Meet The Team

Emma Thomas

Chief Operating Officer

As COO of Affinity, Emma works to enable the team to deliver their best work by removing friction and ensuring everything runs smoothly and efficiently. With a background spanning design, project management, and digital delivery, she uses design thinking to solve problems and is motivated by making a difference to the people around her, both colleagues and clients. Three words we’d use to describe Emma: Eagle-eyed, experienced, adaptable.

James Macintyre

Technical Director

James provides technical leadership, enterprise architecture, and pre-sales support across complex client engagements at Affinity. He enjoys supporting colleagues by unblocking challenges and sharing knowledge, as well as designing secure, scalable systems. With over 20 years’ experience across multiple industries, he is motivated by building robust, well-structured solutions and solving technical problems. Three words we’d use to describe James: Curious, direct, dependable.

Andy Ingham

Development Director

As Affinity’s Development Director, Andy acts as technical lead across WordPress and Magento projects and oversees client AWS and Azure cloud infrastructure design, build, and support. With a background in IT spanning insurance, investment banking, and public sector work, he combines technology with strong client relationships and is motivated by cloud infrastructure and emerging AI possibilities. Three words we’d use to describe Andy: Hard-working, knowledgeable, reliable.

Mark Picken

Growth Director

Mark is Growth Director at Affinity, supporting business development and working with leadership to expand our content design and UCD team. With over 20 years’ experience running businesses and a background in advertising and content design, he enjoys building new opportunities and is motivated by doing impactful work that benefits people and the planet. Three words we’d use to describe Mark: Thoughtful, calm, pragmatic.

Michael Barker

Delivery Director

Michael leads Affinity’s Delivery Support Team, ensuring consistent, high-quality delivery across client engagements. With a background in software testing and a strong focus on agile delivery, he works closely with stakeholders to navigate complexity, manage risk, and maintain trust. Michael is passionate about enabling teams to perform at their best and building collaborative, transparent relationships with our clients. Three words we’d use to describe Michael: Collaborative, pragmatic, trustworthy.

Laura Keam

Delivery Support & Finance Manager

Laura works across both Affinity’s Delivery Support Team and Finance Team, helping projects stay organised, running smoothly and on budget. Laura has a background in finance and is AAT qualified. She enjoys building strong relationships with clients and supporting her colleagues to work effectively as a team, and thrives in a varied role where no two days are the same. Three words we’d use to describe Laura:  Friendly, helpful, horse-obsessed.

Georgie Lansdowne

Account Manager

Georgie is an Account Manager at Affinity, working across service delivery, governance, and client support. She ensures services remain stable, effective, and continuously improved. With over a decade of delivery experience, she enjoys problem solving, building strong relationships, and creating clarity across teams, and is motivated by improving services and supporting both clients and colleagues. Three words we’d use to describe Georgie: Curious, thoughtful, people-focused

Mark Hudson

Senior Developer

Mark works across WordPress applications and infrastructure, supporting a range of clients by resolving technical issues and maintaining reliable, high-performing systems. With more than 25 years’ experience in web development, including work in the hospitality sector focused on conversion optimisation, he enjoys the problem-solving side of support work, analysing issues and finding effective solutions. His broad experience working with clients, budgets, designers, and technical teams helps him deliver practical, dependable outcomes. Three words we’d use to describe Mark: Experienced, analytical and dependable.

Christine Merrifield

WordPress Developer

Christine works across WordPress platforms and infrastructure, ensuring systems remain stable, secure, and high-performing while delivering long-term technical improvements. With a self-taught background spanning PHP, MySQL, and systems administration, she enjoys solving problems and is motivated by continuous learning, building robust solutions, and keeping large-scale platforms running smoothly. Three words we’d use to describe Christine: Dedicated, approachable and meticulous.

James Varney

Senior Developer

James leads on complex systems across applications and infrastructure at Affinity, ensuring everything runs smoothly and investigating any performance issues. With over 15 years of professional experience and a lifelong passion (obsession!) for how things work, he enjoys building scalable, well-structured systems and is motivated by solving complex problems and creating clean, maintainable solutions. Three words we’d use to describe James: Reliable, thorough, calm under pressure.

Chester Abrahams

WordPress Developer

Chester works across many projects including the Covid-19 Inquiry and Timpson, developing features, improving functionality, reviewing code, and collaborating with the team to keep projects running smoothly. He has a full-stack background and enjoys debugging challenges, seeing tangible process and delivering work that clients and colleagues value. Three words we’d use to describe Chester: Thoughtful, approachable, supportive.

Shaun Jenkins

Developer

Shaun has been building at the intersection of design and engineering for over a decade, developing scalable WordPress solutions with a strong focus on users and detail. He solves hard problems and bridges the gap between creative vision and technical delivery, turning ideas into clear, structured outcomes that are reliable and built to scale. Three words we’d use to describe Shaun: Problem-solver, kind, inquisitive.

Brooke Williams

Marketing Apprentice

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Brooke supports Affinity’s social media campaigns, communications and events. With a background in retail and hospitality, Brooke has developed her marketing skills through Google Digital Marketing courses and personal creative projects. She has enjoyed supporting the development of Affinity’s visual identity and is passionate about building cohesive brands and engaging communities across social media. Three words we’d use to describe Brooke: Keen, organised, creative.