Offspin is a one-man business. It is owned by me, Neil Sykes. I am an independent consultant and I have no plans to grow Offspin into a software house or “body-shopping” consultancy. Through contacts in the industry, I am able to bring additional resources or expertise to bear on a project when necessary.

Computing is not my first career. I have a degree in Electrical Engineering from Imperial College, London, and I spent nine years in broadcast engineering before moving to IT via a computer support role in 1992.

My principles of business are:

• I will quote a fixed price for a project, and stick to it, if that is what you want.
• I will quote a daily rate, and hold it until the job is finished, if that is what you want.
• I will take responsibility for subcontracted work.
• I won't take on work I don't have the time, knowledge or resources to do.
• I won't use your business as a training ground to help me diversify.

I am a full member of the following organisations and will abide by their codes of conduct:

• British Computer Society
• Institution of Analysts and Programmers
• Association for Computing Machinery