Meet The Team.

Mark co-founded Avanti in 2009 having previously managed a number of high-performing teams within an FTSE 250 recruitment company.
Over the years Mark has played many key roles in the business. Alongside the overall running of Avanti, Mark assists our contract division with day-to-day management and strategy.

Quick Fire Questions:

•    Favourite Restaurant? Orwells in Shiplake.
•    Favourite Film? Casino Royale – The best Bond film! 
•    Favourite Sports Team? Manchester United.
•    Favourite Holiday Destination? Ibiza, for family fun.
•    Any Pets? 2 cats, Jellybean and Sherbet.

Gary was a founding member of Avanti, having previously worked for a FTSE 250 recruitment business. Starting as a recruiter within the software development space, he ultimately became our CEO in 2016. With his passion for quality standards and people, Gary has played a key role in the growth and success of the business to date. 

Quick Fire Questions:

• Favourite Restaurant? “Dinner” by Heston Blumenthal. The Meat Fruit is unbelievable!
• Favourite Film? Back to the Future 1 & 2 (but not 3)
• Favourite Sports Team? Liverpool FC, 1980’s glory hunter
• Favourite Band? Boys II Men and Oasis.
• Any Pets? 4 Gerbils called Spice, Louis, Coconut and Milk Toast – don’t ask!

David joined Avanti in 2011 after graduating from Manchester Uni. Starting as a trainee recruiter, he has progressed through the ranks to ultimately become Sales Director of our permanent and contract divisions. David is responsible for ensuring that Avanti delivers a consistent experience to our customers alongside the continued growth of both our permanent and contract divisions. 

Quick Fire Questions:

• Favourite Restaurant? Orwells in Shiplake, go if you get the chance!
• Favourite Film? This changes a lot, currently it’s Children of Men.
• Favourite Boxset? The Wire, OMAR’S COMING!
• Favourite Band? Pink Floyd, picking their best album is impossible.
• Favourite Sports team? Chelsea, but before you judge, I’m old enough to remember when we were average!

Pav is our Head of People at Avanti. Pav joined Avanti having spent the last 15 years working in the recruitment industry. In the early days, she worked for a FTSE 250 recruitment business before transitioning into L&D where she has since managed and delivered internal training with one objective: "To ensure all employees reach their full potential and deliver excellent service to their clients"

Quick Fire Questions:

Favourite Restaurant? Giggling Squid. 
Favourite Holiday destination? Dubai.
Favourite Film? Love Actually.
Favourite Sports team? I will say Liverpool otherwise my Husband will kill me!
Favourite Drink? Hendricks with bitter lemon tonic
Hobby? Cooking and scrapbooking for my kids.
Random fact / Talent? I once appeared on Blue Peter.

James is our Operations and Compliance Manager at Avanti.
James brings a wealth of experience from 20 years in the public sector, where he completed various roles spanning; IT Service Desk, Operations Management, Commercial and Compliance Manager.
In recent years he moved into the private sector, working for a global Fintech business as Compliance Manager. He has a solid grasp of ISO quality standards and operations management.
His role at Avanti involves ensuring that the day-to-day operations of the business run smoothly whilst overseeing quality and compliance across our business globally.

Quick Fire Questions:

• Favourite Food - Anything with a bit of spice, but I am also partial to a good burger.
• Favourite Film - Robocop (1987)
• Favourite Band - The Smiths
• Favourite Car - Ferrari F40
• Favourite Drink - Long Island Iced Tea
• Favourite boxset: - The Sopranos & Breaking Bad
• Hobby - Watching Pro Wrestling, Boxing and MMA
• Random fact - I got married on a boat under Niagara Falls whilst wearing a poncho (with members of the public shouting "don't do it!")
• Any Pets? - I have a Chiweenie (Chihuahua and Dachshund cross) called Poppy. She's a silly sausage

Saba oversees the Finance department at Avanti. Having previously worked with Avanti for over 3 years at her previous company, Saba has brought Finance back in house. Certifications include: BSc Degree, AAT, ACCA.

Quick Fire Questions:

• Favourite Food? Biriyani 
• Favourite Holiday destination? Saudi Arabia - really enjoy the culture there.
• Favourite Film? Top gun, Jeepers Creepers, Annabelle and Get out 
• Favourite Drink? Has to be a Latte – cant start work without one!
• Hobby? I love reading science fiction, my favourite is Frankenstein 

Travis is our .NET Development specialist focusing on clients in the Thames Valley region.
Alongside this, Travis also manages a multi-disciplined team of consultants.

Quick Fire Questions:

• Favourite Restaurant? Locally it has to be Buenasado 
• Favourite Food? Can’t go wrong with fajitas
• Favourite Holiday destination? Cancun. 
• Favourite Film? The Usual Suspects
• Random fact / Talent? I can juggle back to front
• Any Pets? 16-month-old Bengal/tabby called Willow

Luke is our .NET Development specialist focusing on London.
Alongside this, he also manages a team of specialist software development consultants.

Quick Fire Questions:

• Favourite Restaurant? La Grille (Monaco)
• Favourite Box Set? Has to be Suits
• Favourite Band/Artist? Swedish House Mafia / Tom Zanetti / Sub Focus
• Favourite Sports team? West Brom for my sins
• Random fact / Talent? I can make my ears move without touching them
• Any Pets? An XS Pomeranian called Dinky

Buddy heads up our Senior Appointments division at Avanti, placing both project-based and C-suite candidates. Alongside this he manages a multi-disciplined team of consultants.

Quick Fire Questions:

• Favourite Restaurant? As an ex-chef, I love fine dining and was lucky enough to go to Restaurant Gordon Ramsay with Avanti earlier this year  
• Favourite Holiday destination? Philippines, they have the most amazing beaches and snorkeling
• Favourite Film? Ferris Buellers Day Off, this classic always makes me smile
• Favourite Band? Muse. Their performance at Reading 2002 was one of the best I’ve seen!
• Favourite Car? Ducati, because I have one & motorbikes are better
• Hobbies? UnderWater Hockey. I’ve played all over the world and even moved to Australia for 2 years to play with teams there.

James is our Software Development specialist focusing on Web, Front-End and Full Stack JavaScript Development in London. He also oversees a team of consultants in the software development space.

Quick Fire Questions:

• Favourite Restaurant? The Pot Kiln in Newbury, UK is my all-time favourite
• Favourite Holiday destination? Cancun – stayed at Moon Palace which is unreal
• Favourite Film? In Bruges – funny, witty and love Brendan Gleeson
• Favourite Car? Aston Martin DB9
• Favourite Box set? Has to be Band of Brothers

Ashley is our .NET Development specialist focusing on the Midlands.

Quick Fire Questions:

• Favourite Restaurant? Wing Street, the number one wing shop in Basingstoke!
• Favourite Food? Yorkie Bar Duo - I was recognised by Sainsbury's as the #1 Buyer of Yorkie Duos in Reading 2023 😂
• Favourite Holiday destination? Holland and Germany are my favourite countries to explore. I have driven around both going across the countries.
• Favourite Film? Emperor’s new groove is a Disney classic!
• Favourite Band/singer? Biggie Smalls or Ice cube because today is a good day!
• Favourite Car? Mercedes G wagon

Cameron is our Contract specialist focusing on staffing up interim tech teams for our clients in the North of the UK. 

Quick Fire Questions:

• Favourite Restaurant? The Pot Kiln in Newbury
• Favourite Food? Fillet steak – it has to be rare!
• Favourite Film? Click
• Favourite Band/Artist? The Wombats but also can’t beat Kate Bush at the moment
• Favourite Sports team? Sheffield Wednesday
• Random fact? I have two children Bradley and Belle who are 9 and 6

Greg has over 18 years tech recruitment experience and currently specialises in the DevOps market UK wide. Greg is now one of our remote workers and in 2019 relocated to South Wales. 

Quick Fire Questions:

• Favourite Restaurant? AWT's The Greyhound
• Favourite Film? City of God. Also enjoyed the new Top Gun for a bit of nostalgic cheese
• Favourite Car? Porsche Taycan looks nice. Electric is the future!
• Favourite Sports team? Scotland’s rugby team of course
• Favourite Box Set? Slow Horses on Apple TV was the best thing I’ve seen in a while
• Random fact? My uncle was in the Bay City Rollers.  Anyone under 45 will have no idea who he is!
• Any Pets? A Black Labrador called Bella

Mike has over 15 years recruitment experience and currently focuses on JavaScript Engineers and UX Designers in the Thames Valley region.

Quick Fire Questions:

• Favourite Restaurant? I love the Hand and Flowers in Marlow. Beautiful restaurant with incredible food and a fun atmosphere.
• Favourite Film? True Romance starring Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette. I’m probably showing my age with that choice
• Favourite Band/singer? I’m a massive fan of Jamie T, especially the album “Carry on the grudge”.
• Random fact? I was in an indie rock band in the naughties called “White Sunday”. We toured the UK and had a deal with Atlantic records. Also played with Kasabian and Ocean Colour Scene which was a great experience.
• Any Pets? 5 guinea pigs; Dolly, Miley, Rachel a.k.a pumba, Celine and Nina
• Any achievements in life? I’m grade 8 piano and have a piano diploma so could put letters in front of my name if I wanted!

Josh is our Open Source development specialist focusing on London.

Quick Fire Questions:

• Favourite Restaurant? 7 bone burger, Id recommend Ronalds Revenge with Dirty fries
• Favourite Holiday destination? I went to Fuerteventura recently - my first holiday in 5 years! 
• Favourite Film? The Hobbit. I’ve also read all the books
• Favourite Car? Audi S3 is my dream car that I’m hoping to get this year
• Favourite Sports team? Arsenal
• Random fact? I am an identical twin
• Any Pets? I have two Jack Russel’s called Rolo and Luna

Alanah is one of our .NET Development specialists.

Quick Fire Questions:

• Favourite Restaurant? Turtle Bay – They do amazing cocktails and a great bottomless brunch!
• Favourite holiday destination? Barbados – My home country! I’d recommend Johnny Cools Beach Bar on Dover Beach
• Favourite drink? Disaronno & Cranberry Juice
• Random fact / talent? I’m a qualified makeup artist and have done makeup for several theatre productions.
• Any pets? A 4-year-old tabby cat called Tia

Paul is our Java Development specialist in the UK.

Quick Fire Questions:

• Favourite Restaurant? I would have to say Wagamama. The chilli squid is delicious!
• Favourite Holiday destination? Definitely Ibiza. I’ve lived out there and it’s a great island
• Favourite Film? Ghost or Pearl Harbour, both are incredible films
• Favourite Band/singer? This changes day to day, however, I would say my favourite musical is Les Misérables 
• Random Talent? I Used to be a singer and lived in Ibiza and Catalunya singing throughout 5* resorts, I am also a trained croupier.
• Any achievements? The most meaningful achievement is my beautiful daughter. I also Appeared on BBC Inside out, Sang to over 6,000 people on tour in Ibiza and Catalunya, and made a cameo appearance in the feature film #FollowMe 

Kirstin is our Embedded Software specialist in the UK.

Quick Fire Questions:

• Favourite Restaurant? I’m partial to a Wendys / Five Guys
• Favourite band? Turnstile
• Favourite car? Love an old Volvo hatchback
• Favourite drink? Fruli!
• Fun facts? I started self-learning guitar in 2021. I’m still not any good!
• Random Fact? I’ve got 2 children, Finley & Cooper.

Roshan is our IC Design & Verification specialist in the UK.

Quick Fire Questions:

• Favourite Restaurant? Giggling Squid. Great menu
• Favourite Food? Carne Asado which is basically South American BBQ food
• Favourite Holiday destination? San Francisco – I’d recommend a walk along the Golden Gate bridge or a tram ride through the city.
• Favourite Film? Rushour – watched it probably 100 times and I still laugh
• Favourite Sports team? Tottenham Hotspur
• Any achievements in life? 1:1 in Biochemistry

Andrew is our Infrastructure & Support Contract specialist focusing on staffing up interim tech teams for our clients based in North of the UK.

Quick Fire Questions:

• Favourite Restaurant? Ocean Basket
• Favourite Holiday destination? Ballito, South Africa
• Favourite Film? Big Trouble in Little China
• Favourite Car? 1964 Aston Martin DB5
• Favourite Sports team? Life long supporter of Brentford FC!
• Random fact/Talent? Bass guitar & speedrunning retro video games
• Any achievements? Voted 1# up-and-coming heavy metal bass player in London 2010, Climbed Pen Y Fan and I can also cook restaurant quality steak! 

Robert is our UK Data Specialist

Quick Fire Questions:

• Favourite Restaurant? Bill's
• Favourite Food? Italian / Carbonara
• Favourite Holiday Destination? Italy / Rome
• Favourite Film? Lord of the Rings
• Favourite Band/Singer? Linkin Park / Eminem
• Favourite Car? Mercedes Benz
• Favourite Sports Team? Real Madrid
• Favourite Drink? Jameson Irish Whiskey
• Favourite Boxset? Game of Thrones
• Hobbies? I like travelling, listening to music and playing video games
• Random Fact / Talent? In my spare time, I like to DJ!
• Any pets? I own a Shih-Tzu named Charlie
• Any achievements? I was the top goal scorer in a football tournament in 2010!