Espresso Broadband plc was founded in February 1997 by Tony Bowden (Joint Managing Director) and Lewis Bonze (Joint Managing Director, and Editorial Director) with the aim of merging the boundaries between computing and television to deliver relevant and meaningful video news direct to the classroom. The idea was then expanded to encompass the National Curriculum and bring multimedia education resources supported by an Internet based information source in to classes for use in lessons on a daily basis.
Recognising the limitations of the Internet in delivering large amounts of high quality, bandwidth-hungry material, Espresso opted for satellite as the delivery mechanism enabling the service to continue to expand and deliver increasingly media-rich content.
In 1998 the company won a grant from the British National Space Centre to test the delivery concept and has since won a grant from the European Space Agency to run larger trials.
Espresso for Schools was launched as a commercial service at BETT 2000, and earned Espresso Broadband plc the BETT Award for Innovation. Today, it is a comprehensive National Curriculum system offering support and lesson ideas to primary school teachers. The service has been designed to stimulate children and teach them skills relevant to their key stage, while providing resources that make planning and researching lessons enjoyable and stress-free for teachers. Espresso for Primary Schools includes news updated every week, as well as TV packages on subjects as diverse as ‘how music can improve learning’ and the ‘technology behind sharkskin swimsuits’. Contemporary programmes are used to illustrate the use of maths in everyday life, while children can use newspaper work as a base for English topics.
Recent additions to the Espresso for Primary Schools service include ‘Animal Life’ and ‘Numbers 1-100’ for Key Stage 1, as well as ‘Habitats’, ‘Numbers 1-10000’ and ‘Numbers 1-10000 and beyond’ for Key Stage 2. Special reports on Harry Potter and The Middle East Peace Process have also recently been released in line with Espresso Broadband’s aim of keeping content up-to-date and relevant to the world outside the classroom.
Espresso for Secondary Schools is a new service from Espresso Broadband plc, which will be previewed at BETT 2001. It promises to provide the same high standard of teacher support as Espresso for Primary Schools does today, while focusing on materials built around TV, the Internet, news reports and interactive activities, plus a homework facility that pupils will be able to access from their computers at home. Designed to engage secondary schools pupils, the cartoon characters of the original service are replaced by animated teachers who take children through National Curriculum-based topics.
Lewis was educated at Jesus College, Cambridge, where he read Law. On graduation, Lewis joined the BBC on a graduate news trainee programme, and after work in local radio, joined the team of John Craven's Newsround, first as an Assistant Producer, then Producer (1981-83). From 1983 to 1996, Lewis worked on Blue Peter, first as Assistant Editor (1983-88), then as Editor for eight years (1988-1996). As Editor, Lewis won the British Academy Award (BAFTA) in 1992 for Best Children's Programme, published the best-selling Blue Peter Green Book in 1989, and took the programme from two to three editions a week in 1995. Lewis set up Bronze Broadband plc in 1996, on leaving the BBC, and while working on his own projects he was developing the Espresso concept with Tony Bowden. Following initial sketches in 1996, the pair incorporated Espresso Broadband plc, in February 1997, and won a contract from the British National Space Agency to deliver a two-school trial project. Since 1997, Lewis has increasingly devoted his time and energy to Espresso, first as Editorial Director and currently as Joint Managing Director.
For further press information or paper versions of this release please contact:
Espresso Marketing, Riverside Studios, Crisp Road, Hammersmith, W6 9RL
Tel: +44(0)20 8237 1200
Fax: +44(0)20 8237 1201
Email: info@espresso.co.uk
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