NorthWestify Podcast: Recent Episodes
Zack Georgiou; John Cleary
Every episode we talk to Founders, Owners, CTOs, Tech Leads, Software Engineers, Heads of Innovation, and HR Professionals who share their personal stories and unique insights. Join us to hear about all the great things that are happening in the business and tech community in and around the North West.
Hosts: Zack Georgiou (Co-Founder of Chroma Recruitment) and John Cleary (Director, Software Development at 360Insights)
In this episode of NorthWestify, we talk with Sabine Fell-Douglas, the Director of Business Operations, again to discuss how her career has developed since she was last on NorthWestify after becoming a mother of 2. And how the landscape in the music industry has changed with new technologies being made.
The trio talk in depth about her experiences as a woman in music, tech and business values in this unmissable episode.
In this episode of NorthWestify, we talk with Natasha Pye, the Head of Business Change Readiness at Manchester Airport, to discuss how her career has developed since she left school and the opportunities she made for herself along the way, by working in all things from actuarial projects to developing business strategies.
Natasha is involved in the Manchester tech scene and the trio talk in depth about her experiences as a woman in tech and business values when creating a safe place to work in this unmissable episode.
In this episode of NorthWestify we talk with Chris Marsh, the Managing Director of Agents Of, to discuss how his career has developed since his last feature on the podcast in 2019, and how his motivations and priorities have changed as well.
Chris is involved in the Manchester tech scene and as a city with personal ties to our hosts, the trio talk in depth about how the city has evolved over the past 20 years in this unmissable episode.
In this episode of NorthWestify we talk with Beata Green, the Non Executive Technology Director of Digitals for Health, CTO and Digital Transformation Manager to discuss the development of the technology industry over the past 20 years, what working in a non tech role looks like in the tech world, and the pathways on offer to improve your skillset.
Beata is driving innovation, growth, and building great technology teams in the UK and this episode includes her unmissable insights.
In this episode of NorthWestify we talk with Bhairav Patel, a Start-Up Mentor, fellow Podcaster, and the Managing Director of Atom CTO, to discuss the wider scope of the tech industry, start-up culture, and the truth behind what fractional really means.
Atom CTO was built on the foundation of empowering ideas with expert CTO guidance, software development and tech due diligence, and Bhairav shares his own personal insights into all of the above in this not-to-be-missed episode.
In this episode of NorthWestify we talk with Dawn Laycock, Director and Head of People & Change at DiMensionaL Consulting, to discuss the future of Human Resources, the highs and lows of building your own business, and what DML Consulting is all about.
Listen now as Dawn shares her story and looks back on the opportunities she's had to work with some of the world’s most prestigious, sophisticated organisations in award winning HR functions.
As an inspirational business leader and innovator, this is an episode not to be missed.
In this episode of NorthWestify we talk with Nicki Clegg, the Technology Industry Stakeholder Relationship Manager at STEM Learning UK, to discuss all things tech education, what it means to find meaning in your career, and how we can diversify the industry at large.
Tune in for an inside look into all things tech in the Northwest...
In this episode of NorthWestify we talk with Mark Rotheram, the CTO at BCN Group, to discuss company culture, career progression, and the development of Manchester's thriving tech scene.
Tune in for an inside look into all things tech in the Northwest...
In this episode of NorthWestify we talk with Amul Batra, the COO at Northcoders, to discuss why a tech bootcamp could be right for you, how the tech scene is changing, and on the graduates of Northcoders and where they are now.
We also go into his opinions on inclusivity within the tech industry, and the impact that bootcamps have had in making tech accessible for all.
In this episode we talk with John Hughes, the CSO at The Modern Milkman, to discuss the importance of data, what The Modern Milkman is (a sustainable solution to your morning deliveries) and advice on starting a business amongst many, many more topics.
We also touch on the subject of sustainability, the challenges that comes with it and how you can do your part.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360insights
In this episode we are talking with Ed Paulauskas, Tech Lead at Street Group, about all things tech.
From topics such as Why Manchester was a great choice when he decided to move to the UK, to how he got his first job in tech while at uni, from the challenges they faced at Street Group, to what is he looking for when hiring, we’ve covered it all.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360insights
In this episode we are talking with Ed Paulauskas, Tech Lead at Street Group, about all things tech.
From topics such as Why Manchester was a great choice when he decided to move to the UK, to how he got his first job in tech while at uni, from the challenges they faced at Street Group, to what is he looking for when hiring, we’ve covered it all.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360insights
In this episode, we had the pleasure of talking with Jo Britton (Director of PACE Development), an experienced marketing and business leader, a certified personal performance coach, and the UK’s first and only certified Neurosculpting practitioner.
We've touched on subjects like starting a business and the journey to make it successful, neurosculpting (what is it and how does it help), the difference between coaching and mentoring, personal branding, and much more.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360insights
In this episode, we had the pleasure of talking with Jo Britton (Director of PACE Development), an experienced marketing and business leader, a certified personal performance coach, and the UK’s first and only certified Neurosculpting practitioner.
We've touched on subjects like starting a business and the journey to make it successful, neurosculpting (what is it and how does it help), the difference between coaching and mentoring, personal branding, and much more.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360insights
It was great to catch up with Ben Scholey and Will Cox from Distrelec Group and see how much has changed since we last had them on the podcast.
We talked about what challenges they faced this past year, what they learned along the way, about their future digital plans, and how they feel now about their decision to open an office in Manchester.
Distrelec is a great place to work and listening to this episode you will understand why.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360insights
In this episode, we are having a conversation with Naomi Timperley, an Award Winning Growth and Innovation Consultant, co-founder of Manchester Tech Festival, and co-founder of GSI.
If you are curious to know what a start-up needs to take their business to the next level, what should the main focus be when you're starting a business, and how will Manchester Tech Festival be different from other festivals, then you will find this episode very interesting.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360insights
In this episode, we are talking with Mike Musil (from Exergy Power Solutions) about their battery solutions and who can benefit from their tech. Their container size batteries only work for up to 90 seconds, but their value makes Exergy's tech invaluable to some customers.
We also talk about their net-zero plans, and Manchester and the UK was the perfect place for them to expand their business.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360insights
In this episode, we talk with Rob Sandbach from Indiespring about all things app and being an MD. From challenges you might face while growing a business, to what makes an app a good one and what to consider when you want an app for your business. Indiespring is a leading provider of innovative, mobile-first, custom software solutions that drive business transformation and accelerate their customers’ growth.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360insights
We're starting 2022 with a brilliant conversation with Mark Dale who founded Beeta Tech. His story is all about perseverance, following your passion and learning from every situation.
In 2015 he founded Beeta, which is a full-stack digital solutions provider offering bespoke end‐to‐end website solutions.
They are a Microsoft Partner and can offer .NET development solutions including, SQL Server Database development, web services and cloud computing.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360insights
In this episode, we talked with Richard Pennington (Co-Founder & CEO at FourNet) about all things business.
He co-founded FourNet in 2005 and their award-winning cloud and managed services deliver best-of-breed communication, collaboration and contact centre solutions.
They work with both the private and the public sectors and Richard's expertise and knowledge are unparalleled so we couldn't wait to have him on the show.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360insights
We had a chat with Gerry (Tech Lead) & James (Head of Engineering) from Street Group about
• how they got into tech
• what advice would they give to people who want to land their first tech role
• how to know if tech is the right path for you
• how is Street Group revolutionising the tech the Estate Agents use
• and much more.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360insights
This conversation with Daniel Graham from CarFinance 247 was so interesting and technical. His approach to his role is different and we definitely learned what sets apart a good CTO.
"The culture that’s important for me it’s that I’ve tried to turn this tech team into one that owns its own platform and they can self-motivate themselves - they make their choices and we rationalise about them but they are in charge of how they do things. (...) For me, it’s having a clear mission for them all and making them feel empowered that they can influence that mission and they know I’ve got their backs as well so I won’t let them be pulled around by crazy business requirements."
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360insights
We had a great talk with Sabine H Douglas from Sentric Music Group about the music industry and how tech is helping them and the publishing industry and it was very interesting for us to get to know how it works.
"...we make our technology available to other publishers; so we have developed this technology not just with us in mind, but with the publishing industry in mind, because if we want things to get better, they've got to get better for everybody, and they've got to get better at the fundamental industry level..."
This one of the reasons why Sentric is so great and makes such a difference and why we looked forward to having Sabine in the studio.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360insights
In this episode, we talked with Ben Scholey and Will Cox from Distrelec Group about tech and Distrilec's future plans.
If you are curious what tools does an international business use to stay connected, how they are using the microservice architecture, why they chose Manchester for their head office, you should definitely have a listen to this episode. Our co-host, John, had a blast talking about tech with the guests.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360insights
We had the pleasure to talk with Kevin McGinnigle and Lewis Pollard from Positively Distinctive Media Ltd about business, gaming, tech, bingo, and much more.
"As long as someone gets the basics of the tech you are using, the enthusiasm will drive them to actually learn and become skilled, and an expert. (...) if they don't care about the product and they don't get on with the people in the business, then they are not gonna be producing their best work. (...) The product is something that you're bringing into existence from nothing."
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360insights
Victoria Bond had a few months ago a "it's now or never" moment and she decided to launch SpaceHR (an employee engagement agency).
The conversation with Victoria was insightful and we touched on subjects like what does a good leader do, the 1-to-1 meetings, employee engagement, the importance of getting and actioning the feedback you receive, and much more.
"Being a leader is about facilitating the success of other people and you need to make sure you’ve got time to do that, and I mean significant time; it should be the majority of your role."
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360insights
It was an absolute delight to have Kate Wood as a guest.
She has an amazing story and an even more amazing attitude. She always tried to make the best out of every situation she found herself in and she always learned something; as she puts it - "to push yourself out of the comfort zone you have to take something from every single thing you do, even if you don't want to do it. That's what sets people apart - it's the attitude and energy."
After she took Chess from 63rd to 1st in the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to Work for in the UK and retain their place in the list for 10 years, she decided to launch Pockets Consultancy where she sells Culture as a Service.
We talked about the importance of communication and feedback, and how to communicate successfully. We also Women in Tech and diversity, and about so much more.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360insights
It was a pleasure to have Alister in the (virtual) studio. Even though he said he's not a techie, he provided a lot of tech insights on what Lokulus does and how they help small and big companies.
Lokulus uses AI which made for a very interesting topic to talk about since we haven't touched on the subject before.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360insights
Our conversation with Louis Georgiou was both insightful and fun. Louis founded Code Computerlove in 1999 so he has seen Manchester grow and the digital space change numerous times.
You can also find Louis in the Guinness World Records 2020 Edition. Curious why? He tells us in this episode.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360Insights
We've invited Howard Simms & Marcus Hadfield from Apadmi to talk about the digital scene, future digital careers, what Manchester needs in the future, how can we present digital careers in a more exciting way to kids, and more.
Apadmi is the "UK's leading mobile-first digital agency, with over 200 experts based at their HQ in Salford. Their mission is simple – to use mobile technology to make things better for the organisations and customers they work with".
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360Insights
In this episode, we talk about the tech behind the scene of one of the most famous fashion businesses in the North West (and not only), PrettyLittleThing.com, with none other than the company's Head of Innovation and Technology, Adeel Ejaz.
Adeel is a tech polyglot by choice with an impressive career who started working for PLT when not many had heard of it and we're very excited to have him as a guest.
“unlearn; that’s the toughest part for anybody in tech, to unlearn what you know in order to learn something new”
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360Insights
Jac Hughes joined us to talk about agile and everything around it. He's an agile coach, founder of Everyday Agile and a former leading seaman.
As he puts it "my coaching and mentoring skills enable the teams I work within to focus and develop themselves in order to ensure optimum flexibility, creativity and delivery of value."
Enjoy!
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360Insights
Nick Wroe accepted our invitation and we're so glad he did. We talked about how playing rugby influenced his business approach, about networking, about Nick as an individual and Nick as a business owner, and a lot more.
Platform81 is a creative Digital and Design Agency, with offices in Stockport and Bromsgrove, and as they put it, their "mission is to support you throughout your journey, becoming your marketing partner for all aspects of Digital & Design".
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360Insights
Symeon Breen joined us in our virtual studio and he told us how from starting studying Mechanical Engineering he ended up working as a CTO for a tech business.
We also talked about id verification, the market, and what he's looking for when hiring - a worth listening conversation all in all.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360Insights
This episode's guest is Sam Gooch, one of the co-founders of Absurd. We talked about how he got into tech and how from tech he became a co-founder (we also found out how they came up with the name), how the market changed and how it will change. Interesting conversation altogether.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360Insights
This episode is a bit personal, a bit business, a bit of everything!
We talked about the pandemic, the decisions we made, about selling a business during the lockdown, about adapting and being more understanding.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and Createk.io
Jaik Dean is the CTO of Airtime Rewards and in this podcast we talk about the responsibilities of a CTO, about start-up life, what Airtime Rewards do, and more.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and 360Insights
This episode's guest is Dan Sodergren, a man of many metaphorical hats. We had great fun talking about The Future of Work, what's next in tech, about CES2020 and about what exciting tech he saw at Huawei's conference.
"...the diversity and inclusive nature of Manchester and Liverpool has actually been the biggest and strongest point..."
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and Createk.io
It was fantastic having Adam Crofts in the studio and learning new things about AI, wearable tech, and all the great things they do at Prevayl.
"Prevayl is essentially human insights provider so we've created a platform first and foremost that takes a mass amount of biometric data from the body, applied a lot of clever AI and gives incredible insights into health and performance..."
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and Createk.io
It was great having a conversation with Amanda and Heather about women in tech and all the opportunities this sector has to offer them. We touched on other subjects so make sure you have a listen.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and Createk.io
We talked with Chris Marsh about networking, what does a tech ambassador do and how is tech perceived by the young generation.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and Createk.io
In this episode, we talked with Christian Hill (Founder at Project Simply) and Martin Keelagher (Non-Executive Director, on the board of several businesses & Chair of Kidscan Children's Cancer Research) about why they chose to launch their businesses in Manchester and about the development of the city and the benefits it offers to companies.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and Createk.io
We were excited to have in the studio three senior software developers with whom we talked about all things tech, from how it was when they first got into development to programming languages and what the future holds.
Thank you for accepting our invitation:
David Wilcock - "I have been writing code in some form, for the last 30 years. Back in the days of rubber keys and azimuth screw is where I learned my love for computers. Went through sixth form college, and come out with a BTEC National in IT. I have learned a number of programming languages over the years, but have always had a fondness for PHP, so have been doing that professionally since 2001. Currently working for Gear4music, as a Principal Developer, and have been there since 2010. I am currently ranked #20 at git-awards.com for PHP in Manchester."
Paul Aldred-Bann - "I was very recently employed by AND Digital as a Product Dev. Over the past 4 months, I've started my own thing and am contracting through Equal Experts at HMRC Salford developing a cloud-based platform for EPOS system and blockchain forensics. I'm looking to employ my first apprentice soon, putting them through a 12-week bootcamp via Code Nation and utilising the Apprenticeship Levy."
Toby Mason-Barney - "I've been working in software development for around 7 years, mainly been working in .net/C# and the world of Microsoft from desktop applications in the legal sector to AI-based cloud education systems and now I'm working on .Net development for Insight Investment in Manchester mainly in Azure and backend data services. I also have experience with Node.js and Elixir/Erlang, plus I'm slowly trying to learn golang by writing my own programming language with it but it's going slowly... I got into development when doing my computer science degree in Liverpool. Enjoy being in the community, I try (when I have time) to write blog posts on medium, help run Meetups (I helped run CodeUp Liverpool for a while and am hosting/speaking at the next Behind the Buzzword in Manchester)."
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and Createk.io
A conversation with our three guests (Ermiya Eskandary, Hamad Ali and Mati Kos) about what it means and what it's like getting into coding.
All the good, the bad, and the unexpected were debated in this episode.
About the guests:
Ermiya eats code for lunch (his words) and he's been a professional software developer for around a year now.
Hamad turned 19 (on the day when we recorded; Happy Birthday!) and he's just got an apprenticeship in software development.
Mati started working in software development 6 months ago after more than a couple of other careers. He has a podcast called Cyber Trek that portrays his journey of becoming a software developer.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and Createk.io
I probably got my first computer when I was 5 and by the age of 5 and a half, I realized that if you put a magnet on the screen it, well, messes up the pixels. - James McDougall
An interesting conversation with James about the tech sector in Manchester, what it's like to work for a fast-growing business, about skill shortages and more.
Have a listen to find out why did he say "I think serverless is just life-changing"
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and Createk.io
Convince the customers you’re not a crazy person and get them on board - Patrick Byrnes
A great conversation with Patrick about what it was like to launch a business in 2003, and how Manchester has developed since then.
Packnet is a telecommunications company based in Manchester specialising in hosted voip solutions for the B2B market.
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and Createk.io
We, Zack Georgiou, Co-Founder at Chroma Recruitment, and John Cleary, Co-Founder at Createk.io, decided to host a podcast.
This is the Pilot Episode and it's basically our conversation when we decided to start this podcast.
Enjoy!
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Podcast powered by Chroma Recruitment and Createk.io