The team

Through my Dad, my Dad was a cabinet maker and he got involved in the audio industry. His love of audio and music filtered through to me and was something that stayed with me all my life.

Seeing new products come to life, seeing our ideas come from just a concept to a finished product and seeing people enjoying them. It’s bringing the joy of music to our customers.

I think the fact that we are a family company shows in the passion that we all share, there are not many family companies left. Everyone’s part of that family really, even those that aren’t actual family feel like they are. We are all a team, there is no hierarchy as such.

I was a bluecoat at Pontins when I was 20/21 for a few years!

That is a difficult one, I suppose going back it would have to be someone like Fleetwood Mac or the Beatles.

I’ve had lots of hobbies, I enjoy cycling, I used to love water sports like wind-surfing and have been over to Lanzarote a few times to windsurf there. I like gardening and doing things around the home, things where you can see an end result, for instance, if you spend a day gardening, you can stand back and see the finished product!

I would like to go somewhere really exotic with great reefs and go scuba diving. I like to go to places where no one has been before, away from the crowds.

David Attenborough, I just love his love of nature and conservation. I agree with a lot of things that he stands for and I’d like to talk to him about things like the conservation of the planet, the overpopulation, how he would handle the fact that there are too many people.

‘Star Trek’ and ‘Lost in Space’, any of those sorts of things. And ‘Tomorrow’s World’.

I would play James T Kirk in ‘Star Trek’, to probably go where no one’s been before.

My Wifes Father was making the speakers which were diesis at the time, and that gradually turned into Ruark and I was working in retail management, not enjoying it and the company was growing, so I left that to come here. It was just me and Alan on the bench putting stuff together and Brian was out selling it.

I think really that even though we have got to this stage where we are, most people still don’t know about us, and there’s that whole thing for the future that there are still so many people we can reach. It’s not about selling or money grabbing, it’s more about reaching our potential.

I think we are very focused on how the product looks and sounds, that comes first. We develop it with that in mind, it’s going to be a really nice piece of kit and sound really good. And then all the other stuff like price etc, it’s important that we are making money, but it’s got to be a really good product, we are not embarrassed to sell. Although it’s not my name on it, I wouldn’t want to be selling a product that I wasn’t proud of, and I think some companies compromise that sometimes.

I’m probably softer than what people think and the image I give off.

If I had to pick just one who I really like would be Lynyrd Skynyrd, I used to listen to them when I was a kid.

I do yoga which I have been doing for five years. I used to windsurf but don’t anymore, the only thing I do regularly is painting and drawing, which I have done pretty much all my life. I specialise in oils and watercolours.

If I could do anything and had the money and the time, I think I’d like to sail around the world on a yacht. I don’t have a boat, so that’s a problem, but I think that would be lovely.

It would have to be someone who’s very interesting and amusing to talk to, someone like Stephen Fry.

From when I was little it probably would have been ‘Bill and Ben’, ‘Wooden Tops’ was another one but Bill and Ben.

I always tell my kids that my favourite film is ‘Mary Poppins’ so it would have to be that, it would be a bit weird to play Mary though so it would have to be ‘Bert’ the chimney sweep!

By mistake really! So around mid-2005 I retired from being a professional footballer due to injury and I started working at my friend’s marketing company in London doing event management and road shows for the likes of Samsung, Nintendo, Panasonic etc. It got to the point where I was trying to think about my next career choice. My whole family works for the NHS and I always had an interest in medicine, so I had a look into a career in medical and pharmaceutical sales. Alongside working for my friend’s marketing company, I decided to study again and whilst preparing for my pharmaceutical exams I realised that I needed experience on the field so put my CV into a local recruitment agency. Within a few days, the agency contacted me about a job at Ruark (who I’d never heard of before), so I went along to the interview not really sure if I wanted the job or not.

I suppose where we have come from in the past 12 years, the growth we’ve experienced so far and what we are yet to achieve! It’s also exciting to think about where we will be in the next 5–10 years. Our product roadmap is constantly evolving with new technology and new international markets to target. As part of a small team, everyone has a voice which matters. When designing new products if you have an opinion you share it and you may see that change is implemented in the product and then you’ll see it on the shelf.

Ruark as a business has been built upon our mission to create products that we ourselves would be proud to own. A business that started a hobby and turned into a successful enterprise, through hard work and passion for what we do. In our sector of the market there are many brands who put their name on finished products, but we start with a blank piece of paper and agonise over every detail to produce the best product we can without compromise. Products aside we are a close-knit team who are equally as passionate for Ruark as our founder. No one is a number here.

I used to play professional football. My first professional club, Man City, bought me from my Irish League Club – which is why I came over to England when I was 21.

My favourite album (well, one of) would be The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses.

If you ask Fliss (my Wife) I have far too many hobbies. One of my friends once said to me that if I get into something, there’s no dipping my toe in to see how it goes, I’m in there until the death. Must be the competitive sportsman in me! Probably my most current hobby is cycling, but I like getting involved in pretty much any sport. I play golf, I kitesurf, I like to run, go to yoga every Tuesday night. As you would expect I love music, live gigs, scuba diving, but with having a little girl I do have to compromise… or get up even earlier every morning! So, out of all of those my main hobbies would be listening to music, going to gigs and then I cycle and run when I can.

I’ve got this book at home, it’s called ‘Mountains Epic Cycling Climbs’ by Michael Blann. It’s 44 of the worlds most epic climbs for cycling, I’ve ticked off 8 of them and would like to do them all.

I would quite like to meet Barack Obama for dinner. Why? Well the obvious reason being he was the first black American president, but more to the fact that he has changed American (current US president aside) and world politics forever… and what a great role model he is! I’ve watched a documentary on him and he seems like an interesting bloke with a great personality not to mention his really interesting background, being brought up by just his mum, growing up in Indonesia, and then going on to be the first black US President.

As a young kid I used to love ‘Fraggle Rock’ and ‘Roland Rat’, I also used to like ‘The Wonder Year’s’ when I was slightly older, and ‘Quantum Leap’.

I have no idea… Robert Downey Jr in Iron Man?! Why not!

I’d been working in design ever since I graduated, and I had set up my own consultancy. That’s when Alan approached me with the original idea of designing and developing his own DAB radios, so I’ve been working with Alan from the outset to establish the look and the brand. I studied at the Royal College of Art, where I did a Master of Design.

We are trying to achieve an awful lot, despite being a very small team with relatively limited resources. Which means every single minute and every single person counts, and it makes it both very challenging and very exciting – as well as sometimes very frustrating. I have an awful lot of direct influence into what’s exactly going to be on the market, and that’s incredibly rewarding. We are trying to build up that cool, quirky, European design, and my background is Italian/British/Norwegian so there’s a bit of Scandinavian/British design which I like.

I’ve always worked in small teams, so I’ve always chosen to work with companies with groups a bit like Ruark. I don’t like Blue chips, I’ve worked with Blue chips before and you are just one tiny cog in a machine, but here it’s different. I guess one thing with product development, you don’t get many shots at getting it right, so when we develop a product we must get it right. Most bigger companies will develop 10 products and bring 1 to market, whereas we have to bring every product to market.

I’m bilingual so I am fluent in Italian, I spend a lot of time in Italy as we have a house there. I have also cycled to Italy from the UK three times, the quickest being 12 days with camping (cycle touring with friends).

This is difficult as I like all sorts of stuff, I don’t have a favourite anything. But generally speaking I like acoustic folk, and someone with something to say. If they sing and play an acoustic guitar, that’s generally halfway there for me.

I don’t have an awful lot of spare time so most of my hobbies either involve doing something practical, like building wardrobes/shelves etc. I am adept at DIY and making things. I also mountain bike, road cycle, ski, and I used to do a lot of mountaineering, not so much now I have kids, but I do a bit when I can. I like challenging myself in terms of physical challenges.

I would like to run a marathon at least once. As I get older my bucket list is increasingly sparse because individual experiences in the end don’t really do it, it’s longer term experiences. I think the build up to it is more exciting, as once you’ve done it, you just sign it off. So I prefer to do lots of little things to build up.

That’s a difficult one, because for the most significant people in the world, would they make good dinner party guest? I will go for someone contemporary, Ranulph Fines, somebody who has done lots of adventurous stuff, he’s a crazy guy.

Jackanory was good, storytelling. But in reality, it would have to be something like Hong Kong Phooey or Top Cat, for the simple reason that they were on when I go home from school, and it was a good bit of light relief.

I don’t particularly like acting, so let’s say something like the voice of ‘Baloo’ in ‘The Jungle Book’.

I knew Alan’s daughter Hannah as we went to primary and senior school together. I had just finished my degree and I went to Menorca and had messaged Hannah and it turned out she was there too staying only 10 minutes down the road, so I actually met Alan on holiday! I had a job offer at Accenture, but it wasn’t due to start for 2 months so Alan offered me a job at Ruark Audio for the meantime. When it came to the end of the 2 months, Alan offered me a permanent job and I took it. It wasn’t really what I thought I’d be doing as I have a degree in computer science, but it’s loosely connected so! I actually remember coming to Hannah’s 15th birthday party at Ruark HQ!

I guess I’d say the products, but from a job point of view the flexibility. My role is very flexible and covers all aspects of a new product, so I quite enjoy the fact that it could be software, mechanical, packaging, certification, all manner of things from the appearance, functionality, features. I like the company and I like the products, but from a job point of view, I like the creative, hands-on kind of role that I have.

Well, I think that being a small company has its advantages, there’s a lot less ‘red tape’, and decisions are a lot more fluid which means things get done quicker. It’s relatively friendly, except for when somebody takes the last chocolate cookie! But that says a lot – the fact that the important things are about eaten biscuits!

I don’t think there’s really anything that people would be surprised by. I guess one thing people would maybe be surprised by is that I go to the same place on holiday every year – Menorca. I love the people, the Island, the Spanish language – and I am in some way teaching myself some Spanish. When I go I like to learn the Spanish history, I love the food and drink, especially the wine – red wine! So much so that at Christmas I buy myself crates of it and get it shipped over.

That is a difficult question, I don’t know! If I had to pick something more modern I’d go for the Killers because aged 16–21 they were probably the band that spoke most to me. Christmas songs obviously, I love them, I play them pretty much from Guy Fawkes to Christmas. I love some Motown and jazz and I love Abba, they are the best! I have such a range of music really, it depends on my mood.

Drinking – is that a hobby? No, it’s a medical ambition I’m told! I like gardening, hence the frequent delivery of plants to Terry. I have been growing vegetables for about five years, every night I am in the garden getting rid of slugs. In Menorca, there is a lemon tree where we stay, and I grew lemons from the seed from the fruit, and from China I am growing a dragon eye fruit. I also collect coins, but probably not in the way most people would think. I collect different versions of £1 coins, £2 coins etc. I have a Kew Gardens 50p which is worth a bit of money. I don’t collect them obsessively, but if somebody I am with has a good coin I will buy it off them.

Ooo bucket list activity, Japan! Kyoto, I would like to see the Samurai Temple. Egypt pyramids, New Zealand, Australia.

Einstein, but in this era, it would be great to see what he thought of the world now wouldn’t it. The man was clearly a genius, how he came up with so many theories that ultimately transpired to be correct.

I’m going to go for something geeky, I watched this program when I was a kid called ‘Stargate SG1’. Although ‘Scrubs’ was way up there. It would have to be between those two I’d say.

I would star in ‘Harry Potter’, and I would play Snape because he’s a good guy with a bit of a dark side.

My background is in retail, when I left school I started working on an audio department in John Lewis and I sold Ruark products. Through doing that I met Alan and Rich years ago – back in the day. They asked me one day if I wanted to apply for a job that they had available, so I did. I’ve always had an interest in music and audio and that’s all I’ve known in my career, so it seemed like the right path.

What excites me the most about the company is that very few people know who we are! I can see the huge potential of the brand and I am in a position where I can grow with the company and see what we are able to achieve in the future. Because we are only small, you feel like you have an active role in the growth, you don’t feel like your input is not important – you can make a difference.

I would say what makes us different is that we all have a genuine love for what we do. It’s not all about the money and everyone here has a true love for the product and a big passion for Ruark. We do it because we enjoy it! This could also be seen as negative as we are always thinking about the product and the brand – it can be hard to switch off!

I am a massive dog lover, I have a Staffordshire Bull Terrier (my favourite breed) and her name is Sky.

I am a big reggae fan and if I was to pick out of who has done the most songs that I like, it would be Bob Marley. He’s not someone I listen to a lot, but if you are talking about iconic artists throughout time, for me I would choose him, because he’s influenced so many other types of music. He is also always the artist I end up singing on karaoke!

I have played golf for 4 years and I currently play off a 12 handicap. I am a member at our local golf club and I play at least once a week. I used to play a lot of squash to a high standard and I was a county squash player, but then I could no longer play due to 2 injuries, so I needed another sport to get into – so I played golf. My dad also played squash but due to his age he wanted a new sport and decided to try golf, so we got into playing it together.

I really want to go to the Maldives at some point, so it would have to be a one off, once in a lifetime trip to the Maldives.

I think I’d love to go to dinner with the Queen, I think she would have some very interesting stories and I would love to get her opinion on certain things and I’d love to hear what she thinks of people. I think it would be great to be the Queen for the week, just to be in her shoes – preferably not her kitten heels.

Hmm what did I watch on TV when I was a kid, I think it would have to be ‘Johnny Quest’ without a doubt. Saturday morning was Johnny Quest time – I used to love it. Back when I was about nine. I also used to love all the stuff that was on after Newsround, like ‘The ‘Queen’s Nose’, ‘The Demon Headmaster’ etc.

It’s got to be ‘James Bond’, obviously playing Bond, James Bond! Why? Well because he drives nice cars, wears fancy suits and has nice watches – and gets to go to some nice parts of the world!

I’d been in the print industry for years and years and decided to make a change. My brother-in-law worked at Ruark as a ‘handyman’ so I already knew a lot about the company from him, when I heard they were hiring I decided to come in for an interview and the rest is history.

Being autonomous, that you can work within your own brief.

I just think the Directors are more grounded than you would normally find, and a lot more approachable.

That’s a difficult one. I really do enjoy building and DIY / home restoration. I would love to build a house from scratch one day. I would love, love, love to be in the Ibiza generation – as I love a bit of house music.

Ooo that’s a hard one as I have a really wide range in taste, I like foo fighters, Pavarotti, you name it I like it. There’s not really anyone I don’t like, I like both old music and new music, some brings back memories and makes you happy. I can’t say I have one person or band that I like, but my favourite genre would be dance music.

Cycling, DIY, I’m a big foodie, and travel when I can do it. I try to cycle every day if I can and aim for around 10 miles in the morning and 10 miles in the evening – weather permitting!

Something like visiting some Mayan ruins in Mexico or something like that.

I think I’d like to meet the Dalai Lama, just because he sounds like a fascinating man. I would like to talk to him about the meaning of life, and he’d know it.

‘Lost in Space’.

I think I’d like to be in the ‘Godfather’, staring as Vita Corleone. It’s that feeling of family through the generations / family bonding.

Well I’ve always had an interest in music, and I was walking past Salisbury Hi Fi one day when I had finished college and they had a job advertised, so I applied and got the job. I decided that I needed to do something more with my life than working in a shop, so I applied for hundreds of jobs and got a job with Lawton Trade who distributed Ruark, I worked with them for a year before they made me and also Jason redundant, and so we both sent our CVs to Alan and Neil – who obviously fell head over heels.

I think our originality, and the quality of the product. I am always telling people there is such a nice family feel working for the company, you’re not just a number.

I think our passion, and everyone within the company is very passionate for the brand. We are trend setters rather than following the trend.

That I DJ’d at Glastonbury in 2000, the year that the fences came down and there was like half a million people there, it was mental! I DJ at home now, but I used to do it all weekend every weekend, and during the week as well!

I can’t give a specific answer, just anything that is captivating and makes your foot tap.

Well, I’m a looney cyclist like Rich, so definitely cycling, it’s been an interest my whole life, but I guess I took it up seriously about 10 years ago. I’ve done L’Étape Tour, which is a stage of the Tour de France in the Pyrenees, and I’ve entered lots of sportive. I’ve ridden in the Rocky Mountains, Turkey, Spain, I’ve been quite lucky as in the summer at work I can take my bike with me – globally and locally.

Landsend to John O’Groats on my bike.

Stevie Wonder, because I think his music is amazing and I’ve heard he is a really nice person to talk to and is happy to talk to anyone. I’d just ask him questions about his life basically.

‘Round the Twist’.

I’m not a big film person, erm… I would say ‘Star Wars’, and I’d play Yoda, so I can be carried around in a rucksack by Luke Skywalker!

I first went to a hi-fi show when I was 15, and from there I was hooked. I got my first Saturday Job at the show and three years later ended up managing the stores for the next 10 years. I moved from retail to become an Area Manager with a distributer, which is where I first came across Alan, and have been working with Alan and Neil ever since.

The ethos of the company, as a rep it’s such a pleasure to go out with a quality product when you are visiting dealers. It makes the job really easy, you’re not selling a product that you don’t believe in yourself.

I think the family aspect, I think the difference is Alan and Neil probably. We are still a young company and we are still growing, but I am representing a quality brand, it really gives you a spring in your step in the morning, I am happy to get out of bed and go to work.

I represented England under 19s schoolboys in Volleyball in the World Championships!!

My favourite band is probably U2.

Up until recently I have coached my son’s football team on the Weekend, I have done that for 7 years. I love sport, I have a season ticket for Stoke City, and I watch our local team play cricket throughout the summer.

I want to go and watch England in an Ashes series in Australia.

I would like to meet Peter Kay, because I think he’d be hilarious. He is my favourite comedian, so I’d go for him and just have a hilarious conversation I imagine!

‘The Young Ones’ or ‘Black Adder’.

I would be Bond in ‘James Bond’, because he always gets the girl!

I recall receiving a counting machine as a gift when I was about 4 or 5 and spent hours playing with it, eventually, I upgraded to my parents’ old tills counting change with my younger brother – singing to Abba’s ‘Money Money Money’ - and so it began.

The people, it may sound cliché, but it really is important. The people who founded the company are still here, passionately involved in every aspect - so Ruark hasn’t lost its vision or drive and it continues to evolve.

Growing up in a family business environment, I have been naturally drawn to professional but relaxed companies and been fortunate enough to find this in the various industries I have worked in, hospitality, media and insurance. Ruark genuinely has a family feel to it and it is reflected throughout every department – the atmosphere is great! Our directors are on hand and everyone catches up throughout the day or on our team nights out.

I put a flan smack bang in the face of children’s presenter Stu Francis - every child’s one-time nightmare – for being rude to Les Dawson – who in turn made a fuss of me all evening.

Maroon 5’s Adam Levine.

Cycling, yoga, gardening and visits to The Donmar Theatre in London (it has a real Actors Studio feel to it and puts on wonderful performances new and adaptations of classics, with a guaranteed stellar cast).

Initially to make a time machine – and why not! Seriously, there are way too many to narrow it down.

From people still around – it would have to be my family and dinner would be my mums’ famous chicken curry. From people not around anymore, it would have to be my grandparents – they could tell the best stories and would have you crying with laughter for hours. Of course, if Adam Levine happened to swing by we’d pull up a chair for him too.

Nothing springs to mind – I was probably too busy playing outside.

I know they’re not films but… Alice Morgan from Luther looks a fun character or Delores Abernathy from Westworld is an all-round action hero.

I was in the print trade for over 30 years and got made redundant, and at my old place we all had a great love of old vinyl and hi-fi, and it made me think that the next job I wanted to do would be to do with audio. I emailed a few companies and Ruark replied!

I love Hi-Fi, I always have had a great love from a young age, and I actually had the Pyramid speakers’ years ago without knowing that they were Ruark!

It’s very friendly, the two bosses are two of the nicest people I’ve ever met. As bosses go, you can get some horrible ones, but they genuinely are very nice.

I scored 17 goals in a football game when I was 11, that’s my claim to fame! It was in all the local papers!

David Bowie – by a long shot! He was the first one that I got interested in by myself, but my siblings got me into Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin.

I’ve always been interested in football, following matches. I also like reading pretty much anything, but I like autobiographies and as I get older I’m getting more and more interested in gardening.

I want to bungee jump but I’m not sure if I could, and I’d like to do river rafting. My son swam with sharks as he lives in Australia, but I’m not sure I could do that! I’d also like to ride all the wooden rollercoasters in America!

Robert Plant, just because he has really annoying long hair! No, he’s a brilliant, brilliant singer!

‘Banana Splits’, ‘Lost in Space’, ‘Land of the Giants’. Sports related would be ‘Match of the Day’.

I would be Chief Brodie, so that I could kill the shark in ‘Jaws’.

I heard about the company through family as my father-in-law Mark works here, so he told me they were hiring and I applied, that was back in 2015.

The people that I work with, I get on well with everyone.

The flexibility and understanding, I have kids and Alan and Neil are very open and understanding to commitments and things outside of work.

I am a FIFA nerd, I love playing FIFA on my PlayStation 4.

I don’t really focus solely on people, if I was to give you one I’d say I like Keen, I’m not sure what genre of music that comes under though!

My hobby is football, I have played since I was 14, and I play for a local Sunday team.

I’d like to say (because my partner goes on about it all the time) to do a skydive although I don’t think I could actually do it!

Paul Walker, to have said that I had the opportunity to meet him before he sadly passed away would be a great thing, and I also love the Fast and Furious films.

‘Friends’ – a classic!

‘Transformers’ it’s my favourite film, I would play Sam (Shia Labeouf), I love the fact that he gets to work with the Transformers – it’s unbelievable!

I used to work for Rega, then I left there and went to a few other places and went totally out of that area. I got into a situation where I started my own company as a computer engineer which I learnt in college, but it didn’t work out. I had a few bad jobs, and one day when I went to a really bad job, I decided to drive to a few companies I knew and thought I would like to work for and handed my CV in. Ruark was one of those and a few days later Neil rang me and asked me to come in for an interview as they had a position just come up. That was in 2013!

Everyone is very friendly I find, I get on with everyone which is great. I don’t dread getting up and coming to work in the morning (which I’ve done before). It’s nice to get up and not feel stressed about coming to work, it’s just a very relaxed nice place to work.

I suppose because it’s family run, the structure is different. You can go to Alan and Neil and speak to them about everything, and the same the other way around. They can talk to me, it’s a very open relationship.

I suppose my taste in music – maybe. It can be quite bizarre, more the heavier side, if it’s angry and aggressive I like it. It doesn’t have to be heavy metal but the angry and aggressive music keeps me calm.

I’ve got a couple that I really like, Knuckledust because they are from London and I’ve been on tour with them (I used to play in a few bands) so they are quite a big influence on me. And I like Hatebreed, there’s so many but they are probably the top 2.

I don’t really do it much now because of time, but I like writing songs and playing guitar. I don’t play in my band anymore as it was a bit too time consuming, but I enjoy writing both acoustic and electric stuff and playing electric guitar.

One thing that popped into my head (which would never happen) is to play at Download Festival – that would be nice!

My Nan, because she died when I was young, and I used to get on really well with her. It would be nice to see her again and take her out, I never got to really do that.

‘He-man’. That was easy.

The film would be from ‘Dust til Dawn’ (even though it’s pretty bad) and maybe I’d play George Clooney’s part, because I think it would be pretty cool to kill vampires.

I first got into film when I was 16 years old, I bought my first ever camcorder for £300 and I made a little film called Nightmare Kitty where I got one of my sisters stuffed cat toys and tied a plastic knife onto its paw with a bit of thread and had it chase me around the house. The film was very crude but people at school seemed to love it, so I decided to get more into film. I then studied film at college and University where I improved my skills both in corporate and fictional films. I became obsessed with creating the perfect image and making things look shiny and polished. I worked for various production companies making videos for trainee beauticians, wedding videos, and making videos for various corporate purposes, whilst also working on my own passion projects in my spare time. I then got employed by Ruark, to add my sense of creative direction to their videos at the beginning of 2019.

It’s a very modern, down to earth company, and we genuinely care about our customers.

When you call the company, you don’t go through to a switchboard, you go through to a human being, which gives it a more human/personal touch.

I once played Dopey in a Snow White production with a local theatre company.

Black Sabbath.

I have been playing guitar for 12 years, both acoustic and electric.

I would love to produce a Hollywood blockbuster.

I’d like to go for dinner with Bruce Lee, because he was a philosopher and could teach me to knock someone out.

The Simpsons, and it still is now!

Fight club, and I’d play Brad Pitt because people say I look like him.