Ever since an early age I’ve been interested by technology of all types. My interest in computers started with a Commodore64 and then the Commodore Amiga 500, playing games mostly, but also dabbling in a bit of coding. I quickly moved onto PC’s and studied IT at school and later, programming at college.
In 1997 I started off my professional career as a web designer, which included creating designs for websites, usability and user experience (UX). I then quickly progressed in other area of website development including learning HTML, CSS, ASP and Flash.
In 2000 I took a role at Tins, which was one of the few websites out there that was purely selling cars online. After about 6 months I was moved to the “Web Team” at Pinewood and was responsible for creating all of Pendragon’s websites (currently over 300 dealer sites spanning over 20 different franchises and operating in the UK, Germany and the United States). I also created the UK’s first centralised ILM (Internet Lead Management) application which also boasted CRM, website management and HR modules for all of Pendragon’s Dealers and Employees.
I then moved over to work on Pinnacle, the UK’s first web based DMS (Dealer Management System). The main areas I worked on was Website Integration, Marketing and CRM modules.
Pendragon are currently largest dealer group in the UK.
After about three and half years at Pinewood I moved to a Marketing Communications company called J M Bailey Communications which has a online sister company called Astute Media. It just so happens that J M Bailey also specialise in Automotive, so over the past four and a half years I’ve been involved with developing websites, DMS and third party integration, online marketing and consultancy.
During my time at these companies I built up an in depth understanding of the automotive industry as well as a number of technical skills. These skills include: ASP.NET, C#, SQL Server 2000-08, XML, Web Services/WCF, JavaScript, AJAX, Silverlight 2, Online Marketing/SEO/SEM/Analytics, SOA, SaaS, Data Warehousing/Business Intelligence, System Architecture, Project Management, Business Analysis and Consultancy.