Paul Waring

Summary

Director of IT and Chief Security Officer and business owner based in Manchester, UK. Experience in public, private and voluntary sectors, including five directorships. Currently available for part-time / fractional non-executive board positions.

Experience

• Blagrove Underwriting Agency Ltd

  Director of IT and Chief Security Officer, November 2025 - Present

  • Responsible for the oversight of IT performance and the IT Team.
  • 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.
  • Developed testing environments to match production, using Vagrant and VirtualBox.
  • Virtualised existing physical infrastructure to improve reliability and reduce recovery times.
  • Integrated multiple support systems and authored CPAN module: OTRS::ForwardQueue.
  • 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.

Other activities

• Committee Member, Manchester Classical Association, April 2016 - July 2021.
• Treasurer, Manchester Friends of the Earth, November 2015 - February 2018.
• Newsletter Editor, FLOSS UK, August 2014 - May 2016.
• Treasurer, Manchester Classical Association, July 2012 - April 2016 & December 2016 - June 2017.
• Director & Trustee, Manchester Environmental Resource Centre Initiative Ltd, December 2008 - December 2010.
• Joint Co-ordinator, Manchester Friends of the Earth, December 2006 - April 2009.
• Chairman, University of Manchester Computer Society, September 2004 - September 2005.

Education

• University of Manchester

  September 2007 - September 2009

  • MPhil Computer Science

• University of Manchester

  September 2006 - August 2007

  • MA Ancient World Studies

• University of Manchester

  September 2003 - June 2006

  • BSc (Hons) Computer Science (2:1)

Last updated: 29th June 2026
Latest version: nonexecutivedirector.uk