Staff profiles

Frankie Hastings - Image Licensing Manager

What does your role involve?

My current role is to create a sustainable income stream, licensing images of our holdings for use on products, gifts, apparel and home wares, etc. I identify new opportunities, create business relationships and partnerships and develop bespoke business solutions for my clients. I promote The National Archives as a brand, persuading potential licensees at senior level that an association with us adds value and kudos to their products.

What is your professional background?

I have over 20 years' experience in commercial copyright, rights management and business development managing multi-million pound contracts and licences. I have represented the commercial rights of musicians, bands, authors, publishers, authors, artists and photographers. To gain some corporate fundraising experience I also volunteered with various charities. I recently completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Management which I will extend to a full business Master's. I also have a degree in Human Geography and Literature, and a professional qualification in Communications, Advertising and Marketing.

What do you enjoy about working at The National Archives?

I joined The National Archives to gain experience in the heritage sector within a licensing/rights management role and love the challenge of working in a different branch of licensing. I often 'discover' interesting and beautiful images through dealing with customer needs. My work also opens up The National Archives to new audiences and people with whom we might not have obvious direct contact or even those who may not know about us. We are now starting to see our images and red logo on products in high street shops and online, which makes the hard work worthwhile!

Paul Davies - Head of Estates and Facilities

What does your role involve?

I am responsible for The National Archives' estate and the safety of the people, documents and buildings. The Estates and Facilities department is responsible for providing a suitable infrastructure and pleasant environment for staff and visitors. Key areas include legal compliance, repository document environmental conditions, health and safety, catering and landscaping. The Estates team also delivers projects for the repair and replacement of plant, equipment and building fabric, space planning and office moves, and development projects to create new working areas and facilities. I am one of a small team of Incident Managers, as well as having some responsibility for the emergency management and business continuity management of the organisation.

What is your professional background?

I am a Facilities Manager and Building Services Engineer by profession. My previous roles have included working as Head of Facilities Management at the Imperial War Museum, working as Head of Building Services at the British Library in London and working as part of the Royal Engineers in the British Army.  

I joined the army as an apprentice mechanical engineer at 16 and had a successful and varied career, with jobs such as helicopter co-pilot, armoured vehicle operator, combat engineer and clerk of works. I spent the last seven years of my military career in civilian clothes on secondment to Ministry of Defence contractors, managing military installations and housing.

What do you enjoy about working at The National Archives?

The two things I like most about working at The National Archives are the variety of the work and the people.

Elisabeth Novitski - Resource Discovery Officer, Archives Sector Development

What does your role involve?

I am responsible for updating the information in ARCHON and adding entries to the National Register of Archives (NRA). I am currently assisting with the annual 'Accessions to Repositories' survey and answering questions about entries on the NRA and ARCHON. I have only been with The National Archives since the beginning of the year, so I am still learning about my role, but I know it will expand into supporting and advising the wider archive sector.

What is your professional background?

I have a BA in Library and Information Studies and have worked for a number of departments in the Australian Civil Service, including the National Library of Australia and the National Film and Sound Archive (Australia). Before joining The National Archives, I worked for the British Library Newspapers doing a variety of jobs, from assisting readers and conducting tours, to accessioning microfilms and newspapers and updating the catalogue.

What do you enjoy about working at The National Archives?

I enjoy working for a progressive organisation that makes the effort to communicate as effectively as possible with their staff and values the ideas, work and input they provide. On a more local level, the team I am working with is very friendly and inclusive and takes the time to answer the endless questions I have!

Angela Owusu - PR Executive Officer

What does your role involve?

I'm the Public Relations Executive Officer at The National Archives for the Archive Awareness Campaign (AAC). The AAC promotes local and national archives across the UK and Republic of Ireland and celebrates archives and their treasures through events and an annual campaign.

What is your professional background?

Prior to working at The National Archives, I worked as a press officer at the Food Standards Agency. Before that, I worked at the Treasury for two-and-a-half years. My first civil service job was at the Department of Health where I worked in policy on the Drugs and Sexual Health team. Policy work is very different to communications and press and, while I relished it, my heart has always been in communications and media, and I have a Degree and Master's in Communication. You could say I'm a career civil servant! I only intended to work at the Department of Health for a year… and as they say, the rest is history.

What do you enjoy about working at The National Archives?

I loved History at school and coming here has renewed my love of the subject. I enjoy managing the AAC as it gives me the opportunity to work with archives and see the many interesting artifacts held in archives across the UK. It's great generating publicity for local archive events, and there are so many people and groups that have contributed to their own communities that it enables me to tell their story. Another positive thing about AAC is that it helps and encourages archive organisations to bring their history to life through events and activities.

Kostas Ntanos - Head of Conservation Research and Development

What does your role involve?

I lead a team whose primary role is to undertake research and provide evidence to inform thinking and practices that affect the long-term preservation of The National Archives' collection. My team achieves this by fostering relationships and building collaborations with other researchers across a range of disciplines. We also supply technical advice, especially on issues relating to environmental management. Finally, I keep abreast with the latest developments in conservation science, both nationally and internationally, and help translate research findings into practical solutions for collection care.

What is your professional background?

I studied conservation of works of art and archaeological materials in Greece before I moved to the UK to do a Master's degree in Conservation Science at the Royal College of Art and Victoria and Albert Museum Conservation course. During my studies in London I was based at the British Museum and have also done various placements in other cultural heritage institutions. I joined The National Archives in 2005.

What do you enjoy about working at The National Archives?

It is a privilege to work for an organisation with a national and international reputation for being a leader in its field. The organisation as a whole is involved in a diverse range of activities, with numerous stakeholders. No single problem to solve is the same as another, which gives my job variety and keeps me engaged. The National Archives is a vibrant organisation and innovation has been at the forefront of new developments. The atmosphere at work is very friendly at all levels, and is certainly enhanced by the nice building and grounds.

Audrey Collins - Family History Records Specialist

What does your role involve?

The public-facing part of my job is dealing with enquiries about our records, mainly from people who are trying to trace their family history. Behind the scenes, I help to develop and update some of our online guides, and contribute material on behalf of The National Archives to external websites and publications.

My job includes a lot of outreach work; I am involved with the programme of public talks and events that we hold on site here at Kew, as well as promoting The National Archives' records and services off-site. As a Scot with a lot of Irish ancestry, I particularly enjoy pointing out how many records we have for Scottish and Irish research. Sometimes I am interviewed, or even filmed, for radio, TV or the press.

What is your professional background?

My degree is in history and politics, but my original career choice was in retail management. I put my career on hold for a number of years, working part-time while my children were young. During this time I took up family history first as a hobby, then as paid work when I found I could fit research for clients around school hours.

I also began teaching, lecturing and writing on family history, and eventually went freelance for a number of years before joining the Public Record Office, as it then was, in 2002 as a reader adviser. I have held my present post since early 2010. 

What do you enjoy about working at The National Archives?

I count myself very fortunate to be able to earn a living pursuing my interest in history, which began when I was seven years old and has never waned. I still get a thrill every morning turning up to work in a building that is full of original historical documents. I also work with some great people, not just in my own department but throughout the organisation. I love the variety that my job entails, so that there is no such thing as a typical day or week. It's an added bonus that often when I tell people where I work, they are envious.