The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 30: April/May 2017 | Page 29

IN PROFILE
Rendermedia is an unusual name,
where did it come from?
About 15 years ago I was trying to think of a term which
sums up what we do. The word ‘render’ is used in 3D
and it means building up the image. A lot of people get it
confused with plastering! But then what is it we do – what’s
the content? – well, it’s ‘media’. It’s video, it’s animation. We
put the two together and became Rendermedia.
However, over the last year or so we’ve realised ‘media’
is quite an old word. Today, in 2017, we’re going through a
re-brand to become simply ‘Render’. You heard it here first!
What did you do before
Rendermedia?
My background is in multi-media design and skills
development. I was working with a local company building
computer-based training to teach people to use logistic
software like Microsoft Notes. I saw a call-out for people to
help build virtual Viking settlements using 3D software called
Cartouche. The aim was to take computer game technology
and apply it to education to create a Vik ing environment.
We had a great time but in the end about 15 of us were
made redundant.
I became freelance and after some months I was told of
an opportunity to work with Gerry Anderson, creator of
Thunderbirds. I sent my work off, got an interview and I was
offered a role on the spot and ended up working on CGI for
the television series The New Captain Scarlett.
I worked with 200 animators, concept artists and Gerry
Anderson himself for two years and had the most amazing
time. When that project completed I wanted to come back
to Swindon to create something for myself in my home
town, at a time when no one else was doing this type of
work in the B2B space.
Mark Miles
Rendermedia
Mark Miles is the founder of
Rendermedia, a Swindon-
based company which
specialises in VR (virtual reality)
and AR (augmented reality)
and emerging technologies.
Customers have included
Airbus, English Heritage, Intel,
HTC and Unilever. Mark works
with his wife Nadine and 12
other team members.
For more info:
www.rendermedia.com
@rendermedia
What’s your USP?
Our USP is we allow brands to experience their own USP. It’s
not just about reading, seeing or hearing a business’s story.
We allow businesses to experience their own brands, services
and products across their whole operation from design,
through to sales and marketing, to delivery. Sharing that
with all of their audiences in an immersive manner is very
powerful.
Who are your competitors?
If we got asked the question last year I would have said
anyone who is working in CGI and animation. Now as VR
and AR has exploded in the last 12 months with the release
of the latest hardware technology – anyone working in that
VR space or anyone looking to tell business stories.
For us, it’s not a case of putting up the barricades and
being fearful of competitors – it’s actually about ethical
collaboration, working together for our mutual success.
Who do you work with locally?
There’s a couple of key people who support the business.
We have a finance director – Angela Ashdown – she’s
kept us on a very good footing financially. Last April one
of the biggest changes was working with a strategy coach
called Chris Thurling, chairman of Bristol Media. He’s been
instrumental in helping us change and identify a strong
vertical market for manufacturing. We’ve now done that and
can use that to work with other industries such as financial
services, property and construction.
We are also STEM (science, technology, engineering &
mathematics) ambassadors and this means we have strong
connections locally in education and with Swindon Borough
Council.
What have been your recent
successes?
The Airbus VR project has been a massive stepping stone for
the business. We created a VR experience allowing a person
to get inside and outside an aircraft when in flight. This one
project caught fire for Airbus – and for us. It was used by Airbus
for two major air shows over ten days and there were 12,000
visitors to their stand. This generated a lot of business for Airbus
and our project was part of that success. The Airbus experience
has changed the business.
We’ve also been asked to talk about VR and AR at
conferences and events – which has never happened before.
After one, HTC (a Taiwan-based designer and manufacturer
of smartphones) came up to us and they wanted to take us to
CES – Consumer Electronics Show – in Las Vegas. We did this in
January and 250,000 people visited over four days. Now we’re
collaborating with HTC, who have asked to share our work all
over the world.
So why Swindon?
Swindon has just got massive potential. It’s an amazing eco-
system and we’re hoping to make it even greater.
We are working with partners like Swindon Borough Council,
Swindon & Wiltshire LEP, and we’ve also got great connections
with the colleges and schools. This means we’re building a
pipeline of talent to stay in Swindon.
Recently a 17-year-old young man came in to see us about
work experience, his portfolio was so amazing I knew I was
going to offer him a job on the spot. He was floored, he couldn’t
believe it, he didn’t think his work was good enough to even get
him into university let alone into a 3D studio afterwards. He’s
been doing CGI since he was 11, there’s a real natural gift there.
How many more people are in our town like that?
Are you involved in the
local community?
We are STEM ambassadors, we are connected with Lydiard Park
Academy supporting their VR and AR activities. They help us to
ensure the content is Key Stage relevant. We recently piloted an
app with 200 of their students.
We’ve set up a new group in the town – Creative, Technical
and Innovation Hub – it’s in its infancy. It will focus on CGI,
VR, AR and emerging technologies and we hope to involve
companies such as Intel.
For us, it’s about connecting those who are engaging with
this technology as a hobby to industry. I started off with one PC
in a backroom and now we’re up to 14 people. Who is the next
person in his or her room thinking they are just ‘okay’?
What are your passions outside work?
My business is my hobby, so out of work I do tend to switch right
off. So I’m going to be really shallow and say I love going on
holiday to hot countries. For me, my children are also my escape.
Tell us something we don’t
know about you?
I once telephoned GWR FM (now Heart) because they
were looking for impersonators of The Muppets. I called up
impersonating Kermit the frog, and they gave me a minute’s
notice to go live on air and I ad-libbed with Jez and Roo.
Who is the most famous person
you’ve met?
The most memorable person – after seeing a show in Oxford
– was the actor Richard Dreyfus (Close Encounters of the Third
Kind, Jaws). I heard my Dad say ‘thank you that was amazing’
and I turned round and saw his face and when I saw him, the
whole thing went in slow motion. I shook his hand and just said
‘thank you’. The guy is a legend.
Next edition we interview:
Dan Barfoot,
CMD Recruitment
THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2017
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