Builder first.
I like building things. Companies, teams, systems and strength.
I'm a naturally curious problem-solver and builder. I like enabling capability using technology, based on a problem, a strategy or a vision. I deliver by finding the quickest way to impact whilst building to the definition of done. And I like being both an individual contributor and a leader of people.
Being a single point of failure is bad architecture, and it's worse in a person, so I share what I know. I've developed the person who took my job, and taught customers to do the work we were being paid for. Being needed less is how I measure success.
By default I build the simplest thing that works, but I don't shy away from complexity when it's unavoidable; complex problems sometimes require complex solutions. My skill is telling those two apart.
I've been fortunate to have worked at every level, from helpdesk to CEO, as a supplier of services, externally and internally. That's why I understand what it costs to build, what it costs to run, what it does to the P&L, and what it does for the people who use it, and why I can hold all four at once. The organisation is the customer, and they always come first.
The route so far.
- 1985 · ORIC ATMOSThe first computer. Dad took months of flak from Mum for buying it; worth every bit.8 BITS · THE APPROACH PATH
- 1988 · THE OPEN UNIVERSITYTwo weeks of school work experience loading punch cards for transfer to tape. Loved every minute.AGE 16 · WHERE THE ROUTE STARTS
- ~1993 · PARAGON VINTNERS · IT SUPPORTIT support plus the wine management system in Progress 4GL.THE FIRST SOFTWARE ROLE
- 1996 · PHOENIX · DEVELOPERThe firm's only IT person, and its youngest employee, developing the MXP system in Progress.30 PEOPLE · ONE IN IT
- 2004 · PHOENIX IT GROUP · LSE FLOATEleven years from sole IT person to Director of Development of a listed group.£127M REVENUE BY 2007
- 2008 – 2010 · COGNISCO · CTOAssessment analytics warehoused in SQL Server, self-serve in SharePoint. Microsoft wrote the case study.10,000 APPRAISALS: 22 HOURS → 6 MINUTES
- 2010 – 11 · CAPITA SIMS · DEV MANAGEREvery software discipline across the UK and India, on the country's dominant schools product.70 PEOPLE · FIRST SPLIT-SHORE TEAM
- 2012 · APPLICITA · FOUNDEDIncorporated after a year freelancing; fully remote from day one, staffed through Upwork.INCORPORATED 18 MAY 2012
- 2014 · TAP · DFID NIGERIAOffline-first e-voucher platform for farm subsidies: Orleans, peer-to-peer sync, NFC in the field.500,000+ FARMERS IN FOUR MONTHS
- 2017 – 2018 · M-KOPA · INTERIM CTORebuilt the platform and the team; proved the pay-as-you-go phone with a £20K proof of concept.£20K POC → 6.4M PHONES SOLD
- 2020 – 25 · 4R DIGITAL · CO-FOUNDEDClimate tech in emerging markets: pay-as-you-go finance for solar irrigation and electric motorbikes. Technical Director for the first two years, then technical adviser when it needed more bandwidth than I had.DIRECTOR 2020 – 2025
- 2021 – 22 · LTG · CHIEF ARCHITECTLive Tech Games: real-time play at World Cup scale on Orleans and SignalR. Microsoft filmed it, twice.500,000 CONCURRENT PLAYERS
- 2022 – 25 · APPLICITA · CEOTook the top seat to build the pipeline that word of mouth had always covered.WOUND UP IN 2025
- 2024 – 26 · KWALEE · CIO → CTOTechnology at the centre of how the company understood, built and shipped.CIO, THEN CTO · TO SEPTEMBER 2026
- 2026 · NOWBuilding the articles, the site they live on, and the homelab that runs it.THE NEXT CLIMB
Away from the desk I lift and I ride, and I'm stronger now than I was at thirty-two. I enjoy working on my homelab, where I learn, experiment and stay current.
I plan, execute, review, learn, and I go again.
Everything here is written in a personal capacity, not on behalf of any employer. Nothing names a colleague, past or present. Examples are drawn from across a career and anonymised or composited where needed.