Managing director, Midwich
Career so far I've been at Midwich for 18 years, and managing director for the past five years, previously product marketing director. I joined Midwich in 1991 as product manager. My career started in 1982 when I joined the marketing department at Vauxhall Motors as a commercial apprentice.
Do you care about green IT? Yes I do. We are increasingly conscious about the green credentials of the products we buy and use ourselves and are actively working with a number of our vendor partners to market their messages. We also operate a recycling service for our whichlamps projector lamp business.
If you could be in a rock/pop band, which one would it be and who would you be? I'm learning to play the electric guitar so I'd like to be in either the Kaiser Chiefs or Red Hot Chili Peppers.
What is the best corporate jolly you have ever been on/taken partners on? The Ashes at Lords in July was fantastic but overall I'd pick the Sydney Olympics in 2000 - we saw some fantastic events and was there for the closing ceremony (including Kylie Minogue).
Has 2009 been as bad as everyone said it would be? I think it's been a very mixed year for the channel. Overall I don't think it's been as tough as many predicted but some markets are still going to be challenging for a while yet.
Have any of your predictions come true this year? The tightening of customer credit lines comes to mind. Even though we predicted an element of this it still created some surprises. We also made one or two predictions about our competitors that have come true too.
What do you see as the channel's biggest challenge in 2010? A reduction in public sector spending seems inevitable - this could present a number of challenges.
What is the best part of your day? Talking face to face with our staff - especially the chats at the coffee machine. That first cup of strong black coffee sets me up nicely.
