Careers Fair Inspires our Students

Hollaway Architects – Will Davies, Becky Wise & Alex Richards

Alex Richards – Partner 

Alex Richards joined the Practice in 2016 and quickly became a Partner in 2018 through demonstrating his ability and passion to lead on the design and delivery of high-quality architectural projects across London and the South East. Alex has been involved with the delivery of Elwick Place, Ashford and is the Partner leading the new Concert Hall for Benenden School. Alex has secured a number of Paragraph 79 consents across the region and is delivering a number of exceptional houses with innovative design and sustainability characteristics. In supporting Guy, Alex is equally responsible for the Kent and London studios, overseeing many aspects of their management and the overall day to day running of the Practice. Alex’s unique overview of the whole Practice assists in its sustainable growth and direction.  

Becky Wise (Pilgrims, 2011) – Architect 

Becky first joined the Kent office in 2014, and returned in 2019 to the London office after completing her Part 2 at Newcastle University, graduating with a distinction. During her studies, she was awarded the Napper Memorial Prize for exceptional performance. At Hollaway Becky has worked on a range of residential projects including Bay coastal apartments, Manor Barn, and Bakers Farmhouse. Her role in the London Studio includes supporting Tim Goode on projects including Newtown Works, and Len House. 

Will Davies (Squires, 2019)– Part 1 Architectural Assistant 

Will joined Hollaway Studio in 2022 after graduating with a 1st from Cardiff University. Will is a keen maker and learner of techniques, which positively reflects through his work. His final project was based in a small remote village in Ireland, which looked to reignite the interconnectedness of narratives in the Irish cultural landscape which were lost through the misunderstanding of place and loss of language. Will assists Mark Humphreys in the London Studio on a wide variety of projects. 

LouLou Productions - Louise Morgan

Former advertising photographic assistants Louise Murray and Louise Morgan (née Wood, Franklins/Knights, 1992) joined forces in 2002, and have since created one of the UK’s leading stills production companies. LouLou Productions provides a fully bespoke production and location service to both international and national clients including VW, Volvo, HSBC and working with photographers such as Nick Meek, Henrik Knudsen and Alex Tehrani. 

Oak Creative - Laura Bevan

Laura Bevan (Pilgrims, 2009) is the studio director of Oak Creative Design (Oak). She trained as a graphic designer at the University of Creative Arts 2011-14, her first job out of university was for Kentish hamper company Spicers of Hythe, where she developed her passion for the food and drink industry, and understood the wide range of Kentish produce available. After working for Spicers for year, she then moved onto a design agency, where she was a Junior Designer before falling into a role as Studio Manager. 

In 2016, she decided to give freelance life a go, which was when she first started working for Oak Creative. Oak Creative Design Ltd. is a creative partner for ambitious brands and organisations in Kent and beyond, and is part of the Holiday Extras Family. Laura now manages the Oak business as if it were her own, running a team of 11 with a range of different skills to support clients. Oak Creative is a branding agency who partner with ambitious brands to deliver their creative know-how to elevate their businesses. In November 2021 they launched FoodE, an ecommerce platform for food and drink businesses. 

Laura was also joined by Oak Creative’s Marketing Manager, Jessica Banks, and Creative Designer Jenni Tilson.

Sharp Relations - Martin Stanning and Isabella Askey-Brown

Sharp Relations is an award-winning, Kent based, PR and communications agency that specialises in building food & drink brands. Working with all sorts of local, national and international producers, retailers, farmers, manufacturers and distributors our team produces extraordinary results, representing clients in all forms of media including: the press, glossy magazines, TV social media and at events. A small team, based just outside Ashford, we are always looking for new talent to join us with great opportunities for the future! 

Martin Stanning is one of the Company Directors. Joined the company 3 years ago but has been involved with the company from the start as he’s married to the founder! After a career in the Army, Sharp Relations has been a refreshing challenge, growing a team of 3 in a small rural office to a team of 10 in a purpose built office with a show kitchen and recording studio. 

Isabella Askey-Brown (Yeoman, 2017) is a PR Professional specialising in social media content creation, maintaining media relationships and copywriting. Having graduated from Kingston University with a First-Class degree in Popular Music, Isabella is now an Account Executive for the multi award winning PR, Marketing and Communications Agency Sharp Relations working alongside a variety of established food and drink brands as well as writing for Taste Kent magazine and helping to run ‘The FoodTalk Show’. 

Alison Howe – formerly at Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs

Alison Howe (née Pring, Nightingale, 1991) has worked in Investment Banking for over 27 years including top firms such as Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank. Her experience covers Leveraged and Acquisition Finance for private and public companies across Europe and the US, and she has worked on many high profile transactions such as Bayer AG’s $63bn acquisition of Monsanto. Most recently she has chaired a committee with oversight of all public market debt and equity issuance including High Yield and Investment Grade Bonds as well as IPO’s and private placements. Has worked across many industries including financial services, consumer, gaming, telecoms, business services, infrastructure, healthcare, technology, oil & gas, and retail sectors. 

Furley Page Solicitors - Eleanor Rogers, Karen Cook, & Sam Perry

Eleanor Rogers (née Jennings, Knights, 1998) left Ashford School in 1998 after completing her A Levels. She is now a solicitor at Furley Page in Canterbury, specialising in Employment Law. She achieved a distinction in the Legal Practice Course at BPP Law School and then trained and practised in top ranking Legal 500 firms in the City of London. Prior to relocating to Kent, Eleanor ran her own hospitality business and worked with the charity, Working Families. 

Karen Cook, Senior Human Resources Manager at Furley Page Solicitors since March 2014. Prior to then, Karen was based in the north west and worked for over 10 years within the travel industry for My Travel and then Thomas Cook. Karen has had a breadth of experience including recruitment, staff retention, change management, employee relations and ensuring all HR policies are kept up to date with current legislation. In addition, Karen is a member of Furley Page’s Health & Wellbeing Group, a key member of the Staff Forum and is a mental health first aider. 

Sam Perry went to school in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire and graduated from the University of Warwick in 2018 with a first class Law degree. Sam then worked for a law firm in Maidstone for a year working on breach hearings on behalf of the National Probation Service. Sam joined Furley Page in October 2020 working in our residential conveyancing department over in the firm’s Whitstable office. Sam started his training contract in September 2021 and has worked in our Private Client, Vulnerable Client and Dispute Resolution teams. Sam started his final training seat in March 2023 and will qualify as a solicitor in September 2023. 

Primp - Imogen Benson

A decade of founding and building cutting-edge tech companies has taught Imogen Benson (née Bunyard, Friars, 2004) a lot. About people, about technology, and about what it takes to design and develop a solution that can systemically change and improve the status quo. 

Her passion for period properties, unique experiences, and user-based product design inspired her to found Primp – a property management solution for the owners of historic houses who want to monetise their home via short-term lets; protecting their interests and maximising their returns. 

Canterbury Christ Church University - Pam Carroll and Charlotte Solomon

Pam is a Senior Operating Department Practitioner and Charlotte is Health Events Officer in the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Social Care. The department covers a range of allied health professions, including radiography, occupational therapy, operating department practice, paramedic science, public health, physiotherapy and speech therapy. There are also courses in nursing, midwifery and social work. 

West Atlantic Airlines - Hannah Dehnel

Hannah Dehnel (née Clapp, Knights, 2000) attended Ashford Girl’s School, leaving in 2000 and went on to study a Classics Degree at King’s College London. However, the desire to become a pilot saw her leave Uni and start an integrated Flying course at Cabair College of Air Training, Cranfield. On completing this, she worked as a Medivac Pilot flying the King Air, operated as an Aerial Survey Pilot and also worked in a Simulator Centre. 

Currently, Hannah is Senior First Officer at West Atlantic Airlines, flying the Boeing 737 to destinations in the UK, all across Europe and further afield, to places such as Dubai and Istanbul. She is also a Recruitment Pilot and has been involved in setting up a Peer Support programme and implementing a workplace drug and alcohol testing policy. 

Recently Hannah has been offered a position flying the Boeing 767 with DHL, starting in May.

EY - Jai Shah

Jai Shah (Yeomen, 2017) has been in the consulting industry for around 2 years with experience across Oil & Gas Engineering and Specialty & Personal lines Insurance. Jai started his career at Siemens Process Systems Engineering (SPSE) predominantly focussing on process safety. 

• Built 2 web apps to enable quick design calculations and sizing of safety valves for Floating Oil Production facilities
• Designed and sized safety equipment for the Barossa (Northern Australia) Offshore oil rig now live in the Timor Sea (off the north coast of Australia)

Jai then joined EY in the Insurance Business Transformation team and has worked with a number of specialty insurers (London Market) focusing on 

• Strategy & Business Operating model design
• Future ESG strategy & Net Zero for insurance implementation
• Currently working with a large UK personal lines motor insurer working on digitisation and customer journeys improvement

o Currently leading on our Electric Vehicles & Future of mobility for motor Insurance proposition 

IBM - Nikeen Patel

Nikeen Patel (Yeomen, 2017) is an Associate Technical Consultant at IBM. He graduated with a BSc in Computer Science from Cardiff University in 2021. During his degree, Nikeen undertook a year in industry, where he worked for SAP as a Technical support Associate.

Surrey Satellite Technology - Theodore Learmont

Surrey Satellite Technology are pioneers in the use of new technologies for satellite products and services.

Theodore Learmont (Franklins, 2015) is a Spacecraft Systems Engineer and MEng graduate in Aeronautical/Astronautical Engineering, specialising in Spacecraft from the University of Southampton. Experienced in initial concept design and feasibility studies, design of large satellite constellations, the PNT field, project bid work, he is now working on the full life cycle of the spacecraft within the systems field. Following time spent working on a variety of projects from Space Port legislation to GNSS constellation concepts for CNI resilience in the UK, Theodore is now developing his Systems Engineering skill set while delivering exciting new missions which have a positive impact on the planet.

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force gives you opportunities you won’t find in any other career. The experience you gain will equip you to work at the top of your field, both in the UK and overseas. A career in the RAF is about discovering your natural talent and working out together what makes you valuable, productive and happy. From the chefs to the jet pilots they send out on full stomachs!

Tammy Whiteman – CXK

CXK is an organisation dedicated to transforming the lives of young people and adults across the South; providing support, advice and guidance to help them find work, or move into learning or training, and in doing so improving their life chances.

Tammy is the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme co-ordinator, and works with schools and young people to help them research and find apprenticeships.

Louise Pope - InvestIn

InvestIN is a London based organisation that provides students aged 12-18 with an immersive experience of their dream career, offering programmes in both London, Manchester and Dubai. Industry-leading professionals design every one of their experiences, guiding students through authentic career simulations, interactive activities, inspiring site visits, personalised career guidance and networking opportunities. The programmes are tailor-made for young people to get a head start in their dream careers. Students can attend a 1 day weekend masterclass for a taste of their chosen industry or a 5, 10 or 15 day summer experience for a fully-immersive, 360-degree look at their dream career.