Our Team

Prior to launching Aura in 2005, Erin worked in marketing for leading professional services firms for ten years, most recently as Marketing Manager for Bain & Company in the UK. At Bain she and her team led the Relationships Marketing activity for the 35 London Partners, in addition to designing and delivering over 50 client events a year at which the most senior directors of the UK's leading companies were hosted.

Erin has featured in Management Today's "Top 35 under 35" list, a high profile list of the UK's most successful young women in business today.

Michael Lockett has enjoyed a formidable career in business communications spanning 30 years, bringing his considerable energy and insight to a variety of high profile international projects. In addition to this, he is a serial entrepreneur, founding, acquiring, and growing many businesses, and sits on the board of numerous successful companies across the communications spectrum. These include Populus (reputation research, and pollsters to The Times), TLG Communications (Public, Corporate and Consumer Affairs specialists who have been shortlisted for PR Week's New Consultancy of The Year 2008), Vero Communications (campaign communications for sport and business), and was Chair of LIVE Communication (experiential marketing and live events).

Starting out in advertising, Michael swiftly established his own business, WCT Live, which became the largest independently owned live marketing company. His clients included British Airways, HM Government and ITV. In 1997 he sold the business to Caribiner (now Jack Morton Worldwide, the largest events company in the world) becoming their European Chief Executive and Chairman. Here he worked on Britain's Presidency of the EC, the Hong Kong Handover Ceremony and the initial development of the Dome project. He forged close links with The Royal Household, particularly through his work on the Golden Jubilee Concerts at Buckingham Palace for which he was awarded the CVO.

Michael founded LIVE in 2000, the company behind the 'story' for London's successful bid to host the Olympic Games in 2012. LIVE were also responsible for the Swisscom Empire of Silence at the last Swiss National Expo which saw 1.2 million visitors in five months; and not only created, but launched Mercedes Benz World at Brooklands.

In addition to the corporate world, Michael has close political links spanning many years, being instrumental in orchestrating the Conservative Party conferences from Thatcher, through to Major, and Cameron.

Sarah Pitchford has worked in the Communications industry for eight years with specific experience in end-to-end management of high profile and large scale strategic events. As a founding team member of Unspun and previously a Senior Producer at Live Communications, Sarah has a deep understanding of the events industry from building a strong narrative to developing the best creative approach through to technical execution. Sarah has been fortunate enough to work with clients such as Camelot, EDF Energy, BAA, HRH the Prince of Wales in addition to working on major Campaigns such as the London 2012 Olympic Games bid, Singapore’s Youth Olympic Games bid and more recently the England 2018 World Cup bid.

Jennifer Harris is the Managing Director of JRBH Strategy & Management, a business that helps its clients identify new ways to create growth and then works with them to deliver it. Jennifer is also a monthly columnist in Management Today and holds a seat on the Advisory Board of the Centre for Public Policy Seminars (CPPS). In 2005, Jennifer was named Young Business Woman of the Year by The Times, and in 2006 she was named in Management Today's top '35 women under 35'. Jennifer holds an MA from Cambridge University in Classics and is a graduate of The Judge Business School, Cambridge.

Lisa-Jane Ryan has over seven years marketing experience in financial and professional services. In recent years, Lisa-Jane headed up the events team at Olswang, a London law firm, providing business development support. This included the design and implementation of the events programme for 100 partners and their key clients from the media, technology, real estate, finance and corporate sectors.

Nikki London has 8 years experience in managing television productions. As a Production Manager, Nikki coordinated large scale live shows for ITV and Sky; and successful high profile programmes such as Come Dine with Me, Extreme Makeover and The Kilroy Programme. Nikki then moved into professional services and worked at Bain & Company, where she assisted a group of Managers and coordinated internal training courses across the London office.

Sophie Nelemans is a senior member of Aura's Events team and has many years of experience in managing large scale international events. As the founding Partner and Project Manager of Fleet Maritime Events, she produced and directed a series of multi-million pound, high profile launches for Britain's largest cruise ship operator Carnival UK. Sophie has specialist knowledge in complex guest management processes and logistics, and has expertise in the implementation of high security procedures and dealing with international working press and media. Recent projects include the launch of P&O Cruises largest ship, Azura, and the launch of the luxury ocean liner, Cunard's, Queen Elizabeth. Sophie has also gained valuable experience working in professional services at Bain & Company.

Sophie Lang has five years marketing and events management experience in both professional services and not-for-profit environments. In her last role she worked at Bain & Company, supporting the events director in delivering Bain's marketing plan. This included identifying priorities for invitation lists, coordinating all invitation processes and project managing a range of marketing events.

Victoria Boon is a creative and experienced Events Manager, with a diverse portfolio of corporate and private clients. Prior to joining Aura she worked at a bespoke private event agency, specialising in the management of exclusive parties in the UK and overseas.

Shona Robertson has over 6 years experience working in a variety of sectors including PR, Education, Management Consultancy and Financial Services. More recently she worked at Bain & Company where she assisted a group of senior managers, and managed a wide range of UK based events.

Kate Burroughs joined Aura after relocating to London from Australia where she spent two and a half years working in a Sydney based PR and events agency. In this role, Kate was involved in national PR campaigns, branded events and experiential marketing for some of the world's most recognised brands. She has worked with clients such as LEGO, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Unilever, Lion Nathan and Bacardi Lion. Kate assists the delivery of Aura's largest events.

Natasha joined Aura from one of London's premium venues, Old Billingsgate, where she was responsible for building long-lasting relationships with existing clients, creating new business opportunities and managing a number of high profile events, including the Stella Artois World Draught Masters 2010 and T3 Gadget Awards. Prior to this, Natasha worked as an Events Manager for a leading London caterer. In this role Natasha worked with clients such as Honda and Levis and oversaw the creative event design and logistics of all hospitality areas at Plumpton Racecourse.

Natalie Whiteford joined Aura from a varied background that included event coordination, front of house office management support and voluntary work. Natalie's organisational skills and obsessive attention to detail allow her to support the team to deliver world-class events and projects. With a background in photography and design, a passion for music and fluent Spanish and French, Natalie brings creativity and diversity to the Aura team.

Kevin Robbins joined Aura after working as a Front of House Manager, providing 5 star corporate reception and meeting services for top executives. Before joining Aura, Kevin looked after 300 employees in 4 London offices, ensuring the company's image and guest experience was world-class. Kevin is now Erin Hepher's Executive Assistant, providing support to Erin and the Event Team.

Tina St John-Stevens' career has bridged the music, theatre and corporate world. With over 25 years experience, Tina has vast knowledge of both the environmental and technical requirements of event delivery.

Having coordinated technical teams ranging in size from one to hundreds, all over the globe, Tina is a respected figure in the industry. Tina has a deep understanding of how to bring environments to life and her experience on large budget product launches has enabled her to push the boundaries of technology and translate this to smaller events.

Her experience includes both UK and International projects - covering conferences, press events, car launches, AGM's, road shows, fashion shows and gala dinners. Clients over the years include: Amex, Apple, BA, BAT, BT, Calvin Klein, Conservative Party, KPMG, HP, HSBC, IBM, LGA, L'Oreal, M&S, Monsoon, Orange, Opel, Saab, Vauxhall, Volvo & Woolworths.

Robin Green has over six years experience in graphic design and has worked with Aura for the last four years. Robin started his career creating graphics for large-scale events, learning the effectiveness of good graphic design - from a stylish invitation right through to a clear table plan. Robin now splits his time between designing for print and designing for the web.