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Meet The Team.

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Mark Simpson
Co-Founder
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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.

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Gary James
CEO
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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!
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David Smith
Director
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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!
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Pav Hiner
Head of People
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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.

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Saba Iqbal
Management Accountant
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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 
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Travis Kennard
Lead Consultant
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Software

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
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Luke Johnson
Lead Consultant
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Software

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 – Harvey Spector is my hero
  • 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
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Buddy Upson
Lead Consultant
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Infrastructure & Cloud
Senior Appointments

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.
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James Naughton
Lead Consultant
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Software

James is our Software Development specialist focusing on staffing up tech companies in the USA.

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
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Dave Slark
Lead Consultant
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Research & Development

Dave oversees our Research & Development Team for the UK.
Alongside this, Dave Manages a team of Consultants focusing on Hardware and Embedded Software.

Quick Fire Questions:

  • Favourite Restaurant? The Hand and Flower in Marlow
  • Favourite  Band/singer? The Foo Fighters, never missed a tour since 2007!
  • Favourite Drink? Coffee - I can’t survive without coffee
  • Random fact / talent? I’ve played rock and blues guitar since I was 9 years old
  • Any Pets? I have a cat called Claude that we rescued from the local shelter
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Archie Fritz
Principal Consultant
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Software

Archie is our Contract specialist at Avanti and focuses on staffing up interim tech teams for our clients.

Quick Fire Questions:

  • Favourite Restaurant? Giggling Squid - love how fresh the food is and their beef salad is superb
  • Favourite Holiday destination? Zambia - I went on safari a few years ago and it was one of the best experiences of my life, would recommend it to everyone
  • Favourite Film? There Will Be Blood - I'm a big film lover but Daniel Day-Lewis's performance in TWBB stands out in my eyes
  • Favourite Car? Anything that Lewis Hamilton is driving!
  • Favourite Sports team? Reading FC, sadly
  • Favourite Drink? Lemon Ice Tea - always refreshing and reminds me of family holidays.
  • Hobby? Fantasy Premier League always gets very, a little too, competitive in my family 
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Greg Clark
Principal Consultant
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Infrastructure & Cloud

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
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Mike Walton
Principal Consultant
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Software

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!
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Cameron Davis
Senior Consultant
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Software

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

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Ashley Payne
Senior Consultant
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Software

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? A kebab is the way to my heart!
  • 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
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Alanah Townley
Consultant
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Software

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
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Ella Moorshead
Consultant
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Software

Ella is our .NET Development specialist focusing on the North East and Scotland.

Quick Fire Questions:

  • Favourite Restaurant? Osaka or anything Japanese
  • Favourite Film? Hunger Games
  • Favourite Artist? Ariana Grande, I’d love to have her voice
  • Favourite Car? Has to be my new MINI Cooper S. Makes the commute a lot more fun!
  • Any Pets? Ernie the Beagle
  • Random fact / Talent ? I was part of a choir that sang at Disneyland Paris, Eiffel Tower & the Royal Albert Hall
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Paul Abbot
Consultant
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Software

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 
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Matt Lowe
Consultant
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Software

Matt is our JavaScript / Front End Development specialist focusing on London.

Quick Fire Questions:

  • Favourite Restaurant? Orwells
  • Favourite Holiday destination? Las Vegas, it has it all
  • Favourite Film? Stepbrothers
  • Favourite Band/singer? Red Hot Chilli Peppers / Foo Fighters 
  • Favourite Sports team? Liverpool – but I’m no glory hunter. I sat through the years of watching a strike force of Borini, Lambert and Balotelli
  • Favourite Box Set? The US Office or The Pacific – from one extreme to the other
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Huw Watkins
Consultant
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Software

Huw is our Software QA and Testing specialist focusing on the South of the UK.

Quick Fire Questions:

  • Favourite Food? Anything hot and spicy 
  • Favourite Film? Jaws, it’s a classic!
  • Favourite Artist? bbno$ , He’s the only musician I’ve seen live and would definitely go again
  • Favourite Sports team? Team Liquid, I avidly follow Esports, I’ve supported Team liquids CSGO team since 2015
  • Hobby? Car spotting, I spend quite a bit of time traveling to London to take pictures of super, hyper and luxury cars. 
  • Random fact? I’m always upbeat and positive, living the dream, you know how it goes!
  • Any Pets? I have 1 dog, Boris, he’s a 10-year-old Shar Pei we bought when I lived out in Australia 
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Kirstin Jarvis
Consultant
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Research & Development

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.
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Josh Stibbs
Consultant
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Software

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
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Ashley Clarke
Consultant
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Software

Ashley is our Web Development Specialist focussing on the USA market.

Quick Fire Questions:

  • Favourite Restaurant? Loved the Crooked Billet back in the UK. Has countryside scenery, amazing food and a sticky toffee pudding to die for!
  • Favourite Film? The whole Marvel Cinematic Universe – I couldn’t pick just one.
  • Favourite Band/singer? ACDC . You cannot beat classic rock
  • Favourite Car? 1970 Ford Mustang
  • Any Pets? I basically live in a petting zoo. I have 2 Dogs, 2 Cats, 9 Rabbits, 2 Guinea pigs, and a Gecko 
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Roshan Sharma
Consultant
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Research & Development

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
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Damien Kink
Consultant
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Software

Damien is our JavaScript / Front End Development specialist focusing on the North of the UK.

Quick Fire Questions:

  • Favourite Holiday destination? Caribbean
  • Favourite Film? Cool Runnings - an old-time classic! 
  • Favourite Band/singer? UB40
  • Favourite Sports team? Reading.F.C
  • Favourite boxset?  Sons of Anarchy
  • Random fact / Talent? Have a passion for cooking, testing new recipes and using new spices.
  • Any achievements? Played football locally for past 20 years, league and Cup medals achieved.
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Katia Rodrigues
Consultant
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Software

Katia is our JavaScript / Front End Development specialist focusing on the Midlands.

Quick Fire Questions:

  • Favourite Food? Italian and Sushi
  • Holiday Destination? Dream to go Japan
  • Favourite Films? Braveheart, Invictus and The Colour Purple
  • Band/Singer? Imagine Dragons, Linkin Park, Bon Jovi, Pink and 30 seconds to mars
  • Hobby? Reading historical fiction and watching true crime documentaries
  • Random Fact? Was in the Portuguese Air Force for 6 years
  • Favourite Sports team? South African Springboks and LA Lakers
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Andrew Hunter
Consultant
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Infrastructure & Cloud

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! 
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Matthew Collard
Consultant
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Software

Matthew is one of our .NET Development specialist focusing on London. 

Quick Fire Questions:

  • Favourite Food? It has to be a homemade roast dinner, with all the trimmings.
  • Favourite Holiday? Australia It really is as good as everyone says!
  • Favourite Film? Without doubt, the original Jurassic Park.
  • Favourite Car? My old, old Fiat Punto (RIP).
  • Favourite Sports Team? Reading FC (clearly not a glory hunter!)
  • Favourite Hobby? Playing football, squash and owning a gym membership (even if attendance has been rare!)
  • Any Achievements? Completing the Reading half marathon. Skydiving and Scuba diving in Australia. Highly recommend this!
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Sasha Smith
Consultant
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Data

Sasha is our UK Data Engineering specialist at Avanti.

Favourite Holiday destination? Ibiza has and will always have my heart!
Favourite Band/singer? Spice Girls. Please don’t judge me, it’s a forever thing
Favourite Drink? Hugo Spritz, but I am also partial to a cheeky beer when the sun is shining 😊
Favourite boxset? PRISON BREAK!! I think I’ve watched all 22 episodes of each season, about 6 times…
Any Pets? I have a French Bulldog called Bruce who is 6 this year

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