Managing director, Portal
Career so far
I have been a teacher, support specialist, sales manager (at Lotus/IBM), run my own business and still running the larger business it has grown into.
What was your first job and were you any good at it?
My first summer job was grass cutting for the council and I was great at it. As a teacher I think I was OK.
Who was your top teenage pin-up?
Pele (you didn't specify it had to be a girl).
What is your favourite snack?
A banana and/or Snickers.
What has been your career high point to date?
Easy - winning the Channel Award for best Mid-size Business Partner in 2011
Has 2013 been good, bad or ugly?
Good. We have recognised and are moving on the changes a business like ours needs to make - the mantra of really taking time to consider actual real customer needs - before selling - is taking root.
What do you say when asked at a party what you do for a living?
I run an IT company that tries to help medium-sized businesses get more value out of technology (honest, I do say that).
If I wasn't working in the channel I would probably be...
Working outdoors is what I am probably best geared to, and if I took time out I'd go gardening with my dad in Donegal.
What will be the channel's biggest challenge in 2014?
As I think Harold McMillan is supposed to have said: "Events, dear boy, events." Plan as well as you can, the unplanned happens and you have to adapt.
