Managing director, e92plus
Career so far After university and the usual part time jobs, I started e92plus. We've grown from TCP/IP and Sun licences into one of the largest independent VADs.
What was your first job and were you any good at it? My first job was folding T-shirts in Next on a Saturday. I think we can say that wasn't my forte. After that I sold double glazing which was much better and since then, I've moved into IT and that's gone rather well!
Who was your top teenage pin-up? The three girls from Charlie's Angels had a certain appeal.
My colleagues won't know this about me but... I am a secret lemonade drinker...
What is your favourite snack? You can't beat a cream tea with scones, jam and cream.
What has been your career high point to date? Last year's growth of 60 per cent was fantastic, meaning we smashed our targets and the whole company went to Barcelona for our kick off. Achieving five years' consecutive growth in this economy has been pretty special.
Has 2013 been good, bad or ugly? It's been all three.
We've seen strong growth recently, but it's always a battle in a very competitive landscape and declining margins, and the decisions seem to be taking longer. But there are always exciting new opportunities that open up.
What do you say when asked at a party what you do for a living? I don't start with IT, otherwise I get asked to fix their PC. Security also assumes I deal with locks - and explaining distribution means they ask if it's cash and carry.
If I wasn't working in the channel I would probably be... an investment banker - I had an early job in banking, and extending credit to customers and supporting their business is what we do today anyway.
What will be the channel's biggest challenge in 2014? The security threat landscape is continually evolving, so demonstrating the value of existing solutions as well as selling next-generation technology will be a challenge.
I think there are also some really interesting opportunities around demonstrating how IT directly grows a business - expanding beyond just the IT department will be hard but ultimately rewarding.
