I was born towards the end of the 60s in a leafy suburb of Wolverhampton that now, co-incidentally, has a preservation order slapped on it and appears on victoriana Christmas cards. As a child I grew up amongst a loose collection of liberal families of painters and musicians - according to my parents I was usually  barefoot and covered in paint or clay. My ending up at a public school, therefore, came as something of a surprise.

After school came a spell working in the computer industry as an FM analyst programmer, a role as a 'Computer Officer' for the West Midlands Police Authority (an even bigger surprise) and three years at Aston Univerity  before joining the University of Birmingham's Library Systems Unit in 1995.

As the father of two teenage daughters, my primary pastime seems to be personal banker, chauffeur and social organiser. When I do get spare time I enter competitions, write, study towards my MSc and enjoy travelling (around the US whenever I can).