

Since joining TPD, Albert has delivered an impressive portfolio of international conferences and exhibition builds for clients including Cisco, GSK, PlayStation, Booking.com, EULAR, Lync & Co, Zoetis, F1, IBM, Sage and Heineken. He’s worked on everything from complex medical and commercial stands in Vienna and international conference showcases to exhibition builds with extremely tight schedules and large-scale F1 experiences in Austin.

One of his standout recent projects was Senior Production Manager for Envestnet’s keynote in Las Vegas, delivering a high-profile experience for an audience of 3,000. He’s also managed complex conference environments, including a challenging build at Sugarfactory in Amsterdam featuring keynote, exhibition and breakout spaces, and once delivered an entire expo with just a two-day load-in. His verdict? “Dead proud and almost dead by the time it finished!”

Calm, methodical and exceptionally good at keeping all the plates spinning, Albert brings a rare combination of technical knowledge, production experience and commercial awareness to every project. He’s the person you want when the build is complicated, the schedule is tight and the design absolutely has to work.

Detail-focused, dependable and always ready for a challenge, Albert has a knack for making complex productions feel achievable—without dropping a single plate of tapas along the way.

Mungo is a Senior Production Manager with extensive experience delivering large-scale events, brand activations and complex live experiences across the UK, EMEA and the Middle East. He’s at his best when the production is big, the schedule is busy and there are approximately a million moving parts to keep track of.

With a career spanning over a decade in events, Mungo has built an impressive portfolio across sport, technology, automotive and experiential. He’s become a bit of a specialist when it comes to major international sporting events, with extensive Formula 1 experience delivering DO&CO’s Paddock Clubs and brand activations including LEGO. He’s also delivered sporting activations for DP World across major golf events, as well as fan zones and chalets across the UK.

Away from sport, Mungo has led production for technology conferences, including Robinhood, IBM Think, Google and Roachfest. He’s also taken the lead on complex production schedules for Cisco Live EMEA, coordinating the delivery of a conference welcoming up to 20,000 attendees. His ability to manage the detail while keeping sight of the bigger picture makes him a trusted pair of hands on even the most demanding productions.

Mungo also brings plenty of experience in building strong client and agency relationships, often taking the lead across key accounts and becoming the person clients know they can rely on to get things done. He’s worked with an impressive roster of brands including BBC, Booking.com, Dior, Diageo, Lenovo, Magnum, Novartis and DP World.

Calm, confident and endlessly capable, Mungo is the kind of Senior Production Manager you want when the stakes are high and the production is complex. He builds great relationships, leads from the front and somehow always manages to make even the biggest events feel completely under control.

Rob, Robbie, Mitch (he’ll usually respond to anything as long as it’s polite) Robin Mitchell is our Production Manager or Production Gangsta, if you’re feeling saucy, and he’s here to manage the heck out of your production and bring an annoyingly in depth amount of film trivia with him. 

His career began after he finished uni in 2010, and he started to work as event crew and they rightly gave him his first foray in the world of Production Exec’ing, and he’s been aiming for the stars ever since.  

The Robmeister’s work 

But this guy is more than someone with claims to fame like he’s in the top 10 in his age group at roly polies. Oh yeah, there’s so much more to Roobie than that. For example, his client list includes mega big names like Diageo, Sky, Adidas, Reebok, Google, GSK, Mondelez. 

A highlight of Robin’s career was when he supported the Skyride 2010 event, because watching 100,00 people cycle down the Mall in front of Buckingham palace was a pretty spectacular site. And that was just the usual amount of London cyclists on their way to the event. 

Robin’s experience has come on in leaps and bounds with incredible and complex build experience in odd venues in London, complex gaming builds in Europe, plus he’s calm and collected, grows confidence with the team he works with at the time, and is a huge team player. 

So there we have it: Robin Mitchell. Production Gangsta and roly poly expert. He also has a degree in contemporary dance (it’s funny when you meet him in person).

Fun Robin Facts

Best food eaten on the job: charred meat and veg in Greece. Aww yes. 

Best thing you did that no one asked you to do: I reevaluated the build schedule that had been devised by a previous PM and was able to drastically reduce the long shift patterns for the onsite crew.

Best client feedback: “Robin is great to work with, he’s approachable and nothing is too much trouble be it pre-site or onsite. A top allrounder!!”

Robin is a Senior Production Manager with a wealth of experience delivering large-scale conferences, exhibition environments and brand experiences. Calm, collected and confident, he’s the kind of person who can take on a seriously complicated production and make it feel completely manageable.

Robin has worked with an impressive roster of global brands including Samsung, IBM, DP World, adidas, Google, GSK, Diageo, Sky, LEGO, Booking.com, SailGP and Lync & Co. Most recently, he took on the role of Senior Production Manager for a new Samsung phone launch, managing a production budget of £3.5 million and overseeing the many moving parts that come with a project of that scale.

He’s equally at home managing huge exhibition environments. Robin has led production for an exhibition hall spanning 45,000sqm and 152 stands of varying sizes, coordinating the delivery of an enormous number of exhibitors, suppliers and production requirements. He’s also led conferences, exhibition stands and brand experiences across a wide range of sectors, including complex gaming builds in Europe for clients such as Xbox.

One of Robin’s earlier career highlights was supporting Skyride 2010, where around 100,000 cyclists took over The Mall in front of Buckingham Palace. He’s also worked on some wonderfully ambitious builds, including a LEGO experience featuring a rather enormous llama made from 234,000 bricks. 

What really sets Robin apart is the way he works with people. He’s calm under pressure, builds confidence within his teams and is always ready to get stuck in when there’s a problem to solve. He’s a natural collaborator who understands that the best productions happen when everyone feels part of the same team.

Experienced, dependable and always armed with a winning smile, Robin is a Senior Production Manager who brings confidence, calm and plenty of experience to even the biggest and most complex events.

Russ is a Senior Production Manager with a serious knack for bringing big, complex events to life. With experience across live, virtual and hybrid events, he’s worked everywhere from London to New York, Miami, Italy, Spain and Bahrain, building a reputation for being the person you want in the room when a production has a lot of moving parts.

Russ has delivered some seriously ambitious projects throughout his career, from global conferences and automotive launches to large-scale festival activations and immersive experiences. Most recently, he’s been Production Lead for American Express festival activations at British Summer Time, Roundhay Festival and All Points East, including a three-storey structure at BST packed with technical and gamified experiences. He’s also led production for a Beavertown x Young’s Pub UK sampling tour and an immersive Halloween pop-up, proving he’s equally comfortable with a huge festival build or something a little more out there.

On the conference side, Russ has led productions for brands including Heineken, Robinhood, Figma, Sage and Amazon, alongside major global events such as Cisco Live and Sibos. Sibos 2022 remains a particular highlight: a hugely complex, multi-broadcast event running for 19 hours a day, following six to nine months of planning and production. It was the sort of project that required an alarming number of spreadsheets—and a frankly heroic amount of coffee.

Russ is also affectionately known around TPD as the Keynote King, having delivered everything from high-profile keynote experiences to complex technical builds for audiences of up to 8,000 people. His technical knowledge, experience managing global budgets and ability to bring together creative, content and production make him a trusted lead on some of our biggest projects.

Away from the production schedule, Russ is a keen mentor on TPD’s Associate Programme and a Mental Health First Aider, bringing the same calm, supportive approach to his teams as he does to his productions.

Technical, thoughtful and exceptionally experienced, Russ is a Senior Production Manager who knows how to keep even the most ambitious events moving. Whether it’s a three-storey festival activation, a global conference or a 20,000-person keynote, he’s got it covered—and probably has a spreadsheet for it too.

Chris is a Production Manager with more than two decades of experience delivering world-class live events, festivals, brand activations and large-scale productions across the globe. From iconic venues and international sporting events to automotive launches and global conferences, there’s not much Chris hasn’t built, managed or delivered.

His career began in Australia, where he spent over 20 years working across theatre and live events for organisations including the Sydney Opera House, the City of Sydney Council and Sydney’s famous Christmas, New Year’s Eve and Lunar Festival celebrations. Along the way, he’s pushed Daleks onto the stage with the BBC Orchestra, built an electric sleigh for Santa to cruise through the streets of Sydney and managed some of the country’s biggest public events. It’s fair to say he’s seen it all.

Alongside his hands-on experience, Chris is a Vector Works user, further developing his technical production skills and strengthening his ability to support projects from both a creative and operational perspective.

Chris has worked extensively with automotive brands including Chery, Honda and Ford, delivering everything from experiential retail campaigns to outdoor events. He’s also delivered stands at CarFest and the Goodwood Festival of Speed for the past three years, managed global meetings for Boston Consulting Group across Vienna and Singapore, delivered the HP OMEN exhibition stand at Gamescom, and coordinated build logistics for DO&CO’s Formula 1 Paddock Club in Japan.

Whether he’s managing suppliers, overseeing complex installations or coordinating international teams, Chris brings a calm, practical approach that’s built on years of experience. He’ll quietly keep everything moving, solve problems before they become problems and probably have a story or two about pushing Daleks around the Sydney Opera House while he’s at it.

Danyal joined the events industry during the unique challenges of the COVID years. Supporting projects for government departments, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force gave him a solid grounding in planning, logistics and delivering events where every detail mattered.

Since then, Danyal has grown into an experienced Production Manager, delivering projects across the UK and beyond. Most recently, he’s managed production and logistics for a nationwide food truck sampling tour, produced a LEGO store takeover event, delivered Booking.com’s conference party, managed a hackathon event and supported Samsung’s latest smartphone launch. He’s also delivered medical exhibition stands for GSK, exhibition builds for Cisco, IBM and DP World, and managed production delivery for the Level Infinite Business Centre at Gamescom.

Over the years, Danyal has worked with an impressive mix of clients including Google, the Department for Transport, UK Space Agency, World Rowing, National Highways, GSK, Cisco, IBM, DP World, Samsung, LEGO and Booking.com. From fan zones in the Scottish Highlands and large exhibition builds to conference theatres and experiential activations, no two projects have ever been quite the same—and that’s exactly how he likes it.

Known for his positive attitude, strong organisation and willingness to roll up his sleeves, Danyal is someone who thrives onsite. He’s the person making sure suppliers are where they need to be, crews have what they need and projects stay on track, all while bringing plenty of energy and a smile to the team around him.

Rob is a Production Manager with an eye for detail and a background that’s a little different from the norm. After years working in television production, he made the move into live events, bringing with him a unique blend of technical know-how, content expertise and an uncanny ability to stay calm, whatever the production throws his way.

From broadcast studios and live TV to international conferences and pharmaceutical congresses, Rob has spent his career delivering projects where precision really matters. His experience across content production, technical delivery and live events means he has a holistic view of production, always understanding how every moving part fits together to create a seamless experience.

Today, Rob is TPD’s go-to for medical and pharmaceutical events, working with clients including AstraZeneca, EULAR, GSK and Zoetis to deliver complex conferences and congresses with the care and attention they demand. Alongside his production management work, he continues to draw on his TV roots to support content production and creative delivery, making him just as comfortable discussing show flow and edits as he is onsite managing suppliers and schedules.

Never one to stand still, Rob has also been helping shape how TPD embraces AI, working with the operations team to explore smarter ways of working and improve day-to-day processes across the business. (If there’s a better way to do something, chances are Rob’s already testing it.)

Over the years, he’s worked on everything from BBC Sport, the BAFTAs and The BRIT Awards to royal celebrations, presidential visits, concerts, London Fashion Week and Google I/O. These days, whether it’s a global pharmaceutical congress, a technical production challenge or the latest AI tool everyone’s talking about, Rob is a reassuringly steady pair of hands—and yes, he’s still partial to sending a voice note or two.

Rochelle is a Production Manager who thrives on bringing big ideas to life. Whether she’s overseeing complex stand builds, delivering large-scale brand activations or keeping multiple moving parts running seamlessly behind the scenes, she’s happiest when she’s making the impossible look effortless.

Since swapping finance for events, Rochelle has built an impressive portfolio of high-profile productions. With a Level 4 Diploma in Event Management, Prince2 Project Management certification and plenty of hands-on experience, she combines meticulous planning with a calm, can-do attitude that clients and teams quickly come to rely on.

Most recently, Rochelle was the senior production lead for the Level Infinite stand at Gamescom, managed IBM’s AI Sports Activation and Wimbledon experiences, delivered the Workday Party in 2025 and 2026, supported Ford’s London Marathon activation, worked on projects for Google and Screwfix, as well as continuing to grow her presence at Cisco Live EMEA. She’s equally at home managing suppliers, coordinating production schedules, leading onsite teams or solving the unexpected challenges that every live event brings.

Earlier in her career, Rochelle played a key role in delivering projects including Booking.com Click, a large-scale media build in Cannes Lion, a national drinks brand tour and major showcase builds for international technology conferences. Every project has added another string to her bow, and she’s become known for rolling up her sleeves and getting stuck in, whatever the challenge.

Rochelle builds strong relationships, leads by example and has a reputation for being someone people genuinely want on their project. Dedicated, incredibly hardworking and endlessly positive, she’s the kind of person who brings calm to the busiest event days and always goes the extra mile to make sure everything comes together.

Originally from the States and now based in Amsterdam, Skyler is a Production Manager with a truly global outlook. He’s worked across a huge range of events, industries and locations, bringing international experience, a brilliant supplier network and a calm head to every project.

Over the years, Skyler has worked with global brands including Ericsson, Samsung, Cisco, Workday, Boston Consulting Group, DP World, Envestnet, LEGO, Google, Amazon and AWS. From conferences and executive events to exhibition stands, brand experiences and parties, there’s very little in the events world that Skyler hasn’t turned his hand to.

His career has taken him to some spectacular places, including Sicily, where he helped deliver an executive event featuring a concert at the Ancient Theatre of Taormina. He’s also worked on virtual experiences with high-profile talent, including Serena Williams, and is equally comfortable managing executive events or working behind the scenes to deliver complex productions.

Skyler brings a broad production skillset, from managing suppliers and event staffing to overseeing customer experience and supporting executive and celebrity-facing events. He’s also known to help the team with technical drawings utilising his technical knowledge of Vector Works, alongside managing significant global budgets and building an international network of trusted suppliers.

Calm under pressure, adaptable and always up for a challenge, Skyler is a Production Manager who can quickly find his feet on almost any project, bringing professionalism, good humour and plenty of global production experience along the way.

Tom is a Production Manager with a technical background and a hands-on approach to getting things done. Having worked across theatre, live events and technical project management, he understands how an event needs to work from the ground up—and how to make sure all the moving parts do. He started his career as a Technician with the London Symphony Orchestra before moving into technical project management.

Since then, he’s worked with clients including Coca-Cola, Barclays, BAFTA, Unilever, AWS, UFC, Bloomberg, Hermès, Timberland, Chanel and Morgan Stanley, gaining experience across large-scale events, brand experiences and complex technical and logistical projects. He’s also developing his technical skills through Vectorworks training, adding to his practical understanding of production planning and delivery.

Most recently, Tom was Logistics Manager for American Express at Wimbledon, overseeing everything from trucking and crewing to stock management and the distribution of thousands of radios. He’s also delivered roadshows, parties and live experiences for clients including Cisco, Workday and Matalan.

Tom is passionate about looking after the people behind the production. Early in his career, he became involved in improving working conditions across theatre, live music and events, and later pitched an apprenticeship scheme that saw three young people enter the industry. After mentoring them across lighting, sound and video for two years, they’re now established in the industry themselves.

Technical, practical and genuinely invested in the people around him, Tom brings experience, curiosity and a calm pair of hands to every project. He’s happiest when there’s a complicated production to figure out, a team to support and a good reason to get stuck in.

Liam is a Junior Production Manager who has swapped cars for live events, bringing more than six years of experience in the automotive industry along for the ride. Fresh from completing courses with The Training Department, Liam made the leap into events and hasn’t exactly hung around waiting for things to happen.

Since joining TPD, he’s already worked across a brilliant mix of projects and clients including Hot Wheels, Google, Cisco and F1, gaining experience across brand activations, exhibition environments and sporting events. His automotive background has also given him a pretty unique perspective on live experiences, with a natural understanding of brands, vehicles and the detail that goes into making them look their best.

Before joining TPD, one of Liam’s standout projects involved working with Gran Turismo to scan the Polestar 5 so it could be driven in the game. He was also lucky enough to travel to Chongqing, China, to see the car being manufactured—a trip that introduced him to a city of around 32 million people and what can only be described as a fairly epic factory visit.

Liam is also qualified to drive on three test tracks, including one in Italy, so if there’s ever a need for someone to test-drive a production vehicle, we know who we’re calling.

Curious, enthusiastic and keen to learn, Liam has thrown himself into the events industry with both feet. He’s always looking for the next opportunity to learn, get stuck in and build on his experience—and with his automotive background, practical mindset and plenty of energy, he’s already proving himself to be one to watch.

With over 20 years’ experience delivering exceptional live experiences, Fran Starkie is one of The Production Department’s senior producers, combining strategic thinking with meticulous delivery to produce complex events for some of the world’s leading brands.

Since joining The Production Department in 2022, Fran has become a key member of the leadership team, balancing the delivery of major international events with responsibility for recruitment, talent development and training across the business. She also led the set up of The Training Department, developing the next generation of Production Managers while helping shape the future capability of both TPD and the wider events industry.

Before joining TPD, Fran built her career across the Higher Education and Charity sectors, where she created fundraising and engagement strategies, managed budgets exceeding £1 million and led teams delivering high-profile events that combined flawless execution with meaningful audience experiences.

Today, Fran specialises in producing content-led conferences, executive forums, immersive brand experiences and international events where attention to detail, stakeholder management and calm leadership are essential.

Her portfolio spans conferences, product launches, roadshows, gala dinners, exhibitions, sporting events, VIP experiences, building openings and royal engagements – taking projects from initial concept through creative development, planning, production and live delivery.

Sarah is an Event Producer who loves nothing more than bringing order to organised chaos. From managing complex event logistics and production schedules to coordinating suppliers, print and onsite delivery, she’s the person making sure every detail is exactly where it needs to be—often before anyone else has even thought of it.

With experience delivering projects across Europe and the Middle East, Sarah has built a reputation for keeping cool under pressure and making even the most complex events feel effortless. Whether she’s producing conference content, managing large-scale operations or overseeing creative installations, she approaches every project with calm, precision and plenty of good humour.

Most recently, Sarah has managed print production for American Express at Wimbledon, overseeing every small and large format asset from initial brief through to final delivery. She also produced breakout sessions for ITM, worked as Event Producer for Workday Rising EMEA and served as Senior Project Manager for Sibos, leading the operations, creative delivery and furniture installation across the entire event—from the main forum to meeting spaces and everything in between.

Away from the production schedule, Sarah is also our resident people person. As a qualified Mental Health First Aider, she has a knack for looking after both projects and the people behind them. She’s brilliant at spotting problems before they become headaches, keeping teams motivated during the busiest periods and creating an environment where everyone can do their best work.

Organised, thoughtful and refreshingly honest, Sarah is someone clients trust and teams love working with. She keeps projects moving, people smiling and somehow always makes the busiest event days look completely under control.