University of Central Lancashire Business and Marketing graduate, Simon Jones, had been fascinated by advertising and marketing since being at primary school.
Following graduation, Simon worked for a web design agency working on digital marketing and then went on to run his own business on eBay selling handbags. Simon’s shop was the UK's biggest handbag store at the time. After this, Simon spent time building digital marketing teams in businesses before taking his current position of Managing Partner with global media agency, Wavemaker, the second-largest agency in the UK.
Simon sits on the board at Wavemaker North, where the company handle accounts like PZ Cussons, Princes, Jet2 and Comparethemarket. Simon’s role includes looking after content business, delivering social media, influencer, digital PR and studio services for their clients. Simon is also extremely proud of representing the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) in the North West, ensuring that member agencies are looked after and get everything they need.
Speaking about his career journey, Simon said:
"Everything I've ever done has been focused on working in advertising. I'm a firm believer that hard work pays off and that's exactly what I've been doing my whole career; learning, looking for opportunities and choosing roles in which I get a strong mentor to take me onto the next stage in my career"
Looking back on his time at UCLan, Simon has fond memories of attending popular social events as part of the student experience. The impact of studying at our University has been positive on his professional life, as he stated: “Without my degree I would have struggled to get on the career ladder.”