The Board of Directors
Tim Ashburner - Managing Director
Tim is the instigator of Marlow FM. A former Senior Sound Supervisor in BBC Radio News for 10 years; he regularly did high profile programmes such as TODAY, WORLD AT ONE and PM but then specialised in travelling around the world attending political conventions, summits and going to war-zones. He helped introduce the new satellite newsgathering for radio and then some of the audio automation and digital recording systems. He left in 1998 to set up WRN Broadcast Ltd a leading broadcast and transmission company. Tim is a technical wizard; he fitted out the new FM studios and provided much of the equipment needed to launch on FM. In 1999 he was awarded European Broadcast Engineer of the Year at the International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam. He's passionate about radio and believes that a community radio station will 'reach the parts' that other radio stations cannot reach; providing a truly local service, run by the people of Marlow, for the people of Marlow.
As well as Radio, Tim's other passion is Music. Having Trained at the Royal Academy of Music, Tim was a Session and Concert Drummer for several years, his favourite style of music being Swing and Big Band. He played on lots of recordings, some memorable, some forgettable and one that just won't die quietly! Tim is married to Tina with two children Lucy and James, all of whom are not afraid of joining in!
Paul Mansell - PR & Marketing Director
Paul is originally from a small mining village nestling midway between Rotherham and Sheffield in South Yorkshire, Paul graduated from Wolverhampton University with a BA (Hons) in Graphic Design. He then went on to enjoy ten years as one of the most highly qualified mobile and club DJ's in the Midlands; amongst the first to play Punk & New Wave music and was fortunate to work with many of the big name bands and artists of the day.
Paul had a short stint as in-house designer for a small publishers in Milton Keynes and then moved to South Bucks to pursue his career in graphic design. He now runs his own graphic design business from his home and specialises in logo and brand design. Paul has designed every incarnation of the station's identities over the years and uses his design and marketing skills to make sure Marlow FM is certainly recognised.
Paul's prime role is that of PR & Marketing Director for the station and is tasked with maintaining and increasing the profile of Marlow FM, to Keep the Buzz going, and so help to attract potential volunteers, sponsors and advertisers.
Paul is married to Hayley, an accomplished and award winning journalist, and they have twin teenage daughters Phoebe and Isabella.
Alastair Norris - Corporate Affairs Director
Alastair sees his main contribution to Marlow FM as being in the area of corporate governance, though he did hugely enjoy presenting a weekly two-hour classical music programme during the 2007 broadcasts and is set to help present the weekly Sunday afternoon classical show.
Alastair practiced at the Chancery Bar in London, becoming a QC in 1997 before being appointed a judge in 2001. He sat initially in Birmingham, but now in London dealing with a broad range of commercial and financial disputes.
He has over 25 years’ experience in active management of several not-for-profit organisations in the housing, educational and community spheres. Within the town he is a school governor, and a past chairman of Churches Together in Marlow.
Richard Scott - Financial Director
Richard is a Bucks County, Wycombe District, Marlow Town Councillor, and former Mayor of Marlow Town. He is a self-employed chartered accountant and has lived in Marlow for 30 years. Prior to founding his own company, Richard was a highly experienced finance director for a number of public companies, including House of Fraser and the Moss Bros Group. Over the years, he has developed strong commercial skills and in depth knowledge of the retail and service sectors. His experience includes the acquisition and disposal of businesses, leading a £400m flotation on the London Stock Exchange and the management of a major property portfolio. He is also Trustee and the Treasurer of the Friends of All Saints Church, Marlow.
Richard's financial expertise will prove an invaluable asset to Marlow FM and his commitment to helping it become an established and integral part of community life in Marlow is to be commended. A keen golfer, no doubt he may be persuaded to be our local '19th Hole' correspondent!
Phil Evans - Sales & Training Director
Phil's interest in audio and visual technologies began at a very early age whilst operating the AV equipment at primary school during the weekly assemblies and cinema clubs. More recently he also became involved in a local film group and provided the technical knowledge behind their first production.
During Marlow FM’s month trial the summer, of 2009, Phil faced some personal 'demons' about presenting and after initially only committing to doing one broadcast, ended up presenting the evening drive time show every day Monday to Friday, and was justifiably recognised for his achievements.
His professional background has primarily been in people orientated roles to include training, sales, support, customer relations and even a few weekends as a guest presenter on live TV. He takes on the role of Training and Sales Director for Marlow FM. Phil acknowledges that he could not have been as deeply involved in Marlow FM if it were not for the help and support of both Marion and Saskia, his family.
Jennie Carr - Fundraising & Events Director
Jennie is our Director with responsibility for fundraising and events. She spent many years working for The Prince's Trust and her skills and experience helping to motivate and facilitate new skills, qualifications and confidence for thousands of people each year will prove invaluable to Marlow FM. She, along with all our volunteers will help ensure that we have the resources now and in the future to maintain a successful community radio station.
She herself is no stranger to broadcasting having presented a show on Cookham FM during their many RSL's and as one of our team of ladies who brought 'Mid-Morning Matters' to the airwaves each day on Marlow FM.
An intrepid 'go getter', 2009 saw Jennie completing a 100km walk from the Skeleton Coast across the Namibian Desert, camping with no showers for 5 days, to raise money for The Prince's Trust. One day they had to cover 34km which meant they had to keep going for 11 hours non stop. So you can see how committed she is about raising funds to help a cause she believes in.
Rhiannon Bowen-Evans - HR Director
Rhiannon was fortunate to be born in the beautiful county of Pembrokeshire in Wales. She studied Hotel & Catering management at the local technical college, then progressed to work in various 4 star hotels across England before working for Trust House Forte in London. She progressed into contract catering, and later on having completed a post grad Diploma in Personnel at Kingston University, she spent many happy years recruiting, training, developing and unfortunately managing employees out of many businesses for poor performance!
With over 20 years experience in HR, Rhiannon now enjoys working on an interim basis for various IT and Pharmaceutical companies, and providing HR consultancy to local businesses.
She joined Marlow FM in April as a co presenter, and her most scariest experience on radio was to let her 3 children co host a show with her – never to be repeated!
