Having swapped being aboard the decks of £95million “hotels on the ocean”, as he puts it, for the office in not so sunny London where he is a contractor, Angus sets about explaining his unconventional journey from Bradfield to chartering and broking. Sales is not something you would study in any detail academically but versatility and willingness to try different things are very much Bradfieldian traits.
“My parents said the best thing that happened to me was Bradfield especially in terms of character building and nurturing my confidence. It was certainly where I developed my passion for drama and entertaining people.”
For Angus it began with a dream to become an actor. Drama had won him over as he prepared to arrive at Bradfield, both the facilities and the teaching. While he didn’t get to perform in the Greek Theatre which had attracted him to the College that didn’t stop him from developing a passion for character roles, performing in The Odyssey, Antigone and Much Ado About Nothing to name just a few productions.
“I enjoyed playing the little roles where I could entertain the audience and then sit back and enjoy what my peers were doing. I’ve always loved making people laugh and I hyped those Bradfield productions up to make sure they had an audience. Perhaps that was the beginnings of what I do now where it’s all about pleasing people and trying to make sure they have the best possible time.”
He credits the teachers, not just in Drama but other subjects including English and Film, for giving him the confidence to achieve higher than expected grades and successfully apply to study Drama at Exeter, one of the leading universities in the country for the subject at the time.
After graduating Angus headed to the Academy of Live & Recorded Arts where he spent just over a year before hiring an agent to begin forging an acting career. He appeared in commercials, toured Italy with a theatre company – “not a bad gig for a 22 year old” – and worked as an extra on several big movies including as an X-Wing mechanic in Star Wars and as a Police officer in Holmes and Watson.
