My first job: a Hermes delivery warehouse
My first job was in a Hermes delivery warehouse.
The timeline
01Starting out
Customer service at Just Eat
Next I joined Just Eat, working in customer service.
Time out to travel round Europe
I left Just Eat to go travelling round Europe.
Back to Just Eat, supporting restaurants
When I came back, I rejoined Just Eat, this time on restaurant support. It was my first job helping businesses rather than their customers.
02Learning how businesses run
SPARK EPoS: where I learned how small businesses run
In 2023 I joined SPARK EPoS on technical support, and moved up to Technical Specialist. I helped roll out EPoS systems and service robots to businesses across the UK. I was involved in a lot, and it's where I learned how small businesses operate.
Tills and card machines still come up in my work. Smart Payment Solutions, a card machine broker in Sunderland, is one of the businesses I've built a website for.
Smart Payment Solutions, a website I built. Tills and software
- Installing EPoS systems
- Onboarding new clients
- Testing the software (QA)
- Feeding feature ideas into the POS software
Robots
- Installing, mapping and setting up service robots
- Robot trials at Eldon Square and Newcastle Airport
- Helping white-label the robots
- Setting up robots at many North East Chamber of Commerce events
Sales and events
- Working at expos
- A few sales calls
Hays Travel: the IT behind the branches
In 2024 I joined Hays Travel as an IT Technician. The job covered the network, the phones, the hardware and the branches themselves.
That's the background behind my small business IT support: Wi-Fi and networks, card machines, new computers and the rest.
- Fixing network and infrastructure faults
- Branch visits to sort problems in person
- VoIP: the internet phone systems
- Chasing internet provider (ISP) faults
- Starlink surveys and installs
- Hardware: setting up and fixing kit
- Asset management: keeping track of the company's IT kit
- Cloud migrations: moving files and systems to the cloud
- Documentation: writing up how everything is set up
Building websites on the side
In 2024, alongside my job at Hays, I started designing and building websites for businesses. My first sites were built on WordPress.
Along the way, I also trained in PAT testing and Emergency First Aid at Work.
03My own business
Going full time
In 2026 I left Hays Travel to run my business full time. I lead every project myself, and I build websites, online shops and web apps for businesses across Sunderland and the North East.
Beyond WordPress: Next.js and Vercel
I still build on WordPress when you want to edit a lot yourself. For speed and custom work, I build with Next.js and host on Vercel. This site is built that way.
If you want the plain-English version, read how websites are built, or see how I use AI in my work.
What I build with
- Next.js
- Vercel
- WordPress
- Claude and ChatGPT, for first drafts, code and research
The tools I've built to run my business
I build tools for my own business too. These are the three I lean on most.
- MYOS is my own system for running this site's SEO. It pulls in live Search Console data and gives each page a list of fixes. Then it updates titles, descriptions and image alt text in one click.
- Jarvis is an assistant I message on WhatsApp. It keeps track of my tasks, leads and calendar, and sends me a morning brief. It won't send or publish anything until I confirm it.
- Paperclip is open-source software that runs AI agents. I use it for research and first drafts. Nothing they write goes anywhere until I've checked it.
I also make free tools for anyone to use. Teardown is a Chrome extension that checks a page's SEO basics. MockupForge 3D puts a screenshot on a 3D device.
It's the same kind of work I do for clients. That means custom software for your own staff, and business automation that connects the tools you already use.
Teardown, a free tool I built.