My journey into software engineering began long before Ratio. It started in my bedroom at age 13, when most kids were out playing, I was inside, fully immersed in a programming my ZX81, trying to fit entire projects into 1KB of RAM. I'd build, test, and watch them disappear the moment it was turned off, only to start again. That cycle of trial, failure, and creation became my first real lesson in iteration.

I wasn't just building games. I was wiring up sensors, connecting motors, and experimenting with the physical world through code. One project I’ll never forget: at 15, I built a hovercraft. It was great fun, but not fast enough. So, I hung a slinky spring in parallel to the ceiling, hooked up sensors to a BBC Micro, and wrote a program to simulate how gas flowed through the exhaust system. I was trying to optimise performance, virtually long before I knew that was a career being etched out for my future.

Fast-forward through a few decades (and plenty of mistakes, breakthroughs, and late nights), I found myself deep in the learning and engineering space. I spent over 30 years working alongside brilliant minds, problem-solvers, systems thinkers, people who saw complexity and leaned into it. Together, we built, fixed, scaled, and reimagined systems that others said couldn’t be changed.

What stuck with me through it all was a simple truth: great engineers don’t just build things; they solve meaningful problems. I’ve always admired their perseverance, creativity, and raw intelligence. And I realised what I wanted most was to support them, to clear paths, remove blockers, and give them what they need to thrive.

That’s why I founded Ratio.

Ratio exists to empower engineers and technical leaders to face big challenges, find better solutions, and deliver lasting outcomes. It’s built on the same mindset that guided me as a kid: curiosity, craft, and the drive to make things better.

That’s why our foundation is simple, but powerful:
Challenges. Solutions. Great Outcomes.

We're a team of experienced software consultants, architects and learning specialists who thrive on complexity. Whether it's a tangled legacy system, a delivery bottleneck, or a team stuck between good intentions and real-world pressure, we show up where things need fixing.

If you're a CTO, Head of Engineering, or Tech Lead trying to move quicker and build a stronger team, we're here to help make that happen, without the usual friction.