Keith Seward

Keith Seward
Seward in 2018
2nd Company Director of Compass Video
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 September 2016
Preceded by	James Chetwode
Personal details
Born	August 1982 England, United Kingdom
Citizenship	United Kingdom
Occupation	Videographer Lecturer Company director Filmmaker

Keith Seward (born August 1982) is an English videographer and lecturer who has served as director of Compass Video Limited since 5 September 2016. Seward produces promotional and corporate videos for various companies as part of his work at Compass Video, based in Frome, Somerset. Under his watch, Compass Video has won four Global Business Awards, three SME News awards and one South West England Prestige Award.

In 2025, Seward was the center of the Keithgate scandal which formally lasted from two to over nine months at Wiltshire College & University Centre's campus in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, a scandal which was officially left unresolved.

Early life

Keith Seward was born in August 1982 in England. Not much is known about his early life as his online footprint is largely kept private, but according to his LinkedIn page, he appears to be originally from Bath and, based on his profile, appeared to have attended the University of Sunderland in his youth. It is unknown whether he was born in Bath or was simply raised there, but according to public documents from Companies House, he is a naturalised English citizen.

Compass Video

Appointment as company director (2016)

Compass Video Limited was incorporated as a private limited company on 16 July 2016, with James Chetwode serving as its first company director. It is unknown when Seward joined Compass Video, although it is safe to assume it was not too long after it was incorporated. Fifty-one days after its incorporation, Seward took over as company director from Chetwode and has served in the role ever since.

Directorship (2016–present)

As early as 2017, Compass Video launched a website and subsequently a blog page, mainly focusing on video skills in the context of corporate media, with most, if not all of the blog posts, being written by Seward. In that same year, Compass Video partnered up with the National Health Service (NHS) to create a social media video for an NHS branch in Bournemouth, with Seward claiming that such a video "brings the job to life much faster than a dull written summary ever could". In October 2017, Seward announced that Compass Video would become members of Visit Somerset, the official destination management for the county of Somerset, with Seward claiming them to be "one of the South West’s greatest local championing organisations". Seward later announced a partnership with The Dorset Care Record, a shared system associated with the NHS, to film a new video concerning consent options, a partnership they won against "stiff competition at the end of last week" according to Seward, adding that "Part of our remit as with any project within the NHS is to offer added value and innovation to the taxpayer".

Eleven months later in October 2018, Compass Video announced that Seward would begin taking up a part-time lecturing post at Wiltshire College on both the Creative Media, TV and Film Diploma and the Games Development Diploma course, with Seward saying in a statement "It's a great opportunity to be able to pass on knowledge about an industry that I'm passionate about and have worked in for all of my career". In May 2019, Compass Video announced that they would start delivering services for TEDxSherborne 2019 concerning video of sixteen speakers as well as the livestream feed, with TEDx saying "We are tremendously grateful to Keith Seward and his digital content agency, Compass Video, for agreeing to lead on film production and post-production for TEDxSherborne 2019".

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Seward passed a test from Safe Sets International in June 2020, confirming that Compass Video was keeping its employees safe whilst filming on premises. Seward later completed a "Coronavirus basic awareness on production training" course issued by ScreenSkills, confirming that the company was keeping up its "commitment to operating as safely as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic".

Under Seward's watch, Compass Video has won multiple awards, including awards from SME News concerning Best Digital Content Production and Training Company in 2020, Best Corporate Video Production and Training Agency in 2021 and Best Video & Animation Production Company - Somerset in 2022. They have also won awards from the Global Business Awards, including Best Corporate Video Production Company - South West England in 2020, Most Innovative Corporate Video Production Company in 2021 and Best Corporate Video Production Company - UK Client Services Excellence Award in 2022. As well as the South West England Prestige Awards for Video Production Company of the Year in 2023, to name a few.

Keithgate

Keithgate took place at the Trowbridge campus of Wiltshire College & University Centre, which is where Seward taught students. (pictured in 2024)

Main article: Keithgate

Seward was the primary figurehead amid a scandal at Wiltshire College & University Centre's Trowbridge campus from September to November 2025 (officially known as Keithgate) which alleged that he treated students poorly, notably telling a student to "get off your arse and move your chair" when he caught them moving an office chair with their feet, telling another that their pitch involving HP Sauce was "shit" compared to another student's pitch on another product (the latter student calling the comments "uncalled for" and "rude") and telling the entire class to "SHUT UP!" even though they were reportedly settling. These incidents, plus others and a notable one involving alleged physical contact with a female student, resulted in him leaving on 7 November mid-lesson with an internal investigation taking place thereafter.

Seward returned to the college a few months later, but notably not teaching the same class as before. His treatment of the students kicked off further criticism of the college going forward, including poor replacement lecturers, bad attendance and over-reliance on authority.

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