Team
Our Director Team
Many of our team have backgrounds in the performing arts, which is a valuable asset, giving us a profound appreciation of what is required to create an emotive visitor experience.
Sam joined The Story Engineers in 2017 across sales, marketing and growth, becoming Managing Director in 2025. He leads the company’s strategic direction, working with clients to understand their ambitions and shape how their stories translate into physical and digital experience. He’s equally focused on research and innovation, testing new approaches to design, technology and delivery before they reach a brief. His interest is where storytelling craft meets the practical constraints of an evolving experience economy — and how that combination creates real value for clients and the studio alike.
Sam Woodhouse
Managing Director
Sam joined The Story Engineers in 2017 across sales, marketing and growth, becoming Managing Director in 2025. He leads the company’s strategic direction, working with clients to understand their ambitions and shape how their stories translate into physical and digital experience. He’s equally focused on research and innovation, testing new approaches to design, technology and delivery before they reach a brief. His interest is where storytelling craft meets the practical constraints of an evolving experience economy — and how that combination creates real value for clients and the studio alike.
John Grigg is responsible for everything from how the company runs to how the work gets delivered. With fifteen years spanning production leadership on both sides of the Atlantic – brand experiences for Samsung, Google, Honda and Molson Coors, The Formula 1 Exhibition, and a stint as CEO of an adventure travel company – he brings a broad toolkit to the job. When he’s not helping the team engineer stories, he’s most likely driving his Indian rickshaw or motorcycle around the South Coast.
John Grigg
Operations Director
John Grigg is responsible for everything from how the company runs to how the work gets delivered. With fifteen years spanning production leadership on both sides of the Atlantic – brand experiences for Samsung, Google, Honda and Molson Coors, The Formula 1 Exhibition, and a stint as CEO of an adventure travel company – he brings a broad toolkit to the job. When he’s not helping the team engineer stories, he’s most likely driving his Indian rickshaw or motorcycle around the South Coast.
Co-founding the business in 1998 as Sysco Productions, Hugo has steered its commercial evolution into what is now The Story Engineers. Across three decades of directing project strategy for global tours, landmark museums, and stadium developments, he navigates complex stakeholder environments to transform creative visions into stable execution. He believes supply chain intelligence and visitor logistics are brief-stage priorities that must dictate design from day one.
Hugo Roche
Commercial Director
Co-founding the business in 1998 as Sysco Productions, Hugo has steered its commercial evolution into what is now The Story Engineers. Across three decades of directing project strategy for global tours, landmark museums, and stadium developments, he navigates complex stakeholder environments to transform creative visions into stable execution. He believes supply chain intelligence and visitor logistics are brief-stage priorities that must dictate design from day one.
Sam joined The Story Engineers in 2017 across sales, marketing and growth, becoming Managing Director in 2025. He leads the company’s strategic direction, working with clients to understand their ambitions and shape how their stories translate into physical and digital experience. He’s equally focused on research and innovation, testing new approaches to design, technology and delivery before they reach a brief. His interest is where storytelling craft meets the practical constraints of an evolving experience economy — and how that combination creates real value for clients and the studio alike.
Mark Burgin
Chairman
Sam joined The Story Engineers in 2017 across sales, marketing and growth, becoming Managing Director in 2025. He leads the company’s strategic direction, working with clients to understand their ambitions and shape how their stories translate into physical and digital experience. He’s equally focused on research and innovation, testing new approaches to design, technology and delivery before they reach a brief. His interest is where storytelling craft meets the practical constraints of an evolving experience economy — and how that combination creates real value for clients and the studio alike.