Who am I?

Native-English copywriter

I’m Alastair Bruce, a freelance native-English copywriter in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

I started Matjanan in 2005 after 10 years working in communication on the client and agency sides – first at Philips and then at internal comms and branding agencies within FHV/BBDO, all in Amsterdam. Before that I spent five years as a journalist at Johnston Press in Yorkshire, the UK.

I was born in Carlisle, near the English Lake District, spent some childhood years in Scotland, studied International History & Politics at Leeds University, and journalism in Sheffield. I have lived in The Netherlands since 1995. Now a Dutch-UK dual national, I have full EU employment and residency rights.

Serving the world from Amsterdam

Although I live in The Netherlands, if you have a phone, email, Teams, Zoom, Meet, etc, we can work together wherever you are. Over the years I’ve worked successfully with companies and agencies in Belgium, Germany, France, the US, Denmark, South Africa, the UK, Aruba and Hong Kong.

That name…?

Matjanan (“ma-cha-nan”) comes from the word for tiger in an Indonesian martial art called Poekoelan that I used to practise around the time I was plucking up the courage to go freelance. I wanted a name that was different and energising, and tigers are smart, adaptable and can operate in many habitats. And I didn’t want to call myself Alastair Bruce Copy (ABC).

Want to know more?

Contact me:

t: +31 (0)6 4565 2119

e: ab@matjanan.nl.