About

I'm an experienced front end developer and consultant, based in Bristol, UK. I have 15 years of commercial experience working with well-known brands such as NatWest, RBS, Royal London, RAC, NewDay Cards and the University of Bristol.

I've also worked on projects with several digital agencies such as McCann, EMO Unlimited, and Oakwood Media. Connect with me on LinkedIn to read over 10 recommendations/testimonials from these companies.

Other things I've worked on:

Being a finalist in a developer competition #BuildWithSkyscanner, held by travel search giant Skyscanner. I used Skyscanner's Travel APIs to help people find cheap flights direct from their local airport. Check Direct Flyer.

Staying on the travel theme, I've also released an Amazon Alexa skill for use on its 'Echo' devices. The free to download skill is called Daily Travel Inspiration and shares details on a travel destination as part of your daily flash briefing on Alexa. You can also view an archive of the destinations featured on the Inspire Flyer website, along with associated weather, map and attraction information for each location.

I am a technical reviewer for Packt Publishing, most recently for The HTML and CSS Workshop title released in late 2019. It involved verifying authored content and code samples before the book was published.

Keeping up to date

I regularly attend various events and conferences to keep up with current goings-on in the web industry. Bristol has many tech meetups which I'd recommend, including Bristol SEO, Bristol Wordpress People, Bristol JS, SWUX - South West User Experience, and Bristol Inclusive Design and Development. I also enjoy the yearly Pixel Pioneers conference.

Outside of my focus of web development, I also learn more about the broader industry, including user experience, digital marketing, business and entrepreneurship via books, courses and podcasts. I also attend conferences further afield such as SXSW Interactive in Austin, Texas. I'm also an active member of Bristol Media which is one of the largest creative networks in the UK. I take this additional knowledge and use it to build websites that work effectively for my clients and their customers.

How I work

I am the founder of Red Spark Digital Ltd, which is a web consultancy based in Bristol working with clients across the UK. We offer a mix of design, development and user experience services. Outside of my development and optimisation work, if you require assistance with design or user experience, I can call on my colleagues to help if needed.

I am here available to help you. Let's work together.

Purpose of this website

Here on my personal website, I will be writing articles primarily focused on web development and web optimisation. I wish to help others in my sector to improve their development practices and show ways to optimise websites to ensure they work effectively.

Soon I will also be offering workshops and courses in a range of topics where your business can either hire me to come and teach your employees or take online courses remotely in your own time. To hear more about this, sign up to my newsletter, you'll be first to know.

The personal bit

When I'm not doing the above, I spend time with my wife and two young children. When not standing on Lego littered around the house, we enjoy going on adventures (when there isn't a global pandemic). I enjoy crisps, I probably eat too many, but they are so damn tasty.

I'm friendly, say hello, drop me a message either via @digitaltob on Twitter or via the contact page.