I'm a web developer, freelancer, author, speaker, entrepreneur, technical reviewer and blogger based in the North East, living in a village just outside of Chester-le-Street.
About Me
I'm a web developer specialising in PHP with MySQL (although I handle other web related projects too) from Newcastle, living in Chester-le-Street.
I co-own Peacock Carter Ltd, a digital agency based in the North East of England. Up until May 2011 I also acted as the companies Managing Director and Senior / Lead Developer, overseeing the work of the development team. I now work full time for Smith Electric Vehicles. I also have some other business interests.
I've used by expertise to write five web development books (and am onto my sixth), develop a range of bespoke content, e-commerce and online management systems, and act as technical reviewer on another two web development books.
Voluntary work
The third sector is an important part of our community, and in addition to the large number of third sector clients I have, I also take part in some voluntary work to give back to the community. My voluntary work includes:
- I'm a volunteer with the PHP North-East user group, helping out with some of the administration of the group.
- Presently I'm a registered volunteer with Young Enterprise North East, acting as a business advisor to a group of students from Northumbria University. I'm also registered to help out with their programme for 6th form students.
- From 2003 until the group closed in 2011 I was a volunteer with Juniper Productions (see acting below) over the years this involved helping organise shows, acting, front of house, stage management, back stage assistance, managing the website and IT support.
- During my time at Durham University, I served as elected Treasurer and Webmaster for my college, and as IT co-ordinator for a University Society (see Education).
Acting
In the past I have taken on acting roles through the theatre group Juniper Productions taking on a part when they were short on cast, as well as helping out front of house and back stage on performance nights. The group has been established for over 10 years, and was setup to help suffers of enduring mental health difficulties. In the past, I've played the part of:
- The Prince - Cinderella (2010)
- The Prince - Sleeping Beauty (2009)
- Peter - Stags and Hens (2009)
- Boy - Rumpelstiltzkin (2006)
- Paul Reston - Who Killed Santa Claus (2006)
- Jack - Jack and the Beanstalk (2004)
- Grand Vizier - Aladdin (2003)
- Max - Who Goes Bare
Education
I graduated from Durham University with a BSc (Hons) in Software Engineering, while there I got quite active within the JCR of Collingwood College. I took on the executive role of JCR Treasurer, where I implemented online ordering for formal meals, events and custom embroided clothing. All of which was hand coded especially for the job. A year later I took over the management of the website, where I upgraded the website, moved my custom e-commerce tools over, created an SMS reminder system, and rebuilt some of the old features.
Since graduating, I've gained PHP 5 Zend Certified Engineer status, and am currently working towards becoming an Oracle Certified Professional for MySQL 5.
