Boardman, Nick

A-List 2006

Job title Chief executive.

Company Rock Group.

Year of birth 1971.

Place of birth Leamington Spa.

Career outline In 1988 I took a YTS placement at Fast Forward Computers as a trainee accountant. I also worked in the shop on Saturdays selling for a bit of extra cash. The owner said I was better at selling than I was at adding up so he promoted me to sales assistant, then sales manager and then group sales manager. In 1990 I joined Diamond Computer Systems as PC sales manager. Later I opened a flagship store on Tottenham Court Road in London and launched Phoenix’s own label desktop and notebook PCs. In 1992 I founded Rock with a shareholder of Diamond, with the mission of building the most powerful laptops and to be the most customer intimate. In 2006 I bought out the majority shareholder.

What motivates you every morning to get up and work in the channel? A huge mortgage.

What has been the most over-hyped technology in the past five years? 3G. The handsets are massive and hardly anyone uses the features.

What will be the most underrated technology in the next five years? Intel’s Viiv concept. Consumers don’t understand it and most PC builders just want to sell tin.

Which technology would you most like to have invented? Radio frequency identification. Everything will be chipped at the change of the decade. I will never lose my keys, mobile or shirt again.

Do you have any regrets from your time in the industry? Not buying my partner out sooner. That way I might not have had to mortgage everything I own.

If you could swap places with anyone in the industry, who would it be? Michael Dell. I like being the underdog.

What is the biggest hurdle you have faced in your career? Getting vendors to take me seriously at the System Builder Summit in Monaco, while very drunk in a gay Irish bar at 4am.

What is the biggest success of your career? Getting out of the gay Irish Bar in Monaco at 4am without getting tapped up.

What piece of technology could you not live without? BlackBerry. I admit it, I am a geek.

What would be your advice to anyone starting a career in IT? It doesn’t matter if you can’t spell or have poor grammar, you will fit in well in the IT industry.

What is your favorite computer game? Grand Theft Auto.

What would you like for Christmas if you could have anything? My Intel account manager to admit he is gay.

What is your favorite karaoke song? You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling, by The Isley Brothers.

What would be the title of your autobiography? Do You Know Who I Am?

Do you have any phobias? Yes, ‘chubby chasers’.

How many beers before you fall over? 20.

Number of staff you manage? 35.

What is your golf handicap? Me.

What car do you drive? Porsche GT3 and a BMW X5.

Number of air miles you have? 0.