A team of complementary talents.

Chris Vannozzi Account Director / New Business

Chris brings an invaluable big-picture perspective to the Crush team, having worked 25+ years in marketing and commercial strategy for brands known across the globe.

Working with a mix of both commercial and creative skills, Chris’ role at Crush sees him strategise with our clients to optimise growth and deliver projects that are thought-out, creative and, most of all, impactful. 

Starting out his career in magazines, working with the likes of Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar and Cosmopolitan, Chris first began his agency career in London, where he managed key accounts and oversaw business development. 

During this time, Chris worked on a range of creative, results-led projects for Unilever, P&G, John Lewis and M&S – as well as public sector organisations such as King’s College London, Development Media International and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

James Burkinshaw Design Lead / Environments

With nearly 30 years experience working in marketing and design agencies, James is a multi-disciplinary design lead, inspiring the Crush design team and, together with Natalie, guiding the overall direction of creative.

His superpower is shaping, adapting and implementing ideas across all channels, (sometimes at breakneck speed) bringing a brand story to life for all audiences, be they stakeholders, customers or employees.

James’ technical craftsmanship and attention to detail ensures the design standard of output at Crush is exceptional. Be it brand identity, exhibitions, campaigns, digital and print – all projects are consistently on-brand, on time and on budget.

Jen Jacobs Brand Design & Strategy

A brand consultant and graphic designer with over 20 years experience in Canada and the UK, Jen’s passion is building brands with a clear story and a big brand idea.

Having spent 17 years working in London agencies (six years as a Creative Director at FutureBrand London), Jen gained an array of corporate branding skills in design management, governance, strategy and copywriting.

Jen has worked on the successful rebrand of corporate giants such as Natwest and Western Union, mergers like Ahold Delhaize and complicated brand transitions like Philips Lighting to Signify Lighting. Within the public sector, Jen worked for clients like More London (Mayor of London’s Estate), Team London Bridge, City University, Kings College London and Newham Council.

Stuart Lindley Full-stack / Software Development

Writing code is simply second nature for Stuart. For him, it comes as naturally as breathing. Although much of what he does can’t be seen by the naked eye, Stuart is meticulous (some may say obsessive) in generating the most up-to-date, efficient code.

With over 20 years of experience as a Full-Stack, Software Developer, he takes particular delight in the most comprehensive and complex – the intricacies of which are enough to make the average person’s head explode!

The successful delivery of most of Crush’s large-scale digital projects can be attributed to Stuart’s un-phase-able approach. He’s our go-to for every mega-glitch, trouble-shooting, obscure and un-fixable technical challenge we’ve ever had.

Craig Murphy Design / Motion Graphics

10 years ago, Crush nabbed Craig as a rising star straight out of college. Starting out as Junior, Craig swiftly evolved into a multi-faceted graphic designer with a keen interest in animation – bringing brand touchpoints to life with the magic of movement.

Craig has had a hand in most of our large-scale projects, working on detailed, comprehensive roll-outs like the Chesterfield Borough Council re-brand and the creative brand development of non-profit SheDecides – taking particular pride and attention with their lively social media campaigns.

Besides providing some light comic relief in the studio, Craig takes pleasure in having a job that allows him to be creative and considers himself lucky to be able to do that at Crush.

Paul Bamforth UI / Back-end Development

Having studied Language at University, Paul utilises his interpretive skills to clarify the complex and create digital interfaces that are human and user-friendly for all.

With over ten years experience, Paul’s greatest asset is the attitude he brings to any project. Creative and methodical, he’ll troubleshoot his way through any challenge with calm and confidence.

Paul is most proud of the projects he’s built for clients who are making a positive impact on the world. Work like the innovative donation application for Ashgate Hospice Care, the interactive interface ‘Starry Night Sky’ for International Planned Parenthood and an interface to help guide NHS staff career progressions.

Will Gilberthorpe UX / Front-end Development

Starting out as a web designer, Will’s primary love is creating beautiful digital experiences with smooth and joyful user journeys.

An experienced pair of hands, Will takes exceptional care in the details of digital design. To him, the first impressions of a page are crucial – how the elements load, build and animate, the proportion of white space to type and imagery and how it all adapts across different devices and browser sizes.

Will enjoys the sheer variety of work at Crush. In collaboration with the design team, he helps to work out what can be improved, how the code can be made more efficient and keeps us up-to-date with ever-changing standards. His experience with E-commerce has proved useful to our clients – creating more bespoke and complex sites than that of Shopify and the like.

Rebecca Hoskin Studio Management / Team Coordinator

With a wealth of experience in administrative management, Rebecca’s superpower is to pro-actively provide the assets, information, spreadsheets (and biscuits!) at the precise moment they are required. Besides managing the day-to-day running of the office, liaising with suppliers and organising events for both the team and external clients, Rebecca also assists with our environmental and sustainable outputs.

After 22 years working in dentistry, Rebecca is relishing working for a team of fellow-dog-lovers, within a creative team and environment – attending to the Crush team and the ever-evolving list of client requirements.

Naomi Ashcroft Design / Illustration

Naomi started at Crush as an intern and quickly earned her place on the team as graphic designer.

Having graduated from University in 2022 with a degree in Illustration, Naomi brings a fresh outlook and a useful skill-set to the Crush team. With more and more brands looking be more distinctive and memorable, Naomi’s talents add to the Crush arsenal with illustration that brings ideas to life and articulates abstract concepts.

Bea Poole Copywriter / Content

A keen marketer who loves to read, write and investigate stories, Bea is passionate about how language can be used to shape audiences. Coming from an in-house marketing role, Bea joined Crush with a background in writing, content creation and social media management, but with an appetite to learn more about the agency-side of creative marketing and design.

In her role as Copywriter, Bea creates clear, concise and compelling messaging for our clients, writing thought-provoking blogs, content for marketing campaigns and social media posts.