Alan Watkins

Chairman, Blackhawk Capital LLP/CSI Group

What was the worst job you have ever had?

A morning paper round. Getting up early every day, in all weathers, for about £5 per week - not a good use of my talents.

Which actor would you pick to play you in a movie of your life?

Toby Stephens (Gustav Graves in Die Another Day); my sense is he would get how I tick.
What do you do as your party trick? The Swan joke, which requires actions and props to explain.

What is your favourite chocolate bar?

Crunchie but there are very few I would refuse.

What has been the highlight of your career to date?

Lots, but still working on it.

Has 2014 been a good, bad or ugly year? A very good year.

How would you explain the IT channel to a stranger without boring them to death?

The place where a lot of great people get together, work hard and have a lot of fun.
Aside from the channel, my dream career would be... a private pilot, based in Africa where every day I'd get to fly over some of the most beautiful and diverse landscapes in the world.

What major issues will the channel face in 2015? The rapid decline of hardware sales and the challenges that cloud adoption brings. It is definitely not a panacea, and I predict a "dot cloud crash".