People at Hoop
We take a human centred approach to all the challenges we face, including the way we find and engage talent.
Sean O'Halloran
Managing Director
Sean is a passionate advocate of user centred thinking and open innovation. He advises a number of senior clients on ways to develop successful business and communication strategies in a shifting media landscape.
Originally an artist working in the UK and abroad, Sean started Hoop in 1996 with Paul Nunneley. Since then he has also helped start a number of high growth businesses and held non exec directorships in a variety of sectors.
Paul Nunneley
Director and online strategy consultant
Paul leads our thinking on usability and user experience. With a hands on approach, he's not only helping transform the way we do things, but also the online presence of some of the UK's most high profile brands.
A founder of Hoop with Sean O'Halloran in 1996, Paul is an active entrepreneur prepared to put his money where his beliefs are. He has held a number of non exec directorships with high growth start-ups and advises many Hoop clients on developing authentic, successful online brands.
Marian Forkin
Operations Director
Marian co-ordinates all studio traffic and manages relationships with our broad network of suppliers and collaborators. A superb communicator of boundless drive she enjoys excellent relations with staff and clients alike, managing key accounts with major clients.
Before joining Hoop Marian spent eight years in a senior communications position in the public sector, leading her team to numerous awards and widely recognised benchmarking standards of performance. She has been a board director at Hoop since 2002.
Russell Weighton
Senior consultant and copywriter
Russell makes a broad and invaluable contribution across our strategic and creative output and leads our thinking on how words make brands come alive. His incisive wit and intelligence are in high demand across our client base, where his versatility sees him generating ideas, advising on copy strategy and tone of voice as well as writing content for websites in a way that improves their search engine rankings.
An objective and insightful thinker, Russell's judgement is trusted by clients across sectors.
Cadú Gomes
Senior designer
Cadú takes the lead on Hoop's creative work. His eye for an idea and elegant technique is matched by a rigorous and collaborative approach to client briefs. He always considers the end-user first.
His perspective is trully international. His career in design started in his home town, Sao Paolo, Brazil where he progressed to work at Future Brand with clients spread across Latin-America. He joins us after two years in Australia, working for clients in the Middle-East, Asia and the South-Pacific. Cadú's experience in branding, art direction and environment design strengthen what we can offer.
Richard Willis
Development team leader
Richard joined us hot off the plane from southern climes. For him, and particularly for us, it was a case of right place, right time.
Since then Richard has delivered several major websites for a diverse range of clients and continues to support the optimisation of these sites through ongoing development.
He possesses an extraordinary gift of understanding user needs and being able to develop elegant code to meet them. Alongside Mark, he is developing our new generation Content Management System that we are sure is unique in the market.
Mark Wadham
Developer
Likes to write code and looks after the back end development at Hoop. Like most of the best developers, he's an autodidact that spent most of his college years teaching the teachers.
Enough said.
Follow him on twitter or check out his blog.
Nick Smith
Developer
Nick is passionate with a very big P about accessible web design and usability. As well as breathing elegant life into our work he is one the organisers of London Web Standards.
With a degree in Cybernetics and Virtual Worlds, he has been making websites since 1998. With such lengthy experience he might be considered a veteran. Yet his youthful exuberance and inquisitiveness suggest a man on a constant voyage of discovery.
Follow Nick on Twitter or check out his blog.
Francesca Cook
Designer
Francesca is the newest member of our team and joins after working her way round some very illustrious London design agencies.
She works alongside Cadu, our Senior Designer and looks after a broad range of clients and design challenges, so far predominantly in print and branding.
Francesca has achieved a disproportionate amount in her young career including a D&AD in-book award in 2009 for her packaging solution for Homebase.
Mark Dunckley
Service innovation
Mark joined us after completing a degree in Business and Entrepreneurship in Bristol. He leads our social media research and product development section and has been instrumental in re-defining our service strategy.
An avid Arsenal fan, keen footballer and all round sports enthusiast, he can easily be engaged on any sporting issue, no matter how obscure or trivial.
Kate Hazell
Admin
Originally from the shire counties (Bucks), Kate studied for a degree in Illustration at Edinburgh College of Art. Beating off over 700 applicants (yes 700!), she joined us after traveling through South America.
Kate handles incoming traffic, supply chain matters and is fast becoming an expert credit controller. Her affable nature and infectious laugh make light of the often gritty work she has to deal with.