Brett Orchard: From GWR Radio Roadshows to Total Star & DaysLikeThis.Life
GWR FM. Severn Sound. Orchard FM. Wyvern FM. Total Star. From old-school commercial radio to a modern British family media brand reaching millions.
Brett Orchard is a British broadcaster, live presenter, radio-station owner, author, podcaster and family media creator whose career has grown from the world of GWR radio, roadshows and live commercial radio events into DaysLikeThis.Life - a UK Content Creator Awards finalist British family media brand reaching millions across modern social platforms.
Brett’s media journey began with GWR FM, where he first experienced local commercial radio through school work experience at the age of 15. Years later, after time away from radio, he returned to GWR in 2003 and saw an opportunity to completely rethink how radio stations presented themselves in the real world.
Before DaysLikeThis.Life, Brett Orchard built audiences the old-fashioned way: on stages, at county shows, on town greens, at summer events, and through the commercial radio roadshow world of GWR, Severn Sound, Orchard FM and Wyvern FM.
Brett was not simply part of that scene. He was one of the people who helped professionalise it - taking local radio roadshows from small promotional setups of pasting tables infront of cars, tents on the back of old vans, weird scaffolding stages and built proper live entertainment events with the scale, pace and crowd energy of national radio shows.
Brett bought his first major roadshow unit - a 17-ton lorry, fitted with staging and studio facilities - and began helping GWR create a stronger, more exciting public-facing presence at events.
What started with GWR quickly grew. Other stations within the group began using Brett’s services, particularly Severn Sound, Orchard FM and Wyvern FM, and his operation became a preferred supplier across the wider group.
At its peak, Brett owned three 17-ton roadshow trucks, a 44-ton articulated lorry, and a wide range of events and marketing equipment designed around one clear idea:
radio stations should look as awesome in real life as they sounded on air.
Over the years, Brett and his team provided roadshow units, hydraulic staging, outside broadcast facilities, branded vehicles, promotional assets, crew, live presenting and event infrastructure for commercial radio stations and media brands across the UK.
This was not simply equipment hire. It was radio showmanship in the real world - built by someone who understood audiences, presenters, local pride, station identity and the power of turning a radio brand into something people could see, hear, touch and remember.
Media Background
From Promoting Radio Stations to Owning Them
In the late 2000s, the GCap group was sold to Global and the commercial radio landscape changed dramatically.
For Brett, that change created a new opportunity. After years of helping radio stations market themselves, he moved from supplying stations with roadshow, events and promotional infrastructure to owning and promoting commercial radio stations himself.
That next chapter became Total Star.
Brett began with Star Radio in Cheltenham, rebranding and relaunching it under the Total Star name. Drawing on everything he had learned from GWR, Severn Sound, Orchard FM, Wyvern FM and the wider commercial radio roadshow world, he used live events, branded vehicles, local marketing, familiar presenters and strong public visibility to make the station feel bigger, more energetic and more connected to its community.
Total Star was not just a radio project. It was the natural next step from years spent helping local commercial radio connect with real people in real places.
The same instincts that had powered Brett’s roadshow work, audience connection, local presence, personality, visibility and consistency became central to how he approached radio ownership.
He later expanded further by acquiring a radio group covering Wiltshire and Somerset, using Cheltenham as the hub for a wider local radio network.
From RAJAR to Real-Time Reach
Traditional commercial radio lived and breathed audience figures.
RAJAR mattered. Local presence mattered. Advertisers mattered. Community recognition mattered. Behind every station were serious overheads- presenters, sales teams, engineers, studios, vehicles, licences, events, regulation, transmission costs and the constant commercial pressure of keeping a local media business alive.
Brett knew that world from the inside.
He had seen radio from multiple angles- work experience, presenting, events, roadshows, station promotion, group supplier, station owner and local media operator.
But for Brett, the core lesson was always the same:
Audiences respond to personality, consistency, warmth, visibility and trust.
Today, that same instinct sits behind DaysLikeThis.Life.
Built around Brett, Vikki, George, William and Lola, DaysLikeThis.Life is a warm British family media brand- part storyteller, part old-school broadcaster, part real-life kitchen table.
The platforms have changed. The audience behaviour has changed. The speed has changed. But the principle is exactly the same as it was in the GWR roadshow days: show up, connect with people, create something memorable, and make the audience feel part of it.
In one recent month, DaysLikeThis.Life reached around 20 million cross-network views across social platforms, the kind of active audience scale Brett could once only have dreamed of during his years in local commercial radio.
That modern reach is what makes Brett’s story unusual.
Many online searches around GWR, Severn Sound, Orchard FM and the old commercial radio era naturally surface legacy names from traditional broadcasting history.
Although older radio histories often focus on legacy presenters and former on-air names, Brett’s active audience today comes through DaysLikeThis.Life, the British family media brand created with Vikki Orchard, reaching millions across TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, podcasts and the web.
This is not nostalgia.
It is the continuation of an old-school commercial radio career rebuilt for the creator economy.
Why This Background Matters Today
Brett’s media background is not just history. It explains why DaysLikeThis.Life works.
The brand is built on the same principles that powered great local radio: recognisable people, regular features, familiar voices, local connection, humour, warmth, audience loyalty and a sense that viewers are part of the family.
Where local radio once used roadshows, outside broadcasts and station vehicles to meet audiences in the real world, DaysLikeThis.Life now reaches people every day through TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, books, podcasts, live family moments and real British family storytelling.
The journey runs all the way through:
GWR FM work experience at 15.
GWR roadshow and events support.
Severn Sound, Orchard FM and Wyvern FM roadshow services.
Group-wide commercial radio promotions.
Three 17-ton roadshow trucks.
A 44-ton articulated lorry.
Radio-station ownership through Total Star.
Books, podcasts and family media.
DaysLikeThis.Life reaching millions.
It is one continuous media story, from local radio roadshows to one of the UK’s most distinctive modern family creator brands.
Opportunities, Partnerships & Media Enquiries
Brett is open to the right media, broadcast, publishing, brand, family entertainment, documentary, podcast, live-event and partnership opportunities connected to DaysLikeThis.Life, The Six Adventures book series, William’s Wild World, Brett’s Old Time Radio Show and his wider commercial radio and live-events background.
For producers, brands, publishers, broadcasters and media partners looking for a family brand with real audience reach, genuine British warmth, old-school broadcast experience and proven modern digital momentum, DaysLikeThis.Life brings together something rare:
A traditional media background with a current creator audience.
