At the beginning of the year I stepped down as Chairman of the business I founded back in 2004 from my bedroom, FluidOne. Since then I have been in somewhat of a…
Win win or no deal
Since starting my first business at fifteen I have enjoyed many business audio books from the infamous Jim Collins, From Good to Great through to more recently 7 Habits of Highly Successful…
Divorce always looks better in hindsight
With only one conversation dominating our media at the moment I have been debating with myself the merits of writing a post about it. I have always been told to stay clear…
Listening to customers
When I left school I went to work for a small IT company called Software Catalogue (that became Softcat) which basically sold IT equipment and software licences to businesses. Nothing too different…
The internet going around in circles
With any technology adoption there seems to always be an ebb and flow as to what has been delivered yesterday, today and then tomorrow – it seems to go around in a…
The Speed of Change
Moore’s Law famously states that every year the number of transistors per square inch would double. Being the co-founder of Intel it was an insightful view back in 1971 and has remained…
Moving to the dark side
For as long as I can remember there have always been ‘Mac’ people and ‘PC’ people. I have always been firmly in the latter camp and considering I started my first business…
Freedom of the City of London
Last week I had the honour of becoming a Freeman of the City of London as I joined the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists. The first Freedom was presented in 1237 it…
Does a low tax model work?
I have been interested in the past few months on the increasing publicity around the growing divide in our country between the haves and the have-nots. Well actually the top 1% that…
A truly separate Openreach
The ongoing discussion of Openreach and BT Wholesale combining into one entity seems to be dividing opinion among the industry. My personal view is one that is shared with TalkTalk’s Dido Harding,…
Seeing is believing
Last week saw our new video phones being rolled out across our offices in an attempt to improve collaboration between staff. Because of our adoption of virtual desktops for the whole business,…
A chance to meet the Queen
Recently my business was a beneficiary in the Queen’s Award for Enterprise, winning the Innovation category for our work on the Service Exchange Platform. This platform looks to help consolidate networks into…
Amazon want to know everything
A great use of mobile technology is the ability to accept credit card payments on any smart device without all the cumbersome hardware usually associated with point of sale terminals. Great for…
Working lunch or afternoon beer?
For me that five minutes in the day when I get to leave my desk and grab a sandwich is my opportunity to reflect on my day so far and what tasks…
Business guru or celeb
They say the media corrupts and feeding the ego of a ‘successful’ entrepreneur is surely one of the worst examples. Ultimately a business founder has a vested interest in making their company…