About Us

Nicola Lander
Company Director/Founder

As a child I attended a weekend performing arts school in Bristol (my home town) and this was my inspiration. I knew then that I wanted to spend my life in the performing arts, and later attended Mountview Theatre School. Following my graduation I went on to act professionally for several years in theatre and television, both of which I enjoyed immensely. My training had transformed my life and inspired me to set up Jigsaw Arts in 1995.

Over the years, my belief in the benefits of performing arts in education has been proved time and time again. The Performing Arts arena fully complements the students’ school lives by giving them the confidence and social skills to achieve their full potential in what is now a very competitive world. Now I have my own two children I fully understand the benefits first hand.

The performing arts have something to offer everyone, and we find that students attend Jigsaw Arts for a variety of reasons. Some are very ambitious and wish to work professionally in the business, and it gives me great pleasure to watch children unlock their natural talents and to guide them into their chosen career. It’s also heart warming to see an initially shy student find the courage to stand up on stage and deliver lines at the end of term show. Parents have told me that their children had shown greater confidence and become more socially integrated as a direct result of the course. For all our students, Jigsaw Arts is enormous fun and provides a great opportunity to make new friends.

If you’ve not been involved in anything like the performing arts before, we offer a two-week trial to all new students. So come along and see for yourself – I hope you enjoy Jigsaw Performing Arts School.

Andy Hutchings
Director of Franchising

Andy grew up in Bournemouth, Dorset and has a BA (Hons) in Theatre from the Guildford School of Acting. Prior to working for Jigsaw, Andy worked extensively as an actor in the both the West End and regional theatre.

Andy started working for Jigsaw as a teacher in 2001 and progressed to be General Manager. As part of the continuing development of Jigsaw, Andy is now Jigsaw’s Director of Franchising. He is the first point of contact for franchisees and is responsible for training and nurturing new franchisees, whilst developing systems for the whole network.

Kelly Nicolas
Office Manager

Hailing from Essex, Kelly has always enjoyed working in the entertainment industry. With over twenty years at Really Useful Theatre including five years on the hit west end show Matilda, she is delighted to now join the Jigsaw Arts head office team.

Kate Cohen
HR and Schools Manager

Bio to come…

Martin Jensen
Marketing and Office Assistant

Martin graduated from the University of Westminster, studying Film & TV Production. After working in a range of jobs in and out of the film industry, he’s excited to be part of the Jigsaw team.