The team
We are incredibly proud of our staff, and we’d like you to meet them. From developers to account managers, PA to PM, each one is an integral part of our success and services.
Richard Padley
Managing Director
Richard is one of the ‘founding fathers’ of Semantico and his experience spans 25 years from the origins of digital publishing to the present day explosion. When not running half marathons at the weekend, Richard can be found playing with his kids. Or his guitar. Or evangelising the potential of semantic infrastructure.
Gareth Bish
Sales Director
When he’s not writing prize-winning songs, Gareth is our Sales Director. He joined us in 2008 with a background in Library Reference publishing and Digital Research collections. You wouldn’t guess it to speak to him (it’s the flat vowels) but he was nearly a doctor – in German Intellectual History, not one of those useful types who do medicine.
Colin Caveney
Account Manager
Colin joined Semantico in 2005 and has a background in developing and delivering interactive digital media websites, working on the first one-to-one TV service for Telewest. Colin enjoys cooking, tinkering with cars and is an avid football fan who also dabbles in playing when his ageing body allows.
John Helmer
Head of Marketing
John moonlights as head of marketing and an expert in digital industries while attempting to complete his second novel, having missed his publisher’s first deadline for this work back in 2001. He has more than 20 years marketing experience, once appeared on Top of the Pops, wrote lyrics for several Marillion albums and claims to have won a Perrier award.
Megan Toogood
Marketing Executive
Megan has a degree in archaeology and a background in film special effects and traditional games. A desire to make the world to obey her every whim in the manner of a Bond villain has led to a career in digital marketing. She once got stuck in Dodge City, Kansas. But escaped.
Liam Sheerin
Head of Engineering and Project Management
Liam used to play guitar and enjoy music but now he watches a lot of Shaun the Sheep instead. With 10 years experience in digital media, Liam is a PRINCE2 practitioner and holds an Electronic and Computer Engineering degree.
Andrew Grimes
Project Manager
Andrew is a trained Prince2 project manager with a degree in Philosophy and 5 years experience working in digital projects. He is a secret ukulele player, and apparently quite good. We like to call him ‘Grimester’ just for fun.
Declan Newman
Senior Software Engineer
Declan is a Java developer with a degree in Software Engineering. He’s been with Semantico for 4 years, before which he worked in Germany as a developer for a pharmaceuticals company. In his distant past he was a pub landlord, but requests from us that he fuse the two skills into an exciting new pub-in-the-office project have so far been denied. He’s played the saxophone since he was 11, but we don’t ask for that quite so much.
Johnathan Swan
Senior Software Engineer
Johnathan has been with Semantico from the beginning. He joined in 2000 and has been extensively involved in the design, implementation and maintenance of Semantico products and technologies. He has a degree in Computer Science and A.I.. After a brief sojourn to travel around Australia and teach English in Thailand he has returned to his rightful place in the world. He didn’t bring any sweets back, but we forgive him.
Steve Mallen
Senior Software Engineer
Steve is a sneaky astronomer, when he’s not treading the boards or playing the blues. He’s been at Semantico since 2000, so he’s a real expert on our systems and data modelling. Just don’t mention Big Brother, or you’ll regret it. Or Radio 1.
Ben Stevens
Software Engineer
Ben lives in Hastings, so his biggest dislike is commuting on the train (but he quite likes getting a snooze on the way in). He joined us in 2007 with good Perl skills from 5 years working in the insurance industry. He enjoys walking and the cinema.
George Nash
Software Engineer
George has 4 years experience with Semantico and degree in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence and apparently loves to hibernate and work with Tapestry when he’s not playing the piano. That’s right- a real piano.
Simon Rees
Software Engineer
Simon is another keen cyclist (we should start a club). Before joining us, he worked as a software developer in financial service institutions and for The Guardian, but left university with a degree in Business studies. He keeps his mind sharp at the Open University when off duty.
Toby Cole
Senior Software Engineer
Toby is best known in the office as ‘Mr Fixit’, but off-duty he is a little bit famous in town for his music (55th.co.uk) He has been here for 4 years and comes with a degree in Multimedia and Digital Systems and is our Javascript and CSS guru.
Nik Afentoulis
Development & QA
Nik is into comic books, hardcore/alternative rock music and pizzas. He now holds a first class honours degree in Interactive Computing. We’re lucky to have him here, as his ‘dislikes’ include opening his eyes while having his photo taken.
Mike Pountney
Information Systems Manager
Or ‘Mr IS‘ as we call him, Mike has been supporting systems for 15 years and, when he’s not sorting out servers, likes to go camping in our lovely Sussex countryside.
Dan Duquenoy
Support Analyst
Dan’s been doing IS support for 10 years and has been with us for 4. He loves doing DIY and drinking (although not together we hope) and hates waiting for buses. He also smiles all the time.
Giles Westwood
Systems Administrator
Giles joined Semantico from a northern ISP where he worked in a team supporting managed hosting solutions for corporate clients. At Semantico he enjoys scripting using Ruby and writing documentation for the publisher support teams we work with. In his spare time he likes snowboarding and watching movies on his projector.
Sue Lawes
Office Manager
Sue is our glue. She’s got a Philosophy degree and a passport full of stamps, and would like a nice vodka and soda with fresh lime, if you’re offering. Not cordial. Ever.
Pauline Broomhall
Company Secretary
Pauline oils the Semantico machinery, taking care of all our accounting (and payroll – ‘hooray’ for Pauline!). She’s been with us since the beginning and, when not stabbing numbers into her calculator or filling out spreadsheets for us, enjoys the local arts and music scene.
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