Creative Team

Our creative team, is the heart of the company. This team includes those people who dreamt up and built BitterSuite in 2014, and more recent faces to the company who have come in to help steer the direction of BitterSuite as it unfolds. All our team works on a project by project basis.

We have worked with incredible producers over the years, our associate producers come on to carry and deliver specific projects with us.

These are our associate artists each with a unique expertise be it food, movement, music, creative direction, design, illustration, psychology. We call upon this incredible pool of people when we are dreaming up our next idea. We are always expanding our pool of associate artists.

The sensory alliance collaborate, build, write and lead on work with the company. Their focus is pushing the companies capacity to create, dream up and invent work that engages with the full sensory experience, including neurodivergencies, sensory sensitivities or complex sensory needs.

Our trustees keep us going, inspire and challenge us to be bold and to help us grow.

Josh McNorton
Chair

Josh McNorton is the Cultural Director of Wembley Park, North West London’s internationally renowned destination for music and sporting events. Josh leads on the cultural activities across the 85-acre neighbourhood, including bespoke art commissions and free, outdoor festivals, live performances, and film screenings. Prior to Wembley Park, highlights of Josh’s career included producing international festivals and cultural events, collaborating with institutions such as the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Nesta, King’s College London, The Roundhouse, and The Barbican. Josh moved to the UK from his native Canada in 2012 to deliver the Olympic Park entertainment programme for the London 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.

Stephanie Tyrell
Trustee

Stephanie Tyrrell is currently ‘Head of Arts’ for the national disability charity Sense. Sense supports people with complex disabilities, including deaf blindness and believes that arts should be at heart of great care. Stephanie oversees a diverse national programme, supporting a range of artists & care staff to deliver work rooted in access for all. Prior to this role Stephanie worked as an inclusive theatre practitioner and manager for nine years, delivering and developing innovative arts projects and theatre for young people and adults with complex disabilities including those with Profound Multiple Learning Disabilities and Autistic spectrum disorder. During this time Stephanie managed, programmed, and collaborated on projects in a wide range of community settings, including museums, art galleries, schools, theatres, day care centres, academic institutions, and hospitals. Stephanie has an MA in Inclusive Arts Practice from Brighton University and enjoys yoga and true crime documentaries in her spare time.

Ash Patel
Trustee

Ash is the Community Engagement Manager of Wembley Park and he manages The Yellow, a community space in NW London. Ash has a proven track record of engaging with communities on large regeneration projects within local authorities. He has created robust and balanced events programmes, run stakeholder consultation events, and built a neighbourhood plan to guide the future development for Wembley, the area he has lived in for many years. The success of Ash’s approach is based on being proactive, energetic, and personable. In his spare time, Ash is crazy about live music in intimate venues, loves new experiences, and he’s still trying to play football.

Fleur Chaffe
Trustee

Fleur’s work enables organisations and individuals in the arts industry to both establish and grow through publicity, marketing, securing partnerships and more. Having worked as a consultant with BitterSuite in their embryonic stages, it was a natural step for Fleur to become a Trustee of the organisation at the end of 2022. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, her work has organically moved towards supporting charities, bringing creative and new ideas of how to continue growth in such a diminishing time, most recently for the National Children’s Orchestras of GB and City Music Foundation. Fleur’s freelance career has led her to consult with organisations and individuals on their PR & marketing campaigns to help raise awareness and reach national & international audiences. She has worked in the music and arts industry since graduating and her energy and determination has led her to progress rapidly throughout her time working for agencies and then for herself since 2016. Fleur is excited to be a part of the BitterSuite team, ensuring it receives the recognition it deserves.