Profession: Creative Director, Robot-food Brand Design
Attended Hall School Wimbledon: 1990 (A)

About Simon: Simon is an entrepreneurial creative director who has always had a passion for art and design. Due to his love of snowboarding, he started his professional career running various action sports brands where he developed skills in marketing and communication. In January 2009, he started Robot-food Brand Design (www.robot-food.com) with a friend from Harrogate Art College; the company specialises in branding and packaging. After six months working from the dining room they won a contract with Thorntons and moved into offices where they have recently completed a full rebrand of the nation’s favourite ‘Jammie Dodgers’.

Now in its third year of business the company is expanding, taking on new staff and, helped by Simon’s can-do attitude, working on varied projects such as shop-fits and the branding of a new restaurant chain.

Simon’s memories of HSW: “Everyone should be lucky enough to have a passionate teacher like Tim Hobbs, who decides to go it alone and start his own school. There were nine of us on the first day that Hall School Wimbledon opened its doors and we were a mixed bag of wildly different characters. Back then Mr. Hobbs taught every lesson except Physics and due to the relaxed atmosphere we really enjoyed ‘hanging out’ together all day. It never really felt like we were being ‘taught’ in the village hall, so everything was absorbed – there was as much fun and interest in Latin as there was in tennis or worm collecting on the Common.

I was only at HSW for a short time as I moved north, but it was the happiest I ever was at school. My short time there did a lot to shape my character and I owe it all to Mr. Hobbs.”