FuelRCA

Barry Akid
Barry Akid runs the Fuel-line advice service on this site and co-ordinates the RDI 'creative business' mentoring service, which the RCA offers students and members of AlumniRCA in collaboration with the RSA Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry.

Barry has a wealth of experience up to Chairman / MD level in large and small enterprises, relating to the private, public and non-profit sectors, with particular emphasis on business planning and direction. His main current interest is in helping start-ups and early-stage businesses to grow effectively, especially where innovation is involved.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors, holding their accredited Diploma in Company Direction, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a SFEDI-accredited business adviser.

Sarah Douglas
Sarah joined FuelRCA in 2009, her role includes event planning, communication and development.

She graduated from the Painting course at the RCA in 2005 and since then, her work has been widely exhibited and collected. In addition to her art practice, in 2005 she set up her own business, Exhibit-K, which provides expert knowledge of the contemporary London art scene to collectors, corporations and the general public through its gallery guiding and art advisory service.

Sarah has managed large-scale acquisitions projects for both the corporate and public sectors and continues to work regularly with private groups and with the Contemporary Art Society, Whitechapel Gallery and Deutsche Bank, where she gives talks and lectures on all aspects of contemporary art.

Sarah has extensive experience of the art world; she has curated several exhibitions, worked as a press officer in a commercial gallery, is a regular contributor to the arts press and is on the editorial board of painting magazine, Turps Banana. Since 2007 she has been an associate lecturer on the BA Fine Art course at City & Guilds of London Art School.

Tom Lucas
Tom has been working on FuelRCA's events programme and website since 2006.

He graduated from the Communication Art and Design course at the RCA in 2005 and since then has set up his own design studio, Bonjour Bonjour. Past work has included print design for Stella McCartney and Pringle of Scotland, websites for Hot Tuna and the Contemporary Arts Society, and publications for the Royal College of Art.

Tom is also co-founder of artvehicle, a London focussed online contemporary arts magazine.