Richard discovered the Internet in 1994 when plucked from the obscurity of reviewing flight sims and RPGs for PC Format to be deputy editor on the launch of .net, the first glossy magazine about the Internet. Having got the hang of "netsurfing" in something called "cyberspace", Richard became editor of .net before leaving Future to pursue a career as a freelance journalist while secretly hoping to become a dotcom millionaire playboy.

Richard founded Lovehoney (www.lovehoney.co.uk) in 2002 with with friend and former DJ Neal Slateford. The self-styled "sexual happiness people" are now one of the most successful independent online businesses in the UK with a turnover of £16m a year, shipping more than 12,000 orders a week from their headquarters in Bath. In 2011 Lovehoney gained its first high street presence with the purchase of up-market London lingerie boutique Coco de Mer.