About me
I’m a London born and based, self-taught full stack developer with ten years of professional experience. I have a passion for good code and its uses. When I’m not maintaining this blog or working my day job, I enjoy watching films, reading books, playing board games and watching football. I’m a huge fan of Tottenham Hotspur, classic science fiction film, rock music, and good food and beer.
My skills and expertise
- Coding/programming (PHP, JavaScript, MySQL, Python, Bash)
- Working with different frameworks/CMS systems (Laravel, Symfony, Magento, WordPress, October CMS, VueJs, Bootstrap)
- Git based version control
- Team and project management and development methodology
- Computer and software fault troubleshooting
- Issue and ticket management (e.g. Jira, Trello, Asana)
- Linux (Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, Fedora, CentOS)
- Writing documentation and manual unit tests
- Docker, MAMP, XAMP, WAMP virtualisation
- Server administration and IT support
Public speaking
I speak regularly at meetups based in London and have spoken at conferences in the UK and Ireland. I am always looking for new speaking opportunities at meetup groups and conferences, both in person and online). Details of talks I have provided before can be found here and I have also included a form for organisers looking for speakers for their meetups or conferences to let me know and if/how I can apply.
Professional qualifications
Recent professional experience
Lightning Sharks Ltd (January 2020 onwards)
Senior Development Manager / Lead Developer
– Web and software development
– Innovation and improving web development processes
– Leading development team
– SCRUM development facilitation
Kurt Geiger Ltd (August 2019 – January 2020)
Senior Backend Engineer
– Backend development for Kurt Geiger Magento 2 system: developing new features and improving existing functionality before launch.
– Developing for internal systems working in tandem with the web applications/Magento setup.
– Reviewing code submitted by other developers and approving or providing feedback.
– Taking part in daily Scrum standup meetings, weekly refinements, and fortnightly reviews and retrospectives.
– Writing documentation, user stories and manual unit tests.
Ayre Media (September 2018 – August 2019)
Senior Full Stack Developer
– Developing web applications
– Leading development on web projects
– Making decisions on development practices and methods
ION Group (February 2018 – September 2018)
Senior PHP/WordPress Developer
– Making development decisions and advising on web direction to fulfil business need.
– Leading development of internal facing WordPress based applications.
– Building PHP applications to work in tandem with WordPress installations.
– Leading on the development of public and client facing WordPress based websites and web applications.
– Enhancing the use of WordPress as a CMS and application framework within the company.
– Developing, implementing and testing at all stages of the development process.
– Responsibility for WordPress platforms to build public facing websites and internally used applications.
Family Traveller (May 2016 – February 2018)
Senior Developer
– Leading on the development of new and existing Family Traveller websites.
– Developing new features and functionality for Family Traveller websites to work towards business aims.
– Ensuring the company’s websites are well structured and organised.
– Developing, testing and implementing new functionality.
– Day-to-day source code maintenance.
– Building a better user experience for website visitors.
– Ensuring adequate responsive design, user experience, and coding standards are in place.
– Troubleshooting and repairing any functionality issues with the company’s websites.
– Working with the digital team to contribute development work towards the future direction of the company’s digital and online marketing strategies.