30-SECOND CV

stands for advanced performance management.

Additionally, his wish for people to simply refer to the firm as Assure rather than the full name has been realised, “so it’s all worked very well”.

The rebranding coincided with a pivotal point for the company regarding work with Baillie Gifford, and it won a “substantial” contract with the fund-manager that was looking to improve visibility and control of its IT systems.

More says this work taught Assure a great deal, and enabled it to proceed “with some track record behind us”. It has also worked with organisations including Angus Council, and Barchester Healthcare, which has more than 200 care homes across the UK and had been battling the intermittent slowdown of one of ● Born: Edinburgh, 1950 (half-way through the last century) ● Education: Attended Leith Academy ● First job: Computer officer ● Ambition at school: To play professional sport ● What car do you drive: Subaru, and maroon Aston Martin (in my dreams) ● Favourite mode of transport: Aircraft its business applications. “We solved a very interesting problem for them that had been simmering for seven years — and we did that in two weeks.” ● Music: Rock, jazz, classical ● Kindle or book: Book – The Wasp Factory ● Reading material: On-line news, The Week, science books, Hearts web site ● Can’t live without: Love ● What makes you angry: Racist behaviour, greed and selfishness ● What inspires you: Philosophy and philanthropy ● Favourite place: Edinburgh ● Best thing about your job: Variety, people and pressure

He jokes that having been in the industry “since the beginning of time” or at least almost before computers, “there’s always a breakdown between nonit