Chris is an entrepreneur, strategist and thought leader and the founder of FastForward. He was previously Global Insight Director at EMI and Universal, and has consulted for the likes of Sony, Spotify, The O2 and Hipgnosis. Chris is a mentor for Abbey Road Red and Chief Economist for UK live music trade body LIVE.

Chris founded FFWD in 2015, with the debut event taking place in Amsterdam in 2016. Since then FFWD has taken place in London, Amsterdam and Sydney. In 2025 it expanded into Leeds and launched its Grassroots programme in partnership with Richer Unsigned.