My name is Simon Powers. I started this blog as a way to jot down interesting and useful information about the things I am passionate about with regards to my working life. It started off as a technical blog but has progressed into being a fusion of this and my financial interests as these things become more and more intertwined in my working life.
In Richmond Upon Thames
I started managing and promoting the internet in a technical way back in the late nineties as I saw this new medium as a way to promote freedom in speech, thought and commerce. I believe the internet and its related technologies is a modern wonder of the world and that no other technology has changed our world in such a fundamental and simple way.
I was lucky enough to be trained in basic technical skills through my job at GlaxoSmithKline when it was GlaxoWellcome. I soon became a ‘champion’ of the global intranet promoting collaboration, efficiency and shared services throughout GW.
When the boom really kicked off, I saw an opportunity to join a New Media Agency called The Hub Communications. It was the Wild West frontier of the internet and I was a big part of pioneering different uses of this new technology. I was part of the team who first placed a web cam in a formula one racing car and part of the team who set up one of the first satellite links to allow electronic trading in a Canadian Bank’s prime brokerage by UK clients. These were heady times.
My main role was to manage, plan and implement all of DHL’s global web presence as well as the E-Commerce web site for one of the UK’s largest retailers – Comet. I had a team of 15 developers and designers with a budget of £20k – £100k a month.
I left to join a larger Agency with more responsibility and a bigger list of clients. I ran the technical team for Arc Marketing (then called Blue Marble and second largest marketing agency in the world), and managed £1M budgets for global projects for FIAT, Tetley (Tea), Philips (Household and Electrical), Mars (Confectionary), Churchill (Insurance) and many more smaller clients.
Having done the working for other people bit, I decided to set up my own Agency, specialising in the technical side of building Internet sites. I built the company over a period of seven years to handle £1M+ accounts with clients such as Oxfam (E-Commerce, Global Inventory, Campaigns and Financial Systems), BBC (Various global sites), Saatchi and Saatchi, Old Mutual, Allied Insurance (Nationwide Banking), Cambridge University, Network Rail and many more.
After liquidating the business as exactly the right time during the credit crunch we avoided the serious downturn and I moved on to consultancy and working on my own projects.
I started trading using a broker account and through spread betting and started getting much more interested in the world view and applying my beliefs to make money. The ultimate game. All of my own projects have been around making tools to help in this quest for being a better player in the global markets.
I continued to work for others in a consultancy role, I advised Loot, a subsidiary of the Daily Mail on how to technically wrap up their business and help them sell the company. This was achieved within a six month period.
I then decided to get closer to the money to support my interest in the markets and got a team lead role on a technical development team at a top tier 1 Investment Bank. I can’t talk too much about this role but I am still there. I would ideally like to work in a Hedge fund next or move closer to front office.
I am trying to build up a track investment record to bridge the gap between tech and trading and hope one day to work in, or run my own Hedge Fund. I think this may still be a few years away.
On other topics, I am a very dedicated Yoga practitioner, I love being outside (in good weather) and I have two lovely children and a lovely wife. I live in a country cottage far enough away from the city to have fresh air but close enough to get in each day.
Feel free to contact me via this site or through LinkedIn with opportunities that fit with my goals. I hope you find my blog interesting and useful.
