The longer version
Twenty-one years of turning up.
An unconventional route into software, and why it makes me a safer pair of hands rather than a riskier one.
2005
I started at Royal Mail. Early starts, every weather, no missed rounds. I'm still there — this isn't a story about walking away from a job, it's a story about what got built around one.
The itch
I wanted to know how the software I used all day actually worked. So I started building things: small at first, badly, then less badly. The round finishes at three. That left the afternoons.
2023
I took HyperionDev's Skills Bootcamp in Data Science and finished all 25 assessed tasks with a 100% average — the public transcript is here. On my cohort dashboard that came out 4th of 981. Python, data structures, working with datasets, machine learning, and the NLP work I enjoyed most.
2026
Three systems built and running: an AI prospecting engine, a UK GDPR compliance platform, and a LinkedIn tooling system. I use them to run my own business. Building software around a full-time job teaches you to finish things, because there is no spare week to rescue a bad decision.
Now
I build websites and automation for trades and service businesses around Staffordshire — people who are good at the work and losing money to admin, missed enquiries and a website that just sits there. I'm in Cannock. You can actually meet me.
Photo of Christo be supplied — workshop-adjacent warm light, no stock
Start here
Tell me what's eating your time.
No pitch deck, no “discovery call” funnel. Tell me the problem and I'll tell you honestly whether it's worth building — including when the answer is “don't bother”.
What happens next
- 01
You tell me the problem
A few sentences is plenty. No form maze, no discovery call funnel.
- 02
I reply within one working day
With an honest read on whether it's worth building — including when it isn't.
- 03
A fixed scope and a fixed price
Before any work starts, so you know exactly what you're getting and what it costs.