Experience

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  Razorblue Group

  • Stockton-on-Tees, England, United Kingdom

  • PHP Web Developer

    • Dec 2023 - Present
    • Stockton-on-Tees, England, United Kingdom

    I'm delighted to have joined Razorblue as a PHP Web Developer on the Internal Platforms team!

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  Feenix Digital

  • North Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom

  • Director

    • Apr 2022 - Present
    • North Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom

    Feenix is my Limited company for the purpose of working as a contract developer.

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  The University of Edinburgh

  • Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom

  • Eleventy JS developer

    • Aug 2023 - Oct 2023
    • Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom

    The client hired me to convert their existing Wordpress website into an Eleventy JS static website. I analysed their existing website, creating a site map. I also ran benchmark speed and accessibility tests against their existing site.The existing website's theme was acommercial theme which had been customised. As such, it had a huge amount of redundant HTML, CSS, and JS code.I completely re-wrote the design from scratch, using HTML5 and the Bootstrap 5 framework.I organised their content into collections of Markdown files (as per their specification), and built the site around that content. I ensured that the sitemap of the new site matched the old site precisely, in order to avoid losing traffic to 404 errors, and avoid the resulting penalisation in the SERPs.I also built the site to meet the WCAG level 3 specifications, as per the client's requirements.The resulting site was tested against the Lightspeed Page Speed Insights tool, and found to be a vast improvement over the original Wordpress-based website. The project was a success, and the client was impressed with the quality of the work.

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  The49

  • London, England, United Kingdom

  • Front-end/Wordpress Developer

    • Apr 2022 - Jul 2023
    • London, England, United Kingdom

    My role at The49 was principally lead developer on their sole Wordpress project, for an American insurance client. I was also involved with the related Apps, which were built using Vue3.I also built a new website for The49, using the Astro JS framework.Relating to the health insurance Wordpress site, I worked within a small Agile team, running bi-weekly sprints to produce new functionality. Tickets were assigned to me using Azure DevOps, and I committed my changes regularly to a Azure-based GIT repo.Changes were made first to a development site, then Staging, before finally moving to Production after extensive testing by an external agency.In my time developing the health insurance site, I was repsonsible for increasing organic and search engine traffic to the site. I was also instrumental in increasing the engagement rates of the users by over 50%. I implemented many new features including custom PHP-based questionnaires, A-B landing pages, and pop-up calls to action. The client was very impressed with the standard of my work, and also my competent behaviour in the Agile team.

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  RedKiteIT Limited

  • Unit 1b/1c, Sycamore Business Park, Copt Hewick HG4 5DF

  • Director

    • Jan 2015 - Apr 2022
    • Unit 1b/1c, Sycamore Business Park, Copt Hewick HG4 5DF

    RedKiteIT provided Web Design & Development, bespoke Windows-based desktop software, and Apps. Our bespoke desktop solutions streamline business processes, making our clients' businesses more efficient and more profitable. My role as Development Director was to meet with and discuss our clients' needs, then to design and buold a tailored solution. My modus operandi is to be honest and professional with all of my clients, maintaining professional integrity at all times.

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  WebsiteConsultants

  • Director

    • Jun 2012 - Jan 2015

    Web Consultants was a progression of CK Services. I decided to take on a more meaningful company name, which would help me to optimise the website in terms of SEO in the UK. I provided web design, development, graphic design, database design and development, project management, search engine optimisation services, and hosting.Web Consultants grew to the point that I needed to take on more professional premises and to become a Limited company. I moved to a business park near Ripon, and formed RedKiteIT Limited.

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  CK Services

  • Partner

    • May 2006 - Jun 2012

    CK Services was a vehicle through which I worked as a Freelance web developer for several small companies based around the UK and worldwide.