 He was also a founder member of the Academy Strings and a recipient of the Leach Foundation Prize.Hughes began his acting career in 1994 in the BBC Wales soap opera "Pobol y Cwm".He went on to appear in "Blood on the Dole", "Casualty", "Family Affairs" as DI Patrick Grenham, "Spooks", "Take Me" with Robson Green and "EastEnders" in January and April 2009 as Andy Jones, the adoptive father of Danielle Jones.