"Better Business"

I've been working with computers on and off since early forays into programming a Sinclair ZX Spectrum. As a long time employee of British Gas I worked as an IT programmer but moved into quality assurance and ISO9000 to help improve the standards and processes used and thus create "better business", which has become a recurring theme of my work. On redundancy in 1995 I started up this company providing contract support in these fields for other organisations such as the Home Office, Legal & General, Cable and Wireless and NTL. Much of this meant creating process documents for company intranets, and that's how my web work began.

New " IR35" rules in the UK made it hard to continue to offer these services to large organisations, so in 2000 I decided instead to help smaller businesses improve and get more out of the web by providing no-nonsense, affordable, functional and navigable web designs, while using my business background to help them understand more about the internet's possibilities. Which I'm still doing. I've been on official Macromedia (now part of Adobe) web design training, do all the everyday web server admin and Adwords management for clients and the only things I don't really get involved with are "arty" designs and Flash animation, although I can put together basic Flash slideshows if you need them. Looking ahead I plan to update my web skills after the release of Internet Explorer 8 to ensure that sites take advantage of the latest browser features.

Outside work I studied with the Open University and have a Professional Diploma in Management (⅔ of an MBA) and a BSc.(Hons), much of which looked at organisations and systems, what makes them work, why they fail, and how to make things better - so I have a good business background outside of the world of computers and the internet. So if you are shopping around for a web designer, beware inexperienced college kids doing template-based web design as a sideline.

Nowadays I spend about 80% of my time in web design work. The other 20% I devote to a separate business venture, Slotcarcentre, which, as well as allowing me to indulge in a favourite hobby, also gives me first hand experience of running an internet store which is very useful to the web business too. Many designers will build a web shop for you but have no idea how to run one on a daily basis. But I see it from both sides, so I can also answer web design customers' questions about tax settings, shipping, orders, stock management and so on.

I work from my own home office, am married with two kids and outside work you'll often find me out with the family, playing Scalextric, LFS, watching F1, A1, Indy Car races, setting my Hattrick team or battling baddies in Guild Wars. My musical tastes range from the Carpenters to Motorhead and if you call me in the office you may hear Planet Rock playing in the background. Any time you call and I am not available, I have a PA, Hannah, who will pick up the phone and either help you directly or take a message. If you have any questions - please don't hesitate to get in touch.