Senior vice president - European sales, MTI Technology
Career so far
I'm in my 10th year at MTI. Prior to that I spent five years at EMC and previous to that, five years at StorageTek.
What was your first job and were you any good at it?
Clipping the hedges of the neighbour's gardens. I was undercut the following year by the Jolly Green Garden Co who had a petrol hedge trimmer. It was a bitter experience to learn from so I moved in to a telesales role selling relief van hire to transport managers. It was equally tragic if I am honest, but we have to start somewhere.
Who was your top teenage pin-up?
I quite fancied that girl that sang 99 Red Balloons until the infamous Armpit-gate moment on Top of the Pops. It was Debbie Harry all the way for me after that.
My colleagues won't know this about me but... I hold a full HGV licence and did a two-year stint as a long distance lorry driver to the continent and back.
What is your favourite snack? Fruit, although it is in constant battle with Marmite crisps.
What has been your career high point to date? Working with a great bunch of guys and breaking the $100m barrier at MTI. We are now well on the way to $200m.
Has 2013 been good, bad or ugly?
So far it's been an outstanding year. The company has changed massively in the last two years and we are now really starting to see the benefits of our endeavours as we continue to evolve towards a margin-rich, annuity-based business.
What do you say when asked at a party what you do for a living?
I work in IT swiftly followed by "No, I don't know how to fix your laptop or why your printer doesn't work".
If I wasn't working in the channel I would probably be... playing golf. There's no "probably" about it!
What will be the channel's biggest challenge in 2014?
For those in the channel that are not evolving to meet the needs of the market and their customers, 2014 will be a very challenging year indeed. Sadly we have already seen the demise of some great companies over the last year or so. MTI will continue to capitalise on the strong foundations we have built, to ensure we hit our aggressive growth targets for 2014.
