A brief biog of my diverse life to support my speaking engagements

1. BIOG & PROFILE! Andy Pickles
From T op Of The Pops to
top of the class and beyond...
Andy is the Chief Executive and Founder of U-Explore and previously the
Deputy Chairman of the Music Factory Entertainment Group where he
started as a sound engineer at age 16 and went on the spend 25 years
working with his family to develop the business into an international
entertainment company. During this time he became a successful music
producer selling over 10 million records, most notably with the infamous
Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers.
From music producer he went on to run Tidy Trax, one of the UK’s most
successful independent dance record labels which developed into one of
the countries most iconic clubbing brands Tidy.
As a result of the labels success Andy and the label’s creative director
Amadeus Mozart started djing together as the ‘Tidy Boys’ playing clubs
and festivals all over the world as well as hosting a weekly Galaxy radio
show. Ten years on the Tidy Boys are still in demand and can still be seen
playing the occasional gig or festival but corporate and family has seen the
boys semi-retire in 2011.
It was during Andy’s time running the record label that he first became
aware of the possibility of creating a product to support young people’s understanding of business and in the first
instance it was the events industry that he focussed on with an education product called ‘The Event’. This was a DVD
and teacher resource pack to support a range of curriculum ideas and careers advice. From here Andy became more
involved with schools and the idea for U-Explore started to develop in 2004 as he realised technology could have a
major role to play in connecting business with education.
THE BUSINESS MAN THE DJ & PRODUCER
ENTERTAINER
In addition to his role as CEO Andy is Lead Sponsor for the Maltby Academy, which opened in January 2010 and has since
gone on to work with 10 Downing Street to leverage his expertise and experience to develop www.whatsyourdestination.co.uk
He is passionate about transforming teaching and learning and improving young people’s life chances through a more
proactive and relevant approach to careers advice and guidance. Andy speaks regularly in schools, be that to whole year
assemblies or to specific groups about his business and life experiences, but with a major focus on the importance of your
‘Personal brand’. In addition Andy is also a regular keynote speaker at educational and corporate events managing to
entertain and enthuse people with stories from his diverse background, involving life as multi-million selling 80s popstar, to an
international dj and now company Chief Executive. Andy has the ability and experience to engage, enthuse and inspire any
audience about business & enterprise and how to achieve success in your life
5 things worth knowing about Andy Pickles if you get caught sat next to him at a function:
! He’s a Yorkshireman living in Lancashire
! He’s an 80’s popstar with 3 number 1’s to his name
Contact:
! His best friend is called Amadeus Celery Mozart
tel: 01709 538120
! A 13 year old called Laura inspired him to develop U-Explore
email: sue.smith@u-explore.com
! His favourite quote is “life’s not fair get used to it”
about.me/andypickles