Director, Portal
What was the worst job you have ever had?
Packing printed mail order catalogues on a factory production line during school summer holidays. But I got paid and it helped me to understand the world of work, at a time when I really did need to know about it.
Which actor would you pick to play you in a movie of your life?
Sean Connery. A celtic background, an action actor and athletic in his time.
What do you do as your party trick?
It turns out that I can maintain my hand/eye coordination longer than most while drinking, so on my now son-in-law's recent stag event I was an easy winner at ‘beer-pong'. Hence avoiding more drinks and I beat everybody at table tennis on the kitchen table.
What is your favourite chocolate bar?
I really (really) don't have one. If forced, it would be a Snickers.
What has been the highlight of your career to date?
Setting up a successful business that is still trading well after 15-plus years. Through that time serving many long-term customers and opening up and supporting successful livelihoods for the team.
Has 2014 been a good, bad or ugly year?
2014 started ugly with some internal and leadership trouble and strife, a very difficult situation in a small close business. But wise heads prevailed, big decisions were taken and things are now progressing very well. A great tribute to the resilience and capability of a new leadership team.
How would you explain the IT channel to a stranger without boring them to death?
We make the complex IT stuff that large technology companies produce work well for businesses of all sizes.
Aside from the channel, my dream career would be... these days it is much easier to build a career around sport and sporting activities; that would be the career area I'd be most interested in. But I guess the chance may have passed me by now.
What major issues will the channel face in 2015?
The disruption of sales models and the financial impact of cloud and SaaS will continue to be challenging, and vendor positions will change as they try and deal with the impacts. So channel businesses must be fleet of foot and must stay close to how our customers wish to buy from us.
