About Me
I'm a web developer from Swanage, England.
Welcome to my space on the web! I made this site as a central place with various links and information for my different hobbies, sports and interests and for anyone who knows me to find out what I have been doing since I left school.
Name: Brian Dorey
Location: Swanage, Dorset, on the south coast of the United Kingdom.
Hobbies: Mountain biking, Cyclocross riding, electronics, photography & walking with our four dogs.
Work
Here's a quick rundown of work so far in life!
Fixing White Goods
I left school at 14ish and started part-time fixing white goods until 16.
Somerfield/Gateway
I started a summer job at the local supermarket and spent all summer cleaning up the butchery department and dealing with customers. They were made redundant after the summer and was asked to come back a week later after another member of the butchery left. I spent the next year learning how to cut up dead things and, after 18 months, was promoted to butchery manager and was the youngest butchery manager in the entire company! After 7 years and a change of management in the shop, I decided it was time to do something new, so I quit at Christmas.
Driving around the South
After spending 2 weeks looking for a new job, I met a local business owner who offered me a job delivering bottled water coolers and water across the south of England. I spent the next 18 months driving a range of vans from 3.5-ton to 7.5-ton lorries and then driving home in a Mini. The company was brought out, and the new owners moved the company's base out of the area.
Meat, Fruit & Veg
The following 18 months were spent at the Wareham branch of Somerfield, first in the butchery department and then the remaining time in the fresh produce department (fruit & veg). I left Wareham Somerfield after my hours were cut to a level which made it not worthwhile continuing to commute to work.
Computers, Computers and more Computers
Late in 1998, after leaving Somerfield at Wareham, I decided it was time to try something completely new, and as I had always enjoyed playing with and building computers, I felt it would be a good move to try to make it a paying career. The first year was tough, and I used my savings to pay the bills!
Once other local businesses started to know what I could do, more work started to come in, both fixing computers and building websites until, in 2003, I decided to stop repairing PCs and concentrate on the website design and development side of the business.
I was joined in 2002 by my brother, Andrew, who had just completed a college degree in IT, and we have been working together on many different projects since that date.
To date, we have built websites and multimedia projects for companies as diverse as multinational corporations, the NHS in the UK and many small businesses, including B&Bs, garages, shops and everything in between.
In 2007 we set up a new online shop to try to sell our photographs of our local area on our Virtual Swanage website.
Video Work
In the summer of 2008, I had the chance to try some HD video recording kit and green screens for a web project, which got me hooked on video editing and production. After buying a Canon HD camcorder and a new Apple Mac Pro tower with a copy of Final Cut Pro, I have started to produce some short videos for website projects. I am now using video clips combined with 3d graphics for new projects.
AB Electronics UK
In September 2012, following a massive response to one of my Raspberry Pi blog posts, we started AB Electronics UK to sell our range of Raspberry Pi expansion boards.
Apexweb LTD
In May 2014, I merged my web design business with my brother's design business, and we set up a new limited company called Apexweb LTD. We continue to maintain all our combined website clients and run our electronics online shop as a significant part of our business which now accounts for over 95% of our income.
My Links
You can follow my projects and see my other posts and videos on social networks and websites.
Apexweb LTD - Our website design company
Virtual Swanage - Our tourism website since 1996
AB Electronics UK - Our e-commerce Raspberry Pi accessory website and business.
Support the Blog
If you would like to support my projects, any donations are gratefully received.
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