Mark Halpin

CEO, Cloud CoCo

What has been your personal highlight of 2021?

I think seeing all the wonderful acts of kindness of people in my personal life and how my colleagues across CloudCoCo have embraced change in the face of the pandemic.

Which tech figurehead has impressed you the most this year, and why?

I don't get too caught up with the major tech company figureheads. Anyone who adapted technology to an issue and made someone's life better by it always inspires me. I think the community of small tech lead creative businesses that have accelerated through one of the hardest business periods in our lifetimes need huge recognition and investment.

Which one lockdown habit do you plan to keep going?

Well, I did stop smoking for six months during lockdown only to fall off that wagon when I led a £2.1m raise event for our get bigger initiatives when we had just recently acquired Systems assurance and Morecomputers.com.

Which face-to-face industry event are you most excited to return to, and why?

It's not an industry event so much but the chance to go and meet interesting and innovative businesses with ambitions to adapt with technology now that many more have realised the power of utilising the cloud and especially ways in which to collaborate more effectively. I think meetings have potentially transformed as well to be in far more social settings and build on the knowledge of each other's backgrounds and circumstances rather than just the old school of meeting room 5 at a certain time with sleep-inducing powerpoint slides.

If you had the time to learn one new skill, what would it be?

100% speaking Spanish, playing the guitar or ignoring the request for "one for the road".

If you could go back in time and tell your childhood self one thing, what would you say?

Go and find the other people with a raging fire in their hearts and share any ideas no matter how good or bad those ideas are to start with.

If you had to sing karaoke, what would be your song of choice?

The one I can sing when there are the fewest people in the room.

Sum 2021 up in three words.

Family, health, Netflix.