Bid Director, Southampton City of Culture 2025
Claire has been appointed to take forward Southampton’s Bid for City of Culture 2025, working with Southampton’s communities, cultural organisations, businesses, and academic partners locally and in the wider Solent region. Previously, Claire Owner/Director, of live music producers, Serious, with over 25 years experience in executive and non executive positions. Claire is currently a Trustee of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Board member and governing body at Arts University Bournemouth, an Ambassador for the Mayor of London’s Cultural Leadership Board, is a member of the Arts and Creative Industries Advisory Group for the British Council, a committee member at Aster Group, is on the Music Education Advisory Committee for ABRSM.
Claire’s expertise ranges from the creation and delivery of ambitious arts events and programmes , to the development of strategic partnerships with a broad range of stakeholders. Claire is committed to supporting the development of creative talent and is passionate about enabling diverse audiences to experience music, arts and culture. Her extensive experience has helped Serious take its place at the centre of the UK’s cultural sector, with an impressive track record for the creative breadth and quality of its work.
Industry Champions
Sarah Ellis
Director of Digital Development at Royal Shakespeare Company
Tom Chalmers
Founder and Managing Director at Legend Times Group
Tom Adeyoola
Entrepreneur
Sade Banks
Founder and CEO of Sour Lemons
Mandy Barker
Founder of Sail Creative
Lucy Bayliss
Head of Creative Programmes at DanceEast
Charlotte Beevor
Entrepreneurial Designer and Stylist
Stephen Bennett
Joint Head of Policy Lab and Visual artist
Jennifer Johnston
Head of Learning at Into Film
Anra Kennedy
Consultant Director at The Audience Agency
Vikas Kumar
Founder and Director of GemArts
Amanda Maxwell
Community Manager and board member of shesaid.so
Jo Morrison
Director of Digital Innovation at Calvium
Dave Moutrey
Director of Culture and Creative Industries at Manchester City Council
Laura Pye
Director at National Museums Liverpool
Lara Ratnaraja
Cultural Consultant
Will Saunders
Consultant and Executive Producer
Jaswinder Singh
Director of Asian Arts Agency
Amy Smith
Head of Talent at Framestore
Tolu Stedford
Development Producer at the Independent Film Trust and CEO of Creative Lions Productions
Maria Tanjala
Co-founder of Big Couch and FilmChain
Annie Warburton
CEO at the Goldsmiths' Company
Sharon Watson
CEO and Principal of Northern School of Contemporary Dance
Claire Whitaker
Bid Director, Southampton City of Culture 2025
Nia Williams
Director of Learning and Engagement at National Museum Wales
Tom Philipson
Founder of YourStudio and Special Lecturer at Central Saint Martins, UAL
Malath Abbas
Game Designer and Creative Producer
Steven Berryman
President of the Chartered College of Teaching and Senior Deputy Head, Sir William Perkins's School
Laura Giles
Managing Director at Screen Cornwall
Leslie Ramos
Philanthropy Advisor and Director at The Twentieth
Anna Kiernan
Associate Professor in Creativity and Literary Culture, University of Exeter
Fiona Mozley
Novelist
Lilli Geissendorfer
Independent Consultant and Director, Theatre Green Book
Savraj Matharu
Principal Lecturer in Digital Innovation, University of Westminster
Anna Disley
Executive Director, Programmes and Impact, New Writing North
Hannah Pater
Development Director, Big Change
Linda Spurdle
Cultural Consultant and Producer
Josie Warden
Design Researcher
Tobias Revell
Design Futures Lead at Arup
Phil Holton
Senior Qualification Manager, Pearson
Sara Salsinha
Independent Designer and Researcher
Rebecca Swarray
Senior Policy Officer, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, and freelance Curator, DJ and Producer
Robert Kilpatrick
CEO and Creative Director, Scottish Music Industry Association
Grace Shin
Account Manager, Clarity
Holly Lewis
Co-Founding Partner, We Made That
Jack Gamble
Director, Campaign for the Arts
Anna Kime
Freelance artist and Policy Officer, Centre for Cultural Value
Chris Hildrey
Director, Hildrey Studio
Fred Deakin
Director, Fred Deakin and Company Limited
Natasha Trotman
Equalities Designer and Researcher
Ve Dewey
Founder and CEO of Concurrency
