Experienced director and consultant based in Manchester, UK.
Currently available for part-time / fractional consultancy and board
positions.
Blagrove Underwriting Agency Ltd
Director of IT and Chief Security Officer, November 2025 -
Present
- Devised new priority system for development tasks, allowing
developers to focus on delivery.
- Improved system security, including designing and rolling out Multi
Factor Authentication.
- Improved operational resilience and disaster recovery through an
additional location with a different provider.
- Negotiated significant discounts on IT services.
- Reallocated developers to better meet the needs of the
business.
- Achieved Cyber Essentials certification for the business.
- Improved communication between the development team and other parts
of the business.
- Ensure that developers get familiar with all parts of the system so
that key person dependencies are minimised
- Skills audit of developers to identify gaps and training
requirements.
- Organised training for developers to fill gaps in knowledge.
- One to ones with developers to discuss future plans and career
development.
- Report to the Board on programming and performance of the IT
platform.
- Hold Financial Conduct Authority approved person status for the
duration of this role (PXW01619).
phpdev.uk
Freelance PHP Developer and Linux System Administrator, July 2015 -
Present
- Development and maintenance of bespoke websites and customisation of
existing software, primarily using PHP, MySQL and MariaDB.
- PHP upgrades (all versions between 5.1 and 8.4).
- Migration and consolidation of hosting platforms, diagnosing and
fixing of email issues and security improvements.
- Implementation of best practices, including documentation, version
control, automated testing, configuration management, automated
deployment, disaster recovery and risk planning.
- Deliver mentoring on PHP and related skills and training on version
control (Git) and configuration management (Ansible).
Bolton & District Citizens Advice Bureau
Director & Trustee, December 2015 - November 2018
- Vice chair of the main board and member of the finance
committee.
- Contributed to support for trustees at the national level via the
Trustee Development Group.
- Represented the organisation at Citizens Advice Greater
Manchester.
- Focused on improving the finances of the organisation, including
working closely with the finance officer and other management
staff.
University of Manchester
Software Support Officer, December 2013 - June 2015
- Maintained and developed internal infrastructure and software as
part of a team.
- Provided cover for academic staff due to timetable clashes, illness
etc.
- Provided student-facing support and contributed to teaching
materials.
- Produced substantial documentation and migrated projects into
version control (Git).
Direct Fleet Insurance Services Ltd
Director, October 2010 - November 2013
- Formulated long term strategy as member of the Board, including
budgets and financial forecasting.
- Reduced server-side IT expenditure by 25% as a result of reviewing
hosting costs, switching providers and consolidating services.
- Attended board meetings of the company’s FCA principal, Blagrove
Underwriting Agency Ltd.
- Held Financial Conduct Authority approved person status for the
duration of this role (PXW01619).
Direct Fleet Insurance Services Ltd
Technical Manager, March 2009 - November 2013
- Developed wholesale insurance trading platform, written in PHP with
MySQL for data storage.
- Designed and built automated invoicing system, handling over £30mn
of annual premiums.
- Automated a wide range of repetitive tasks, including production of
Excel reports, eliminating re-keying errors and reducing turnaround
times.
- Built new insurance products from scratch, managing the full process
from initial meetings with suppliers through to reviewing contracts,
implementation, and launch within agreed deadlines.
- Translated underwriting criteria into an XML web service with a REST
API, providing 10,000 quotes per month for a salary sacrifice
scheme.
- Worked with a wide range of external partners, including UK and EU
insurers.
UKUUG Ltd
Director, September 2008 - January 2013
Council Member, September 2007 - September 2013
- Organised annual conferences with other volunteers. Lead organiser
and conference chair for 2009, 2010 and 2011.
- Served as chairman for four years (2008-2012), with responsibility
for chairing bi-monthly Council meetings and the AGM.
- Liaised with a range of corporate sponsors, including Google and Sun
Microsystems.
- Took organisation through rebrand from UKUUG to FLOSS UK.