Thank you to our board members for their continued support!
Amy Ralston
Amy Ralston (Chairperson) is a Legal 500 recommended Intellectual Property and Technology Associate Lawyer at Stephens Scown, a B Corp and employee-owned law firm in the South West. Specialising in AI and Influencer Marketing Law, Amy guides clients through the entire innovation lifecycle, ensuring their ideas are protected from inception to commercialisation. I am delighted to be involved in Digital Somerset – pushing the digital literacy and accessibility agenda and bonding with Lizzie over how great of a film Love Actually is! Photo credit: Ivy House Photography
Ben Lambert
My name is Ben I started out studying electrical engineering at BTC (Bridgewater and Taunton College) after finishing the first year i left to pursue software engineering (which is far more enjoyable than engineering) and now i am in my third and final year of the course. i am also currently undertaking 315 hours of work experience at Teapot Creative and Digital Somerset. A little about my personal life, my favourite animal has got to be cats i've had 4 over the years and they have all been great. My favourite movie has to be The Gentleman, i loved all the action, humour, soundtrack and story. I do love music but i don't really have one specific genre of music that i love as i will listen to all kinds music (except country) but my favourite band has to be Set it Off who have over the years switched their style of music a few times.
Tasha Astill
My career has been a story of two halves; for 23 years I worked in the cycle trade as an account and brand manager for Raleigh, Dawes and latterly Avocet Cycles looking after over 100 retailers across the South of England. As I kept being made redundant, I resolved to make a career change. I now work in the Business Development team as a Relationship Manager looking after the business and professional studies sector which includes all things digital. I also manage the healthcare sector including the higher degree apprenticeships in nursing. My role is essentially to identify suitable training for all types of employers in an attempt to plan for future workforces whether that is recruitment or up skilling existing staff. I feel very privileged doing what I do as I absolutely love the variety of my role and the very different people I meet because of it. My hobbies: running, yoga and knitting. My vices: a weekly bottle of Jammy Roo and a box of rum babas.
Nick Porter
Nick was born in Taunton and grew up in Street in Somerset. Nick is very proud of his roots and has spent the past decade focussed on supporting Somerset businesses and communities in his day time job as Barclays Regional Manager for Business Banking in Bristol and West of England. Nick is an Inward Investment Ambassador for Invest Somerset and sits on other boards and forums across Somerset to support wider initiatives, including Digital Somerset. Nick is a season ticket holder at Exeter Chiefs, loves all things tech and attending live music events.” Favourite animal: Sun Bear; Favourite movie: Once Upon a Time in America & Forrest Gump Favourite book: The Running Man; Ready Player One; The Traveller; Game of Thrones series; and I am writing my own! Favourite music: The Cure (yes, I did have that hair once!) 3 People for a dinner date: Nikola Tesla, Genghis Khan, King Arthur Photo credit: 360 South West Photography
Barry Tottle
Barry is co-founder and director of Teapot Agency a creative digital agency based in Somerset but working nationally and internationally. A born and bred Somerset lad he is very invested in the county and is very happy to invest his time in Digital Somerset, to promote the county, growing the tech community and helping join, funnel and collaborate with others to improve Somerset’s digital position. A designer by trade Barry has grown to embrace digital technology and the relishes the exciting speed of development in the industry. Favourite animal: My chickens Favourite movie: Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Blazing Saddles, 40 Year Old Virgin Favourite book: Love a good history book - A Near Run Thing or a classic novel - Under the Greenwood Tree or Treasure Island Favourite music: So many types. Pearl Jam, The Men They Couldn’t Hang, RATM. 3 People for a dinner date: Stephen Fry, Eric Morecambe , John Cleese Photo credit: 360 South West Photography
Lizzie Tottle
Lizzie has been a graphic designer for 30 years but has spent the last 14 years of it co-running creative digital agency Teapot. Based in Somerset on the levels, they employ 20 creative and digital gurus to design and build websites and do SEO and digital marketing for over 300 clients. Teapot are Mailchimp Pro Partners, Prestashop Platinum Partners and suppliers of Green Hosting (under the Green Web Foundation) for all the websites we build. Lizzie is also on the Somerset Chamber of Commerce board of Directors. Favourite animal: Dog (mine in particular) Favourite movie: Love Actually (cheesy I know but I can't help it) Favourite book: They change all the time but for last year: A Little lIfe / The Goldfinch / the Beekeeper of Aleppo Photo credit: Aisling Magill Photography Favourite music: Pretty much all of it except Madonna. Currently love Wolf Alice, Imagine Dragons and Noah Kahn. 3 People for a dinner date: David Attenborough, Ewen McGregor and Emma Thompson (plus Leondaro da Vinci if I'm allowed a wild card)