I grew up in a world of sawdust and precision, where my artisan father's work and site visits became my first classroom. Surrounded by makers who understood materials intimately - I learned that craftsmanship isn't only about skill, it's about respect. My father anchored it all with one phrase that still guides every decision I make: "measure twice, cut once." It's a philosophy that honours both the detail and the outcome, the process and the purpose.

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By the time I got myself into university, I had already spent years immersed in workshops, machines and tools. Linking idea to materials to manufacture had become a part of my self expression. Formal design education gave structure to what had been absorbed instinctively, formalising an approach that had been shaped by observation and hands-on experience since childhood.

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My professional path took me from high-end furniture design to aeronautic interiors - where I augmented my love for metals, advanced coatings, and precision engineering - to ATM and kiosk systems for major clients like Amex and Sainsbury's. Each phase sharpened different skills: material expertise, CAD mastery, project management in demanding, public-facing environments. What united them all was my enduring fascination with functional mechanisms - the hinges, latches, closures, and moving parts that must work invisibly, reliably, beautifully.

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An expected six-month diversion into luxury 'fashion' lasted fifteen years. Roles at Asprey and Alfred Dunhill Ltd captivated me with their intricate challenges of creating hardware, jewellery, and accessories that must perform flawlessly in a retail environment while carrying the weight of brand reputation. The costs of failure - both financial and reputational - are high, and that's precisely what makes it compelling. Decades in, the enthusiasm hasn't dimmed; if anything, each new mechanism to solve feels as fresh as those early workshop experiments.

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I am a contradiction: obsessively focused on the smallest details yet simultaneously holding the bigger picture firmly in view. I see the micro and the macro not as opposing forces but intertwined. A closure mechanism must function perfectly a thousand times over, yes - but it must also serve the brand's requirements (cost, delivery, compliance...) the customer's experience and product longevity. This dual perspective, inherited from those resourceful makers of my childhood and refined through what are now decades of solving problems across wildly different industries, gives me an endlessly fresh lens for approaching design challenges.

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Every project is still measured twice.