Dr Richard Butchins

Non-Executive Board Director, Creative Strategy & Inclusion

PhD in Film and Disability Studies

Richard is a Non-Executive Board Director at MYA, responsible for mentoring the agency’s creative direction and leading its diversity and inclusion agenda. With a multidisciplinary background in media, the arts and inclusive policy, he brings a rare combination of visionary thinking, lived experience and strategic insight to MYA’s leadership.

An award-winning investigative journalist, filmmaker and artist, Richard holds a PhD by Practice from the University of Kent, where his research focused on disability and film. His career spans more than 25 years across television, radio, the visual arts and large-scale event direction, with work featured on BBC, Channel 4, and internationally. His acclaimed documentary and art projects often centre on social justice, disability, and underrepresented voices—bringing an authentic lens to inclusion and storytelling.

At MYA, Richard contributes to key client projects by shaping concepts, developing creative narratives, and challenging teams to think beyond the conventional. He plays a pivotal role in coaching project teams, facilitating ideation sessions, and ensuring our output remains bold, inclusive and culturally relevant.

Richard is also a practising visual artist and an active voice in public conversations around creativity and disability. His ability to bring depth, challenge and clarity to complex topics makes him an invaluable voice in MYA’s strategic and cultural development.

  • We recently worked with the team at MYA on a bid for a tender for multiple catering sites. Their proactive, innovative and dynamic approach to the task was a breath of fresh air, and we were able to work systematically through a complex set of designs with an abundance of creativity and design options to consider. Throughout the whole process, the team at MYA were fully engaged and, above all, great fun to work with. I will definitely be working with the team again on future projects and would highly recommend them as design consultants.

    Steven Braithwaite, Managing Director, Somerset Larder

  • We recently had the pleasure of collaborating with MYA on the City of London School for Girls project at the Barbican, London. One of the standout aspects of MYA’s involvement was their swift, detailed, and highly effective coordination of design elements. MYA’s proactive approach, attention to detail, and dedication to achieving design harmony made them an invaluable partner in this project. Their ability to strategically align diverse design aspects contributed significantly to the success of the collaboration, reinforcing the importance of well-integrated teamwork in delivering high-quality solutions.

    Simon Spiteri, Director/Architect, Cowan Architects

  • The team, led by Carla McKenzie, were meticulous in every detail. They modelled the cleaning requirements to deliver the optimum solution for the facilities across EMEA, and really took time to understand the culture of our business. I have no hesitation in recommending MYA and its team – they are dedicated and innovative, and always go the extra mile.

    Natalia Ros Vargas, Office Team Leader, Booking.com

  • Carla and her team have broad experience in the industry. Apart from being very supportive in inventing (new) concepts, they also make use of their many years of experience when implementing these concepts. Their ultimate goal is to let people enjoy honest and good food.

    Marcel Bisselink, Owner, Daily Fresh Food, Galeen, Netherlands

  • Carla and her team worked tirelessly with us to ensure our very international and cross-cultural needs were met with great creativity and skill. They listened to us, responded to our needs and delivered above expectations.

    Angela Hencher, Director of Business Administration, Dulwich College, Shanghai Pudong

  • They are brave enough to challenge others in pursuit of the ultimate solution, whether it be behind the scenes with kitchen flow and catering management, or front-of-house service and design.

    Richard Russell, Catering Equipment Distributor Director, Western Blueprint

  • If all companies who serve the independent school sector had your breadth of vision and openness of mind, I have little doubt that the sector would be a richer and more exciting place to be.

    Phillip Godfrey, Bursar, Halliford School

  • During the negotiation process, Carla’s knowledge and expertise enabled our company to achieve a very strong commercial outcome, and some significant savings were yielded from the exercise.

    Penny Arnold, Commercial & Operations Director, Fusion Lifestyle