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Aycliffe Today Monthly | 21
Gareth Jackson – Newtonian who’s now head of finance at
London-based TV channel Comedy Central
“I’ve not been to Aycliffe for about four years,
when my Nana was poorly. I don’t have any
family in Aycliffe now, dad lives in Darlington, I
just have friends in Aycliffe and I stay in touch
on Facebook but, sadly, that’s about it.”
After leaving Greenfield in 1993, Gareth
studied A-levels in business studies, economics
and sociology at Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form
College in Darlington before going to the
University of Liverpool, where he gained a
degree in business and economics.
He returned to Darlington in 1998 where he
worked for Orange for a few months, saving up
to travel the world, and he didn’t mess about.
He began with three months in India
and South-East Asia then a year living and
working in Australia, split between Sydney and
Melbourne. Another three-month flit followed,
to New Zealand then Bolivia, Argentina, Chile,
Peru and Ecuador in South America.
“It was OK, I suppose,” sighs Gareth, who’s
never been one to get too excited about anything
in life.
“Nah, some of it was amazing, and I’m very lucky.
I’ve seen so many different places over the years,
some of them I’d only dreamt of seeing.
“India was unbelievable. I probably wouldn’t go
back, but it was an amazing place to see.
“But Bolivia was probably my favourite of all. It
was so diverse. We saw these amazing dried-up
lakes, called Salt Flats, in the South of the country
and then the Amazon rain forest in the North.”
Gareth admits his travelling days are now long
gone. “It’s a young man’s game,” he insists, after
eventually settling down and buying his own pad
in Balham, a 30-minute Tube ride from central
London.
He moved to the ‘Big Smoke’ and started working
for BSkyB on the firm’s graduate finance scheme
in May 2001 and went to night school during the
three-year “scholarship” to become a Chartered
Management Accountant.
After qualifying he became a financial analyst
with Sky before he was appointed initially as a
financial controller at Comedy Central, the UK’s
biggest comedy network which boasts a string of
well-known shows, in August 2008.
Now head of finance, he leads a team of five
financial analysts at the firm’s offices on Oxford
Street in London, Europe’s biggest shopping strip.
“Quite a handy location,” according to Gareth.
Still as unassuming and unenthusiastic as ever,
you won’t find the relatively quietly-spoken Gareth
boast about his impressive CV.
It took a few days to persuade him to do this
feature. “I’ll get loads of abuse from the lads,” he
said. Par for the course.
Newton Aycliffe is but a distant memory for
this high-flier. The local boy done good. But most
Newtonians, like me, will be proud to see one of our
own do so well in such a short space of time.
And, hopefully, the town will always be in his
blood. Just.
If you know anyone originally from Aycliffe who
has an interesting story to tell, we’d love to hear
from you! Email us today: [email protected]