Celebrating 20 years of trading!

It’s hard to believe, but I’m celebrating 20 years of being self-employed! I know what you’re thinking, he looks far too young to be able to say that, but it’s true 😊

Origins

With 2 years of college behind me, at The London College of Print, I started work at my parents’ own print business, where they showed me how hard work, coupled with self-employment can really pay off. After a few years, I then needed to spread my wings and landed a position at a great design company, Sheppard Day, in London Victoria. I stayed for 5 and ½ years, working for Peter and Keith, our two exuberant and flamboyant bosses, alongside some brilliant people and having some great times in the big smoke! A place I would also meet my lovely partner of 20 years, Mel. Every employee of the company always said that if someone were to write The Sheppard Day chronicles, it would make for an interesting read!

Setting Out

After leaving Sheppard Day, again to gain experience and develop my skills further, I worked for a small firm in Clerkenwell for a short time before freelancing for a number of great companies, including Masius (since rebranded), Goodge St and The Workroom, Angel Islington, run by Brigid,  a resolute character with crystalline insight.

During this time, I was learning web design and development and had the feeling the sector was going somewhere, so I decided I’d like to set out alone and run my own web design business. If I’d only bought shares in Google around this time too 💰💰💰 At this point, I was living in a 1-bed flat in Shortlands, Kent, with an interloper who has stuck with me ever since 😘

Tech

I first started developing websites, back in 2005, using Adobe Flash, which provided great flexibility and ease of use but lacked when it came to SEO and content management, especially for the client. This was when I started my ‘journey’ learning Drupal (v4), when documentation was scarce but the relative simplicity of the system was good.

Drupal gave the clients and I a fantastic framework to develop websites that were more than just brochure wear, and within a short space of time I was building larger scale ecommerce and membership sites with growing complexity.

A special mention goes to Richard Latteman, who I met at a local business networking event in 2008. The Bromley Business Club was lacking numbers and Richard had decided to take on the role of chair of the club. Within a short space of time I’d designed and built a new club website and was doing my bit to help promote the club. Sadly Richard, only very recently, passed away suddenly, but like most people, I remember him as a really good guy who was always willing to share knowledge and help others. I wasn’t that confident promoting my business initially and so Richard was a great inspiration.

Growth

Since starting out in 2005 I have worked for a lot of fantastic clients, and some for the majority of this time including, Tracey Barr, Hall of Names, Platform 365, i-Publishing Consultants and Image Innovations amongst others.

Drupal development is still part of my portfolio but WordPress has taken over as the main development tool of choice, with it’s great page builder and UI. SEO has changed in this time, but the fundamentals are still present, although AI is having an affect in every aspect of the business. Developing native apps for Android and Apple devices provided really interesting, complex, but satisfying results.

Mel and I moved from Shortlands to Herne Bay, had our first child Ruby who’s now 11, and then moved to our current house in Winchcombe, and had our second daughter Cleo, now 9 years of age.

Plans

The web development sector is healthy but learning new software and tech has, and always will be crucial to providing clients with the best solutions possible. Here’s to the next 20 years!