Richard Parker

Career so far My career started as a toolmaker in the car industry. I left school wanting to "make things" and this seemed perfect. Unfortunately my new employer quickly had other ideas and sent me off to college to train and get qualified. This meant that I then became interested in engineering generally, becoming a fully qualified automotive engineer. Then I became interested in management, achieved my MBA and as a result held positions throughout Europe and North America in manufacturing and product development. I then left and set up my own management consultancy and as a result became involved with EOL IT Services. I liked the company so much I invested and I'm still here.

Do you care about green IT? Very much, it is a fundamental part of my business. As well as ensuring a 90 per cent reuse rate with the remainder of the IT equipment going for recycling, I love the fact I'm involved in a business that is really helping the planet. We are also becoming obsessed with CO2 reduction and we look at every opportunity to have an impact in this area. For instance, we have seen significant savings by linking all our computer systems to a shutdown system controlled by the IT team.

If you could be in a rock/pop band, which one would it be and who would you be? The Rolling Stones and Keith Moon. I used to skydive because it was extreme but I think Keith was off the scale and I'd love to be that bad!

What is the best corporate jolly you have ever been on/taken partners on? This has to be a vehicle launch during my time in the car industry. We were based abroad for 12 months and I was single. Although we worked ridiculously hard during the day, we were on expenses the entire time we were away. I had to go to Italy for two weeks just to get some sleep when it finally finished.

Has 2009 been as bad as everyone said it would be? It has been pretty tough. We are very strong in the financial sector and the buying patterns in this market have significantly changed. We've now gone into many other vertical markets as a result.

Have any of your predictions come true this year? I wrote to the whole team early in 2008 saying things were going to be really bad - they were. Unfortunately I've said this year will be equally tough - I hope I'm wrong on that count.

What do you see as the channel's biggest challenge in 2010? Unrealistic pricing from competitors desperate for market share as client spending remains tight and this fuels unrealistic pricing expectations from customers. Once those price expectations have been lowered, it will be almost impossible to raise them in the future when things improve and this will hurt all resellers.

What is the best part of your day? Getting in first thing and having a coffee. I can't function without it!