Our Team

Board of Directors

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  Peter Davies
  Chairman

  
  

  Peter Davies was the original founder of the Telextext based travel agency, Worldwide Travel, which he grew from a start-up business into a national company with an annual turnover of over £73 million.  He eventually sold the business to the Virgin group where he continued as a Virgin Managing Director for 5 years. He has always been passionate about client service and started Breakwater IT along with co-founder Stephen Bowles after they both saw a gap in the market for a more client-focused IT business that could bring ‘bigger business’ technology into the SME marketplace.

   

  Because of his past experience in building a successful business, Peter now wants Breakwater to align itself with forward thinking, professional companies who want to better understand how technology can help underpin their future growth.

   

  Peter is currently on the panel of judges for the EDP50, a long-term initiative by the Eastern Daily Press to highlight and track rising entrepreneurs in the East Anglia region.

   

  In his spare time Peter enjoys reading, travelling, (especially to Australia, where his wife is from) good food and wine and regularly playing tennis.
  
• 

  Stephen Bowles
  Managing Director

  
  

  With over 23 years of experience in the IT industry, Stephen is responsible for developing Breakwater’s sales and delivery framework, with the goal of turning the company into the market leader in the local region. Born and raised in Norfolk and married with three children, Stephen left school, eager to experience ‘life’ and fast-track his business career by moving  to the Silicon Valley in the, USA  working with a communications company.  After gaining much experience in the States, Stephen came back to the UK to join Anglian Window’s IT Department where he had a successful and rewarding 9 year career. Stephen then relocated to Hertfordshire where he took on the role of IT Manager for the GWK Group. After overseeing the millennium transition, he joined Virgin where he was appointed as the Head of IT for Virgin TravelStore.  During this period, he successfully project managed the introduction of a new computer system greatly improving efficiency across the business. Throughout his time at Virgin, Stephen worked with many different Group companies where Stephen had exposure to many of the technologies that he now successfully brings to smaller businesses across East Anglia. He is also a   Prince2™ qualified Practitioner.

   

  In his spare time, Stephen is a keen watcher of sport (especially watching his youngest son develop his budding football career) and an avid follower of Norwich City FC.

  



Management Team

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  Paul Durrant
  Chief Information Officer

  
  

  Paul is in charge of delivering technical “excellence” for Breakwater‘s clients by combining industry standard qualifications together with hands on, business experience. Paul is qualified to the highest Microsoft level encompassing technologies from NT4 and up to and including Windows 2008.He is a Cisco SBM Engineer and is qualified in Lotus Notes PCLP to R6. In his career, Paul has worked for a number of leading companies in the East Anglia region including The Virgin One Account and the Royal Bank Of Scotland. He has delivered integration and application deployment as well as 3rd line support. He has worked for Breakwater IT for 4 years and his role within the company is to provide a strategic business roadmap for key clients as well as providing high level technical support to a wide range of companies, including those in the offshore sector. He has successfully run many projects for the business including the recent office move and technical refresh project for M and A Partners.

  
  Before joining Breakwater, Paul had returned from taking a year off travelling around the world though countries such as Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. His travels also took him to New Zealand before finally spending time living and working in Sydney, Australia.

   

  Paul is known to be somewhat of a fitness fanatic and takes part in a variety of sports including running, squash and basketball. He lists his dislikes as “not being beaten” and brings an enthusiasm and commitment to his work that many Breakwater clients are very well aware of!

  
• 

  Carel Krog
  Services Manager

  
  

  Carel is proudly South African with 9 years experience in Information technology. After completing a PC Engineering Diploma and certifications MCSE, MCP and A+(CompTIA) he worked as a Systems Engineer at Goodyear South Africa as part of a technical team supporting numerous branches over the country. During this period he studied further part time and completed various courses in sales and business management. In 2003 he was offered a position as Corporate Account Manager responsible for managing a team of 13 Systems Engineers and key accounts that included Degussa Umicore and Goodyear SA.

   

  Carel joined Breakwater IT in 2005 as a Systems Analyst and now leads our Services Team with a strong focus on internal customer service channels and customer relationships. Carel flourishes on new technology gadgets (anything that makes life simpler), travelling, scuba diving, and surfing. He also has been known to cheer on his country’s rugby team. His only real dislikes are English winters and dark winter evening!

  
• 

  Olaf Eulenstein
  Application Manager

  
  

  Olaf joined Breakwater in 2006 and has over 17 years experience of Software Development (inc Business Analysis and Database Architecture) after originally gaining his PhD at the University of Bonn, Germany. His PhD was in Computer Science but was underpinned by his second University course in microbiology (something which came in very useful when building a recent application for Anglia DNA in Norfolk!)

   

  Olaf is very experienced in small to large scale windows and web-based applications using a large variety of technologies, programming languages and databases. Olaf has a strong ability to perform a full development life cycle from initial system requirement analysis, to final implementation and through to the maintenance phase. Previous roles as a Development Manager and architect have strengthened a customer focused and structured approach to projects that proves invaluable in his current role.

   

  Having been very active in athletics in his younger days (representing Germany at youth level),he now plays Squash and Badminton in an attempt to keep fit.
  
• 

  Sandra Sidney
  Finance Manager

  
  

  In the summer of 2009, Sandra joined Breakwater as the new Finance Manager, having previously worked in a variety of financial roles both in the banking (16 years) and small and medium business sectors.  As well as having responsibility for all aspects of the company Accounts function, Sandra’s duties also include general office administration and HR. Having worked for a number of bigger organizations in the recent past, Sandra enjoys the day to day contact with clients that working for a company like Breakwater offers her. Sandra is keen to develop long term business relationships with all the clients and make their interaction with Breakwater as efficient and pain free as possible. Her aim is to help manage the financial growth of the business as it rapidly expands over the next 2-3 years and beyond.

   

  Sandra has two daughters, Clara and Ellie and is presently studying for the final stage of the AAT qualification at evening classes.

   

  In her spare time Sandra enjoys Yoga, Pilates and going to the gym and also socialising with family and friends.

  



Service Operations

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  Andy Malcolm
  Systems Analyst

  
  

  Andy has a BSc in Computer Science and has worked in IT support since 1999. He has been at Breakwater since 2007. Andy’s interest in computing was first sparked when his father brought a ZX Spectrum home from work in 1982. He has previous experience as network administrator at Easton College and working within the support team at Norfolk County Council. He specialises in Windows XP, server and application support, with an in depth knowledge of customer sites and software requirements. In early 2009 he received an ITIL qualification and he is keen to achieve more accreditation in the future. Outside of work Andy has a keen interest in music, having run an indie music reviews and community website since 1997 and a small record label specialising in limited pressings of vinyl since 2003.

  
• 

  Tim Campbell
  Servicedesk Analyst

  
  

  After graduating from the National Diploma for IT Practitioners in 2006, Tim worked at the Norwich School of Art & Design (as it was then) allowing him to gain more experience on both Apple and Microsoft systems. After leaving there, Tim moved to May Gurney IT Dept which was a much larger and varied IT environment before joining the Service Desk team at Breakwater in November 2008.  In June of the same year Tim achieved his ITIL qualification in Service Management.

   

  Tim is a customer focused person, who is a able to assist people of a wide variety of technical abilities. Tim is currently self studying towards his MCSE certification, in the hope of other more varied certifications.

  
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  Ben Jehan
  Support Analyst

  
  

  Ben spent his first 4 years working within the Educational Sector, during this time valuable experience was gained leading to various certifications (MCDST, CompTIA, ACSP, ITIL). During this period Ben studied for a ND and HND in Computing and Networking. In 2007, Ben graduated in Business Information Systems Degree (BA Hons). This has proven to be an asset in relating business ethics and real life situations to the ITIL best practice approach to offer the best customer service available. As part of Breakwaters continual Staff Development Ben is working towards his MSCE Certification to widen the expertise available.

  
  Ben likes to keep fit by going to the gym every day, and in spare time socialising and meeting new people. Ben has a keen interest in the automotive industry, also keeping abreast of any new technologies available as they become available to the public.
  
  



Technical

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  James Long
  Technical Analyst

  
  

  James joined Breakwater at its inception in 2005 as a Technical Analyst specialising in the support of SMB infrastructure and applications. Prior to Breakwater, James spent four years working for Virgin Travelstore as a Systems Engineer, providing 2/3rd Line support to 200 users and consistently delivering a number of varied, high-quality project pieces. At Breakwater, James is the resident expert for Microsoft’s Small Business Server products, and has been responsible for producing much of the Systems Documentation and Audit Reports that are presented to our customers.

   

  James currently works closely with both our Project and Support Divisions, bringing an analytical, quality-focused approach to the team. He is currently working towards attaining both ITIL and Prince2 qualifications. In his spare time, James is a keen IT hobbyist, and devoted father of two to his two children Morgan and Tabatha. He is also an avid supporter of Arsenal football club

  
• 

  Eric Hoffbauer
  Technical Analyst

  
  

  Eric has spent 10 years in the IT sector, initially in a support role at an Electronics Company before become an IT Manager for an independent fuel distributor. Eric has an HND in Computing  and has experience of all aspects of IT and telecommunications within a busy multi-site business, including purchasing, strategic planning, management reporting and day to day technical support. He moved to Breakwater to focus on more technical aspects of IT including networking, security and pro-active maintenance, a role he performs for the current FM (Facilities Management) client base. He is CCNA and ITIL qualified.

   

  Eric is married with three children. His interests include Football, Cricket and American Football, and is pleased to be a Stoke City fan again after a number of years of finding it painful!
  

  
• 

  Aaron Maas
  Technical Analyst

  
  

  Aaron joined Breakwater late in 2009 after a successful career in the Educational IT sector. His career in IT began ten years ago providing technical services and support to his high school whilst still being a 6th form student!

   

  His interest in technology quickly grew to the extent that he then went on to become a Network Manager- Aaron managed a team of 4 technicians providing a high level of service to a group of schools in the East Anglia area. Aaron has a strong knowledge of Active Directory, Group Policy Objects and Microsoft Operating systems. At Breakwater he is hoping to gain more Cisco skills whilst working under the direction of the company’s CIO, Paul Durrant. He will also be assisting in the offshore support of any key clients in that sector.

   

  Outside of work Aaron is interested in cars (especially American ones). He also occasionally acts as a DJ for private functions and enjoys watching live bands.
  
  
  



Application

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  Anhar Miah
  Junior Solutions Developer

  
  

  Anhar is passionate about knowledge and its practicality and implementation, taking a keen interest in electronics from a young age he pursued this through to college where he studied for an advanced GNVQ qualification in 2002; he then continued higher education at Queen Mary University of London and gained a BEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering in 2005. After university he spent time developing new skills in programming and 3D animation which quickly led into a freelance job. Based on his own initiative he managed to, design, build, and deliver IT solutions to local businesses in Norwich. This interest spurred him to deepen his understanding by going back into study. He then successfully graduated from University of East Anglia having studied MSc in Information Systems (advanced computer science) in 2008.

   

  Working as a solutions developer at Breakwater IT Anhar is continually implementing and consolidating practical knowledge that is in line with Breakwaters’ blue sky thinking.

   

  Anhar thoroughly enjoys Mixed Martial Arts and is currently on the Black Belt Leadership course training in Wing Tsun, Escrima and Open Concept Judo.