Influential Team

Andy Richardson (Managing Director)
Andy, Influential’s founder, began his career in IT in 1987 and has been successful in delivering projects for major Publishing and Banking institutions and in transport and logistics ever since. Whilst in education, Andy was writing commercial gaming software in the home computing market and also won several nationwide competitions for IT, science and technology. Since incorporating Influential in January 1993, Andy has concentrated his efforts primarily in the Publishing sector, accumulating an unrivalled knowledge of the industry from all perspectives, and in the BI (data warehousing) vertical. During these years, he also developed a vast network of associates in both the Publishing and general IT industry, which has proven invaluable as Influential has expanded and required the best people to help it do so. See Research Information’s brief bio on Andy

John Simpson (Director)
John started in IT in 1994 and his many years of experience have been centred around the Publishing sector where he has been a successful project manager, analyst, designer & developer however his other IT experience includes working on Logistics, Web Design & Transportation. John joined Influential as Technical Director in 2004 and it was at this point that the current structure of Influential was formed

Richard Walls (Head of Support)
Richard started his IT career back in 1982 as a junior programmer for a software house providing systems to hotel trade. Since then he has held various development and support positions for fruit importers, office product wholesalers, wine merchants, publishers and bailiffs. Richard heads up Influential’s support operation in their Maidstone HQ. He lives locally in Aylesford with his wife and two children.

Pete Halloran (Head of Development / Technical Team Leader)
Pete is a software engineer with over 12 years experience, most recently in the print and advertising arenas. He specialises in Java but also has an interest in computer graphics and the games industry. Outside of work he develops mobile applications and he’s also a fully qualified martial arts instructor.

David Spearman (Head of Business Intelligence)
David has been working in IT for over 20 years across various business sectors with a large proportion in Publishing. In the last 16 years he has specialised in Business Information systems mostly using the IBM Cognos tool set but also using other BI tools such as Business Objects and Crystal Reports. David has designed, built and deployed various successful BI projects along with end user training and support. He heads up a growing team of BI developers within the company as the need for fast, accurate and easy to use BI systems becomes even more important in a challenging market place.

Sarah Shah
Sarah has been working in IT for the last 13 years since leaving university where she studied for a Computer Science related degree. Her experience has been mainly in large UK companies, namely MFI, BYSIS-Rothschilds Financial Services, Elsevier and Taylor & Francis. Sarah’s specialities are Business Objects design and report writing, alongside business analysis skills honed in the publishing sector.

Lynden Dyer
Senior program and project manager with over 20 years’ experience in IT of which the past 11 have been managing medium and large scale projects within a range of industries and government departments, including DTI, Cabinet Office, Carphone Warehouse, UKeU, News International, TravelEx, KPMG, MFI, Rothschilds and BP. A Prince2 certified practitioner, who has worked with the full range of analysis and development methodologies, including Waterfall, RUP, BPM and Agile, as well as detailed technical knowledge in internet based architectures (Apache, Websphere), software (Java, .NET, PHP) and design (Xhtml, CSS, XML).

Des Crocker
Des has been working in IT for over 15 years, in a variety of roles from software development to project management (including Prince2 accreditation). He has spent time in both the public and private sectors, spending 7 years working for Elsevier (formerly Harcourt Publishers) one of the leading medical publishers of textbooks and journals. Here he specialised in Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing. A few years ago Des established his own music publishing company dots4strings which sells string quartet arrangements to a global audience. This combines his technical skills with a great love of music. Away from work he is a jazz musician, playing bass in various ensembles in Kent.

Simon Bennett
Simon has worked for 10 years in enterprise systems development and support. He spent most of this time in the electronics industry but has also worked in other sectors including publishing and insurance. In 2007 he completed the 1200 kilometre Paris-Brest-Paris cycling endurance race in just over 73 hours. He is now taking it slightly easier, but keeping up the miles for the 2011 event.

Paul Forsdick
Paul has worked in IT, on and off, for 20 years, in a variety of roles and in different sectors. The last 7 of those years have been as a consultant in the book publishing industry. In his spare time he is interested in travel, the environment and wildlife, and is a keen ornithologist.

Ian Woodhouse
Ian has worked in the IT industry for over 20 years starting off as a software developer. For much of that time his efforts have been concentrated in Project Management and Business Analysis areas and is Prince2 qualified. Ian has worked for a variety of companies from large software consultancies to large financial organisations.

Dominick Rankin
Dominick graduated from university in 2007 with a BSc in Computer Science. He joined Influential in 2008, after spending a year developing his skills. Outside of work he enjoys photography, reading and working on his own web development and mobile applications projects, and is always trying to learn something new.

Ashley Snowdon
Ashley finished college in June 2008 after studying for a BTEC National Certificate for IT and almost immediately landed a job at Influential. Ashley has also accumulated software development experience by working on mini projects for non-profit organisations in his spare time. Since his arrival, Ashley has been working on a variety of Influential’s development and integration projects.

Adam Palmer
Adam has worked in IT for over 20 years, in a variety of roles, primarily in the retail and publishing sectors. He joined Influential in 2007 and specialises in PHP development.

Kieron Mitchell
Kieron started his IT career in 1987 working on operations within the Oil exploration industry. Since then he has progressed in the IT industry working within operations, development, information security, project management, business analysis and most recently Head of IT for the financial services division of a £1bn turnover company within the retail sector. He has solid experience working for businesses within the publishing, shipping, transportation, warehousing, logistics, retail and financial services industries. He combines technical/database/BI skills into one package and is a hands-on team player.

Martin Walls
Martin recently graduated from studying a degree in photography, where he also developed a keen interest in graphic and web design. He joined Influential as a trainee developer, and has since forged a career in software development, primarily providing support across various clients.

Ian Main
A publishing system professional with 20 years experience across a wide range of publishers in the UK, he has previously worked for both Autofile & Vista. Main areas of expertise are journals and WMS, with a more general knowledge of order processing. Very much a hands on individual, used to working closely with clients to develop solutions.

Andrew Gillies
Andrew has been designing and writing software for 25 years. He has spent the last 10 years using Java, specialising in developing web applications for the airline and pharmaceutical industries. Outside work, after 18 years of competitive sport, he has recently decided to relax and now makes do with a book and a cryptic crossword.

Ken Black
Ken joined Influential in the summer of 2011, and brings many years of Publishing IT experience, including VISTA and Business Intelligence knowledge, to the team from Elsevier, Pearson/Penguin and other traditional book/journal publishers.

Susanna Simpson
Susanna is from a Customer Service Management background and has past experience in managing teams of all sizes from 5-500 gained during years in retail management and more recently has worked as an investments expert in a leading high-street bank. Now looking to use these skills to help support the development of the team at Influential.

Heather Medcraft
Heather started her professional career working for the Government sector in a hectic Administration role. After several years she moved into Leisure industry management, becoming one of the youngest duty managers within the organisation. Since 2002 Heather has gained valuable experience across the consulting, retail, finance & banking industry and is fully versed in all aspects of both secretarial and administrative subjects.

Matt Bacon
After finishing school, Matt continued his education by studying a BTEC National Diploma for IT at K college (formally West Kent College) from between 2009-11; after completing this course he began work at Influential. He is continuing his education by studying a part time computer systems HNC in September 2011. Outside of work and education he has large interest in sports, particularly football.

Simon Barnes
Simon is currently studying Computer Science at the University of Kent, Canterbury, and is currently an intern at Influential. In his spare time Simon is reading articles about the latest developments in the world of technology.

Vivek Krishnan
Vivek has over 8 years of software development experience in a variety of domains (Telecom & Travel being the major of them). He specialises in Java and great interest to learn other programming languages. Outside of work, he enjoys photography, running, cycling, music, movies and travel.

Matthew Gould
After graduating in a humanities based subject, Matthew decided to switch to computer science. He is currently completing an internship at Influential as part of his MSc conversion course at the University of Kent. Outside of work his interests include playing tennis, korfball and reading on military history.

Matt Tolliday
Matt is currently finishing his MSc in Computer Science at the University of Kent, Canterbury, by undertaking a placement programme at Influential. Outside of work Matt avidly follows developments in the IT sphere, enjoys reading, music and plays badminton. He also develops small projects in his spare time to further his understanding of the intricacies of Autonomous Artificial Intelligence.

Nidhin Joy
Nidhin joined Influential in late 2011 after graduating from City University, London with an MSc degree in Business Systems Analysis & Design. Prior to taking a career break to pursue his postgraduate degree, Nidhin was working as a PeopleSoft technical consultant. He has over 3 years of project experience, having worked for clients spread across the automotive, banking and pharmaceutical sectors. He aims to hone his consultancy and business analysis skills with his work at Influential.