John Withnell has a track record of understanding and applying emerging technologies for business benefit. He helps organisations work through the maze of creative, technical and commercial issues that must be navigated to exploit the benefits of new technology in the media and telecoms sectors.
His early career was spent pioneering the development of interactive TV at BT’s research and development facility in Martlesham. He moved to Open Interactive in 1997 to set-up the service creation team and develop interactive TV applications for the Sky digital platform. He developed the toolset for interactive advertising, and went on to deliver over five hundred impulse response and branding campaigns. Clients included Ford, Nissan, Honda, VW, Adidas, Nokia, Vodafone, HSBC, Army and RAF.
In 2001, John joined Sky Interactive as their Head of Service Delivery. In his four years with Sky, he was responsible for the launch of over four hundred interactive TV services, including Sky Vegas Live, Gamestar and the Sky Active portal. Key clients included Skybet, Ladbrokes, BlueSq, DirectGov, Disney, Channel 4, Five, Sky One, Community Channel, Dominos, Keith Prowse and Lastminute.
Practice Areas
Primary Capabilities
John is an experienced and reliable manager with a passion for applying emerging technology to meet customer requirements. He has specialist knowledge in the broadcast media and telecommunications sectors. He can work closely with your management team to manage projects from initial concept through to launch on time within budget.
Preferred Activities
- Developing strategic plans
- Project planning
- Technical evaluation
- Feasibility studies
- Requirements capture
- Functional specification
- Project management
- Leading multi-discipline teams
- Design & build
- Usability testing
Core Offer
John is an adaptable individual who enjoys the challenge of making new opportunities work. He is hands-on in his approach and supportive in management style. He is self-motivated and driven by a passion to apply new technology. John is mature, reliable and approachable. He is results focussed and drives for delivery.
Other disciplines offered:
- Executive briefings on key technology trends and the new commercial opportunities these will bring.
- Competitor analysis and evaluation of competing Interactive TV, Internet or Mobile Phone services.
- Best practice user interface design for interactive TV, mobile and web.
Primary Sector Experience
- Betting and Gaming
- Interactive Advertising
- Interactive Television
- Broadcast Media
- Telecommunications
- Government
- Retail
- Games
- Mobile
- Dating and Chat
Areas of Distinctive Performance and Value-Addition
- Developing business cases
- Planning and managing projects
- Presenting concepts and progress
- Understanding the Sky digital platform
- Driving delivery within budget
- Overcoming obstacles
- Building relationships
- Creating enthusiasm
Notable Case Study
Interactive TV chat service for the Sky platform
Qualifications and professional memberships
- Chartered Engineer
- Member of the Institute of Electrical Engineers
- Masters in Telecommunications Management
- Degree in Electrical Engineering
Employment Summary
| Managing Director, Long Dog Ltd | 2005 - present |
| Head of Service Delivery, BSkyB plc | 2001 - 2005 |
| Head of Service Creation, Open Interactive Ltd | 1997 - 2001 |
| Project Leader, BT Labs, BT plc | 1989 - 1997 |
Return to the Link Associates Page
