Meet The VC Team
Vanilla Circus is a UK company that is very fortunate to have one of the best SEO teams in the UK, capable of exceeding any client’s expectations. All team members are qualified professionals with the right qualifications and experience levels.
meet the team
Founder & Director
Benedict Sykes
Benedict was educated at Charterhouse and then Bristol University. Initially wanting to be an architect, he switched to web design and formed his first company, Follypress Design Company, in 1994.
With the advent of the internet, he sold this company and switched to web design. In 2003, he became fascinated by spiders, algorithms, and search engines in his continual search for free (organic) search traffic.
Benedict believes that the internet is not for Adverts but for finding the very best information to match a user’s search query. That #1 Google position needs to be earned through expansive content that shows expertise, not arrived at through manipulating search engine optimising techniques or more backlinks
Having worked for eBay, Tesco’s, Global Group (Capital Radio, etc.), and Phillips, alongside a host of SMEs, he has found his niche in medical, dental, and financial content, with a specialism in geo-targeted SEO. He is a trusted advisor to many CEOs and Marketing Directors.
He has helped write one book on SEO that was sold in PC World, and is a member of Nominet. In addition, he has appeared on the BBC and radio, discussing SEO and how Google is forever changing.
Creative Director
John Graham
John Graham is our Creative Director. He is a Fellow of the Royal Chartered Society of Designers and has been on various panels advising the UK Government on job creation in the Graphic Design industry. He currently acts as the creative force behind VC’s design projects.
John works on behalf of several household brands, including Coca-Cola and Currys.
His specialities include creative direction, Graphic design, branding and packaging, and customer communication.
Production Lead & Content Marketing Manager
Libby Smith
Educated at Westminster University gaining a degree in English Literature, Libby is the Content Marketing Manager and lead writer at VC.
Libby’s core skills are writing health and dental content. She has so much success with Google that if you stumble upon a dental article online covering Invisalign, veneers or dental implants, there is a high chance that Libby wrote it herself.
With almost a decade of experience in helping websites achieve better success, Libby Smith combines her knowledge of content marketing with evidence-based search strategies to deliver exceptional results for each client.
SEO Executive
Olly McViegh
Specialising in backlink outreach and content writing.
AI Overview
Vanilla Circus boasts a highly qualified UK team with over 100 cumulative years of digital marketing expertise. Key members include Benedict Sykes (Founder & Director), Creative Director John Graham (a Fellow of the Royal Chartered Society of Designers), Libby Smith (Content Marketing Manager and health/dental writing specialist), and SEO Executive Olly McVeigh (backlink and content outreach).
