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About Me
Frequently asked questions
About Mike Hitchens
General
His early work experiences were first as a paperboy, then doing holiday agricultural work, and ultimately whilst he was at university in Durham, he set up a bicycle repair business for students called BikeDoctor, giving advice on maintenance and doing repairs. He also worked with the Master of Hatfield College to secure a rent reduction for those living in college accommodation.
He carried the bicycle repair business on when he moved to Brighton to study at the University of Sussex. He then worked at the Brighton University Telesoftware Project Unit, on the BBC Domesday Project, which involved writing programs in BBC Basic on BBC MicroComputers to interface with LaserDisc players to store the data from the Domesday Book. The project when complete produced a modern day version of the original Domesday Book.
After a move to the Midlands, he held positions at:
Kalamazoo Training PLC, Birmingham as a trainer in the Informix Smart Software office suite, which ran on the Unix and PICK operating systems
Kalamazoo Software Ltd, as a technical author, producing documentation for their Community Charge software system for local councils
Radius Training Ltd, Birmingham as a software trainer for graphic design and desktop publishing software, including Lotus 1-2-3 and SuperCalc spreadsheets, Corel WordPerfect, Ventura Publisher and Adobe PageMaker for desktop publishing
AT&T ISTEL Marketing in Redditch, where he was involved in production of marketing communications and public relations for the Wessex Regional Health Authority RISP (Regional Information Systems Plan) project
This was a project to implement data over voice (DOV) within WRHA’s WAN network.
He worked for General Interactive in Milton Keynes as a desktop publisher on the Egmont Dorling Kindersley multimedia range where he produced cross platform CDs in Windows and Macintosh format.
Following this, he moved to Mercury Communications Training in Coventry, as a technical author, designing technical training courses for telecommunications engineers.
He left Coventry to work for the Mercury Communications Tariffs Control Department as a technical author in London and with the Cable & Wireless Health and Safety Unit as a marketing assistant at their HQ in Red Lion Square in Holborn, London.
During this time, he lived in Mile End, London.
He designed and developed the first cross platform Macintosh and PC-based training package for all Mercury Communications UK and Cable& Wireless Worldwide employees on the PhONEday Code Change on Sunday 16 April 1995, using Adobe Macromedia Authorware and Adobe Shockwave.
His last employment was at Cable & Wireless Marketing, producing marketing communications, during the move of Cable & Wireless Training from Porthcurno to the new C&W Coventry College.
He then set up his own consultancy, Electric Horse Ltd , working with IT recruitment agencies, such as Computer Futures, Hays UK, Reed IT, for corporate organisations, including:
Ashridge Management College, Berkhampstead (using Adobe Macromedia Authorware and Adobe Shockwave, together with Adobe Cold Fusion to design web-based software training)
BT PLC, Managed Network Services, Hemel Hempstead (Y2K response, WAD work management software for all BT MNS telecoms engineers, including procurement of Compaq server hardware)
BT Cellnet, Slough (working as project liaison consultant with Logica PLC, Reading to set up text messaging services, including SMS routing, periphery security, including procurement of SMS switches, routers and firewalls).
Whilst with BT Cellnet, he was part of the team that rolled out text messaging across the UK to meet the rising demand for SMS services, and he managed SMS roaming and SMS archiving projects.
He worked with employee teams within these organisations to transition them to new technologies in software training, web application development and SMS mobile technologies.
He left BT Cellnet during their transition to Tèlefonica O2 to work with Avon and Somerset Police Estate Management in Portishead.
The project involved the move of custody suite and office facilities from the Old Bridewell prison in Bristol to their current New Bridewell offices across the road.
He worked with Heritage Multimedia, Nottingham, to create mood boards for designs for the new office environment.
Following this, he started an IT services company, Enterpri Ltd and worked with the NHS as a contract IT manager for Clevedon Medical Centre, Winscombe and Banwell Medical Practices and Quedgeley Medical Centre GP practices in North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
He initially provided IT support, network and PC management, software and hardware upgrades (from Windows 97 to XP) and Microsoft Sharepoint intranets for knowledge management and storage of non-cllinical data, such as procedures.
This was carried out by liaisiing with the local Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) IT Service Delivery departments.
During this period, he studied the way that high performing GPs managed their workloads, and concluded that they were using technology to circumvent the barriers that the NHS was putting up to access to their patients' medical records from offsite.
It was as a result of seeing two covers of Computer Weekly, one dealing with remote access and the other with biometric USB fingerprint storage devices, that he came up with the idea of creating an easy to use, secure connection to NHS computers from outside of the NHS firewall.
The devices used fingerprint security to authenticate the service user, and LogMeIn Pro remote access software to pass encrypted screen images of the GP computers across the NHS firewall, using HTTPS protocols.
As a result of testing this concept with GPs and staff in these NHS practices and seeing their struggle to manage a successful work-life balance being resolved by remote access software, he set up Get To My PC for NHS staff to access NHS GP practice networks to enable them to access their patients' records remotely.
The solution rolled out to the NHS by our partner company Away From My Desk initially used biometric USB tokens and 256 bit AES secure tunneling for enhanced web browser based application access security.
Later iterations using Yubikeys from Yubico were used for 2 factor authentication (2FA).
We also provided a secure remote screen sharing service to NHS IT support staff and to clinical support staff, based upon Logmein Rescue, and our own custom portal.
Through partnerships with other companies, including CNS Network Solutions and AwayFromMyDesk, this solution is in widespread daily use throughout NHS UK, and has saved the NHS thousands of hours of staff time. which enabled the redirection of these savings directly to clinical care, improving outcomes for patients and families alike
The development gained his company a place in the BT Business ‘Essence of the Entrepreneur’ awards, judged at the time of the awards by Peter Jones of Dragon’s Den fame.
As part of the marketing for the award scheme, the photographer Rankin visited the finalists and photographed them, to showcase their innovation in a novel and interesting way.
Further software development won the company the ‘North Somerset Code Challenge’ award and prize for producing a cycle rental and management service for North Somerset Council.
The project included software development using Adobe Flex for cross platform app development for Android, Apple and Windows Mobile phones, GPS trackers, including geolocation and geofencing and Bluetooth lock technology to allow users to unlock cycles with an app.
This software was rolled out to commercial businesses in North Somerset and Bristol and software development was offshored to Dotsquares India to allow for 24 hour time zone working, so that code could be reviewed in UK time and passed back for corrections to India.
During COVID-19, he set up Complete Computers Ltd in Weston super Mare to design, develop and support software, and he took over a local computer repair business, coincidentally called Complete Computers,
He set up a drop-in business advice centre and an internet café to improve cashflow.
The business centre offered local people without internet access time on computer workstations linked to a broadband network runniing on BT Broadband Halo.
He also implemented a hybrid 4G router solution to allow for failover to mobile broadband if there were local problems.
The shop ran eBay and Amazon collection points to help keep communications goiing at a time when normal postal services were disrupted.
As the local museum and art gallery, Weston Museum was unable to open to the public, due to the restrictions at the tiime, the remaining space was later turned into a virtual art gallery, workshop and garden café for local artists.
It became a community centre where people could drop in, meet and experience some normality in an abnormal situation.
He then worked with local companies to ensure that people were referred from him to other companies, such as computer repairs.
After lockdown ended, he relocated his companies to Portishead and set up Radical Vehicles Ltd, to convert internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles into electric vehicles (EVs).
Initial R&D involved making contact with electric motor manufacturers, contacting battery suppliers, and partnering with other organisations developing pure EV vehicles to leverage hardware and software solutions for car management and garage maintenance.
Following the R&D phase, he concluded with his partners, that the limiting factors were not hardware-based, but in the software required to run and manage the vehicle, which was not available off-the-shelf.
He then worked with Astron Fire and Security to formulate a strategy to develop their sales pipeline using commissioned agents before they moved to new premises.
He worked with Sovereign Housing Association to raise National Lottery funds to improve their local residents' environment, procuring recycled furniture and pergolas, new signage, garden equipment and organised meetings and events to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III.
He was involved with the Sovereign Network Group (SNG) housing association in winding down a community organisation, working with a charitable advice consultancy to ensure that all financial assets were dispersed to other local charities and that accounting records were maintained for audit purposes for the National Lottery and the Charity Commission.
His company now specialises in website development using the Wix software platform.
As a result of this, he most recently advised Bristol retail stores on synchronising their Wix website product SKUs, using SKU IQ for stock control sychronisation with Square EPOS .
He developed sales kiosk software for Portishead stores, linking Google Kiosk to their Wix websites.
During this period, he also set up Amazon Web Services Amazon Connect virtual call centre software, later migrating to Google Voice as a more flexible solution.
By doing this type of work, he gained valuable insights into the charity, retail and security sectors and how the use of software can improve business performance and boost profits.
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