About Us

Jim Simpson, CEO

Jim is the Founder and CEO of Ziptech. He’s been in the IT industry for over 25 years.

At the height of the dot.com boom Jim was interim CEO for a number of IT companies sorting out some of the excesses of the period. In the end he became so frustrated with IT support that he had to set up his own IT support company.

Jim loves chocolate and has to resist the temptation sometimes but he also enjoys running and healthy eating!

Jim’s other passion are his dogs. Unfortunately his last dog Jess is no longer with us (see below) however he now has Ben and Mini who come to the office most days!

Perry Bowles, Technical Director

Perry is our Technical Director and one of the founders of Ziptech.

He started in the IT industry in the early days of the personal computer as a partner in a computer retail business back in 1988.

Perry is the guitarist in his band Obsidun. Anything he doesn’t know about rock music isn’t worth knowing and there is no doubt that if he wasn’t so technically minded, he would be a full time musician. Although none of us have had the pleasure of actually seeing him perform yet!

His other passion is motorbikes and with the nice weather fast approaching he’ll be riding his all summer. With his everlasting ponytail, he really pulls off the rock and roll/biker image well!

He has the pleasure of escaping our weather at any time of year as his parents live in Spain but of course, none of us are jealous….much!

Radwan Khader, Director of Operations

Radwan, or Rad for short, is responsible for commercial operations and back office functions.  Jim Simpson the CEO and Rad have worked together for almost 15 years. Rad has 30 years IT industry experience starting as a programmer before moving to the commercial side of the business where he held various director level posts. The most recent was as CEO of Synergy Software Systems in Dubai.

Rad was born in Jerusalem and loves Lebanese food. He regularly brings in dishes that he has cooked at home – usually too hot and spicy for most of us.

Amit Parbat, Front Line Team Leader

Amit earned his BSC (Hons) Information Technology Degree from The University of Gloucestershire.

He has a real passion for music and likes nothing more than dancing or bopping along to a beat in his car! He is also a huge movie enthusiast and we always go by his reviews of new films rather than the critics so if you’re thinking of checking out a new release give him a call as he has more than likely seen it! He is currently on the lookout for the right woman and whoever finds him will be a lucky lady indeed!

We love that Amit brings in traditional Indian food to the office for us to sample although he can’t handle the spicy stuff himself.

Daniel Lubbock, Systems Engineer

IT is in Daniel’s blood, “My Dad passed the bug on to me” he says “and from a young age I was always interested in computers be it an Amiga 500+ or a super games console up to a PC.”

After leaving school Daniel headed off to Guildford College where he completed an IT course. He learnt his trade at Tiny computers working up from the hardware production line to Software installer.

Daniel is currently looking to add to his CIW, Microsoft MCP and MCDST certifications, and is just about to takehis Apple exam – we all wish him luck!

Gary Jupp, Senior Systems Engineer

Gary has been tinkering with technology ever since he started taking the family Amstrad apart as a child. He’s now been in the industry for 12 years so he’s a seasoned support engineer that has seen it all and we reckon that makes him a safe pair of hands.
Gary loves his football and although the pub team he played for has now disbanded he still plays 5–a-side twice a week and also keeps fit in the gym.

If Gary hadn’t followed his passion for all things IT we think he would definitely be a rock critic by now, his first love being the mighty Led Zeppelin. He’s a massive live music fan and a regular at local venues on the circuit – be sure to ask him which bands he rates.
As well as being a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) he’s also an MCITP (Microsoft Certified IT Professional).

Amardeep Malik (aka Ammo) , IT Support Engineer

Ammo initial career path was into sales. He likes to think of himself of a salesperson who just loves to get technical and has always been the ‘go-to’ person for fixing PC problems amongst friends and colleagues. He’s worked for both hardware and software vendors over the years but most recently found himself selling Mercedes Benz cars. Which is not surprising as Ammo is a self-confessed ‘petrol-head’ who enjoys nothing more than an afternoon of Formula 1 on the telly. Just recently he’s also taken up golf following his success at the Ziptech golf challenge.
Ammo is definitely the foodie of team and is completely responsible for our thickening waistlines, regularly bringing donuts and carrot cake into the office for us to try.

Chris Knollman , IT Support Engineer

Chris’s career in IT started whilst studying at Oxford Brookes University – working in IT Departments for some big blue chip companies such as Glaxo Smith Klein during summer breaks. After graduating with a degree in Business and Information Systems, Chris stayed in Oxford for his first job working with a small team as a senior IT technician at Cheney School.
Ziptech’s team has a high proportion of musicians and Chris adds to their number, playing bass in a band most weekends. Seems they have already enjoyed quite a bit of success too having toured the UK, been signed to a small independent label and have a European tour on the cards.

Al Patterson, IT Support Administrator

Al got into IT indirectly via graphics design.    Graphics design led to an involvement in website development which in turn brought him into contact with IT.  With a background in graphic design and web development it should come as no surprise that his first love is Apple.

Outside work Al is a keen squash player and has traveled as far afield as New Zealand where he spent over 3 months with a long lost branch of the Patterson family.

Daniel Younge, Desktop Engineer

Daniel has been interested in IT since he was a child, his natural curiosity leading to numerous rebuilds of the family computer and web design projects for family and friends. After leaving school he promptly returned to education and cut his teeth by working for a company supporting technology in schools around the UK.

Outside of work Daniel is a bit of a gym bunny – he trains every day and runs half marathons regularly just for fun! His other passion is music and he can be seen most weekends tearing it up on the dance floor at party nights in some of the best clubs in the UK and, when his pay packet allows, around Europe.
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Gill Frood, Marketing Manager

Gill has held a variety of UK and European marketing roles for a number of blue chip technology firms over the past 20 years. During the noughties she ran an online business for a couple of years selling handbags and jewels and still owns much of the stock. More recently she’s enjoyed working with smaller organisations, helping them to establish effective marketing operations.

She is passionate about marketing that produces tangible results and is a bit of a stickler for measurement.

Outside of work Gill makes inconsistent attempts at keeping fit, is a member of the hardest partying book club in South West London and still enjoys a bit of a dance, despite her sons’ embarrassment.

Jess

Jess was one of the founders of Ziptech – back when it started as a “1 man and a dog operation” with Jess and Jim Simpson!

Unfortunately Jess is no longer with us, however clients and suppiers still ask about her.  She was such an important part of the company in the early days that it feels right to mention her here.   Despite her advancing years Jess insisted on coming into the office each day. She always felt it was her job to stop any deliveries to the office.  When she wasn’t doing that she was usually snoozing quietly in the sun.

Ben

Ben is the most recent addition to the Ziptech dogs. Very laid back and loving to all people, especially the ones that give him treats!

Ben is a rescue dog and the most well behaved of our dogs. Although if he can escape the office for a quick sprint arround the marina on his own he will!

Mini

Mini is a little Shitzu(!) and by far the most excitable of our dogs. She’s all of 6 inches tall, but nobody has told her – she thinks she runs the office!

She’s often found killing time by chasing her tail! Mini can’t allow other dogs to get any attention without getting some herself. A real Princess.