Julia Finnis-Bedford
Founder & Managing Director

Julia is a typical entrepreneur who loves to move with new challenges.  She believes in fairness, service, quality and innovation, whilst adding value.  Julia loves the bush, and is at her happiest in the 'veld' watching animals at a watering hole.  Passionate about her family and spending time with her husband and children, she balances work and family life and still manages to fetch the kids from school!

Julia formed Amazing Spaces in 1999 after spotting a gap in the industry whilst working as a production manager in Stills.  She is proud to have been recognised for her achievements by the South African Businesswomen's Association as one of the four finalists in the Regional Business Entrepreneur Category for 2007.

Arina Wessels
Financial Manager

Although Arina is only with us in the mornings, she is a power house to be reckoned with, who takes her work very seriously.  Arina keeps us on the straight and narrow. We reap the benefits daily of this strategic thinker and are able to add huge value to our business with advanced financial analyses. Arina is serious and tenacious, sensitive and witty all at the same time. A scuba dive master, Arina loves the ocean and often does trips to Madagascar. The ‘crazy’ energy in our office is tempered by Arina’s ‘grounding’ energy which is good for all of us.

Cherise Haskins
Manager - Gauteng

Tenacious and driven, Cherise's sales background has given her the perfect skill set for growing our Johannesburg side of the business.  An absolute go-getter who loves nothing better than conversation (and has an insatiable appetite for details!) - Cherise is customer-focused, attentive and service-driven.  Being a mother of three means Cherise is no stranger to hard work, patience, negotiation skills and lack of sleep.  Cherise is all about building relationships - she's kind, concerned, easy-going, charming and engaging - a real People's Person!  A Jozi local, she joins us monthly for general meetings in Cape Town and we touch base with her daily.

Nina van Deventer
Events and Accommodation Manager

Described very accurately as DYNAMITE, Nina's energy and enthusiasm is highly infectious.  Quick-witted, headstrong and with a no-nonsense approach, she has quickly become an integral part of the Amazing Spaces team - despite only joining us in October 2011.  Her business acumen, professionalism and wealth of experience make her the best possible candidate to run our Villas & Venues division.  She is highly imaginative and creative, continously crafting fresh ideas and innovative options for corporate events, unique weddings and fabulous year-end-parties.

Alexia Kritikos
Events and Accommodation Assistant

A recent addition to the Amazing Spaces family, Alexia is a competent, capable and enthusiastic young lady.  She has a can-do attitude and nothing is too much trouble for her.  Alexia has joined Nina in Events & Accommodation, bringing in an analytical and highly organised approach.  She is elegant, stylish and modest and her wardrobe is the envy of her colleagues.  She loves photography and is completing a part-time graphic design course.  We're very happy to have her on board!

Renee Gowar
Senior Location Specialist, Film

Renee is our senior film booker, so whether you're a scout, production company or individual needing help in the field, Renee is always willing and very able!  She is focussed in a pastoral way.  Unbendable about service delivery she upholds the brand in a way we are extremely proud of.  Disarmingly unpretentious, Renee is a country-girl who is an accomplished Amateur Actress and regularly performs in local theatre.  Her sense of humour and contagious laugh are an asset to our organisation.  Her natural style and glamour belie her 'farmgirl' upbringing as she could easily be a Hollywood move star!

Ndilikazi (Didi) Daki
Location Specialist, Stills & Film

Our in-house, visual-reference expert, Didi can be relied upon to name any location by simply seeing one image of it.  Also known as 'Kudu' and winner of the Amazing Spaces Hair Panache 2010 Award, Didi is quiet, but has super swift response times and also takes everything in.  She is determined, indefatigable, and her attention to detail is exemplary.  Didi's calm demeanour and down-to-earth, no-fuss attitude serves our clients well when demands are high and time is tight.  She is currently gearing up to join Cherise in Gauteng and is your go-to girl for any Jozi location requirements.  With her closet car fetish, this music lover of note can be guaranteed to turn on the radio the minute she walks into the office and can be found quietly humming to the latest tune.

Hayley Bond
Location Specialist, Stills & Film

Hayley (or just Bond - we like our nicknames here!) is responsible primarily for Stills Shoots in Cape Town.  Hayley is a typical Virgo, with never a pen out of place on her desk.  She is stable, organised, meticulous and results driven.  Hayley also has a penchant for the finer things in life, and occasionally needs reminding that it isn't essential to own everything.  With an eye for quality, she will never compromise on quality by going for the cheaper option.  Always a willing companion on a shopping spree, this funny yet serious-about-her-job, going-places gal is an asset to Amazing Spaces!

Deidre Smith
Bookkeeper

Bubbly and full of fun, Deidre's non-stop giggling has brought a light element to accounting that no one could have thought possible.  Deidre's cheery conversations with debtors are refreshing and bring results!  Nothing is ever too much trouble, she is always willing to assist and easy to be around.  She also comes with a wealth of experience in teambuilding and personal development activities which are sure to come in handy during our monthly POW WOWs.  Slightly accident prone, she needs to be watched closely when in the vicinity of electrical wall sockets!

Ncumisa (Linky) Jim
Admin Assistant

Linky came to us through the process of ‘synchronicity’ and it couldn’t have been a better match. Her contribution to the Amazing Spaces team serves both our dream to be part of the upliftment of people in South Africa and her need to be in a place that allows self-expression, learning, fun and a sense of family. Linky is willing, reliable and tenacious. She has a great sense of humour, with crackerjack powers of observation (especially of people's idiosyncracies which she emulates to a 'T' and has us in stitches), we often say Linky should be on the stage as she has the style and attitude of a star!

Allan McCreadie
Photographer

Allan has been our photographer for many years and we feel lucky to have him on our team as he is an extremely talented photographer with a great eye.  He has grown with us from location scout/part-time photographer to shooting locations for top magazines and brochures as well as weddings (he is equally good with people!).  An unassuming, down-to-earth, friendly guy who is a keen surfer with an always ready smile and easy manner - we have yet to see him in a bad mood.  Comfortable in his own skin, he is warmly greeted when he arrives at our offices with his latest images which we can't wait to see.

Christopher Bedford
I.T. Guy

An independent consultant, yet a valuable and permanent member of our team, Christopher - referred to as Mr 'B' by the girls in the office - handles all our I.T. needs.  Always willing and able, he deals with the 'I-don't-know-it-just-won't-work' queries with patience and aplomb, always checking that it's plugged in first!  From maintaining our server, networks, backups and email queries, Christopher also always manages to arrive in the office just when we're about to cut a birthday cake (we reckon he has cake detection cameras in our offices...).  Should you need a regular I.T. guy who can deal with just about anything, we would reluctantly share him, if you promise to offer him cake!

Kate Greaves
Manager - Spain

Kate has been with Amazing Spaces since 2008, handling enquiries from production companies, events co-ordinators and wedding co-ordinators, assisting them with finding their perfect venue in South Africa.  She has now taken over our Mallorca office and handles all aspects of the job, from scouting to booking and management. Originally from the UK, Kate loves to travel and experience life in new lands, getting to know their cultures and ideals. Kate is a no fuss, no drama, just-get-on-with-it kind of gal with great attention to detail. She is unassuming, independent and easy going. We feel most fortunate to have Kate on our team as she is peppy, spirited and zealous about her clients and events.