About Us
The Gapyear Gang
Gapyear.com is a social networking and travel advice website committed to providing you with everything you need to know about taking a gap year. We were created by backpackers, for backpackers, and offer expert advice on travelling, volunteering and working abroad, all tied together with inspirational ideas, opportunities and products.
But websites cannot run on circuits and servers alone. They need people. Human people. Below are the individuals that work on gapyear.com every day to make it one of the best travel sites around. Some of them write the words that appear on the site. Some of them sell stuff. And some of them fiddle with knobs and bang things really hard when everything stops working. But whatever they do, they are part of an awesome team committed to giving you the best travelling experience possible.
Founders
Tom Griffiths
Tom took his first gap year at 18, travelling to Australia via the US and Pacific Islands and back through South East Asia. He had such a brilliant time that he then spent his student days earning money to travel, doing everything from working on trucks to busking on the streets with didgeridoos. Tom wrote his first book Before You Go at 22 and founded gapyear.com in 1998 with IT Consultant Peter Pedrick. He now acts as a gap year spokesperson, industry authority, conference speaker and consultant, with countless media appearances over the last decade.
Peter Pedrick
When Tom and Peter met Peter was about to take time out from running his IT consultancy company that he started at university. You could say that running and starting businesses was Peter's UK gap year, but at 23 he was itching to do some travelling and escape the usual workplace nightmares. He believed gapyear.com is about enjoyment, adventure and getting the most out of your life; three things we have always cared very strongly about. Peter has since moved on to new adventures and is no longer part of gapyear.com.
General Manager
Tim Fenton
Tim is a journalist. He started in print and went on to become a BBC political correspondent. He led the introduction of internet access for BBC newsrooms and, later, became managing editor of BBC News Online. After leaving the BBC, he developed and delivered social media strategy and training for a range of clients. He has lectured in journalism at New York University. Between school and university, he drove a dilapidated Citroen 2CV slowly around Southern Europe. He took a mid-career gap to sail to the Caribbean and back with his family. His current travel plan is to pioneer the ‘late-career gap’.
The Core Team
Andrew Tipp
Andy is the Communications Manager for the site. This means he works with the media, so if you have any press enquiries he is the person to contact. He also manages our online community, so if you have any ideas or questions about how things work with blogs, boards, profiles or anything to do with our social network get in touch with him by logging in and sending a private message. Andy has travelled across South America and southern Africa. In his spare time he writes short stories and contributes to creative magazines and arty, cultural projects.
Cormac Scanlan
Cormac is the gapyear.com Webmaster, planning and running the design and implementation of new features and website components. He has worked at gapyear.com since 2005, having previously taken a degree in Digital Media specialising in web design, image manipulation and sound and video production. If asked, Cormac would probably describe himself as an aspiring polymath or something, but we’ll keep things simple and just refer to him as a geek.
Fredrick Elliott
Fredrick is one of the Commercial partnerships managers for the site. He's new to the role, but he knows that it covers a huge area, from partnerships with airlines to online advertising strategies with Gorilla Sanctuaries to get you guys out there. Fredrick has travelled across North America and around Europe mainly on his skis; he is an avid snow fanatic and can often be found either 'off-piste' or 'piste' in the Après-Ski Lounge.
Hannah Garnham
Hannah has multiple roles within the company. She has developed from doing sales admin through to credit control and client management. She now holds the title of Office Manager. She works closely with the commercial team and can be a dragon when it comes to chasing money. Hannah is also our resident office baker and can generally be found eating at most points during the day. She is queen of luxurious holidays, and jets off several times a year if she can.
Howard Smith
Howard began his career in the travel industry before leaving to complete a degree. He has returned to his roots, joining the commercial team at gapyear.com where he looks after the sponsorship and promotional elements of the website. This means he works with clients to bring the best offers, deals, products and competitions to our users. Howard wants to visit every continent and always looking for an excuse to book his next holiday and move one step closer to achieving this.
Marcus Sherifi
Marcus is the gapyear.com Sub-Editor and writes on a myriad of topics, giving the best travel advice in an easy-to-read style that he would describe as ‘cutesy’. His two passions are travelling and writing. Which is lucky, because he is a travel journalist. He travelled for 20 months non-stop, never settling in one place for more than a week or two, living to travel. In his spare time, he reads about travelling, thinks about travelling, and then travels. He joined gapyear.com in March 2011.
Sarah Kirke
Sarah Kirke is one of the part-time Business Development Managers at gapyear.com, and has been with the company since 2009. Sarah is half-Australian on her mother’s side and has previously lived and worked in the country. She loves nature and horse-riding. Sarah likes to be active outside of work and used to do three-day eventing, but feels she is getting on a bit to continue competing. Fact: she has just got over her fear of heights.
Sue Rudland
Sue is our Commercial Director and has 20 years of experience in sales, marketing and business development. She spent eight years running a number of commercial radio stations and sales teams, and her philosophy is that business goes where its invited and stays where it is well treated. Sue is married with two children, and shares her birthday with her identical twin and her dad. Her hobbies are history, architecture, archaeology, travel, and she can see the good in everyone and everything except spiders.
