Jared Wilson and Alan Gilby, the co- founders of LeftLion were the guest speakers at the Nottingham City Business November Lunch where they talked about how they turned LeftLion from a hobby into a business.

Jared began his career as a journalist writing for the likes of NME, The Guardian, The Times Higher, The Independent, The Big Issue and Hip-Hop Connection. He then went on to become a writer in residence with the National College for School Leadership and Demos.

In 2003 he returned to his hometown of Nottingham and set up LeftLion with two childhood friends, one of them being Alan whose background is in information technology. Alan moved from IT support and management into web development where he worked for a digital agency on projects with the Natural History Museum, Tate Britain, Nottingham Building Society and the Law Society amongst many others.

For the next decade they balanced this as an elaborate hobby with other jobs.  Over the last three years LeftLion has transformed from a volunteer-led hobby into a business that employs twelve full-time staff and celebrates the vibrant culture in the city. Not only do LeftLion publish Nottingham’s most popular entertainments magazine and website, they also run a digital agency LeftLion Extended that creates videos, websites and print for clients including Nottingham City of Football, The Creative Quarter, Nottingham Forest FC and many more.