Ben leads The Audience Agency’s work in Scotland. His expertise is in using audience research to inform organisational development, bringing arts and cultural organisations closer to their audiences through data-driven segmentation and customer experience design.
Based in Edinburgh, Ben has worked in arts marketing, research, fundraising, grant-making and audience development for over 25 years across numerous cultural institutions including The Royal Lyceum Theatre, Perth Theatre and Concert Hall, Macrobert Arts Centre and the Royal National Theatre and Tricycle (now KILN) Theatre and Cinema. He was also an Audience Development Officer for Arts Council England's Diversity Team.
He was a founder of one of Scotland's Audience Development Agencies and a steering group member for The Source - Scotland's original cross-artform data-sharing initiative. He was a board member and Chair of Youth Theatre Arts Scotland and a long-standing board member of the UK’s Arts Marketing Association.
Ben holds a BA in Medieval and Modern History from the University of Birmingham. He lives with his family by the sea near Edinburgh and loves listening to Radio 4, reading the London Review of Books and eating cheese (ideally simultaneously). He seems to spend his leisure time loading and unloading a dishwasher.
Areas of expertise
- Audience Development & Participation
- Data-driven audience development
- Arts marketing
- Strategic planning to the triple bottom line
