Hey!
My name is Steve Newman, I'm a full stack developer based in the North East of England.
You could consider my journey to where I am now a little unorthodox. Having spent the first part of my career in the leisure and hospitality industry, mostly in sales and marketing, I decided to turn a long time hobby into a career in 2010.
Starting out as freelance I worked on a number of small projects before landing my first big role 3 years later...Frontend Developer on the British Airways website!! The transition from Wordpress to a multi billion pound global website was pretty daunting but quite a milestone in my journey.
After around 18 months at BA I moved on to a digital agency in Newcastle upon Tyne where I worked on a number of projects for clients such as Barbour, Joule, Racing Point plus many more. I was promoted to Senior Developer and then Lead Developer during my time there.
Skipping forward a few years, I'm now a Lead Software Engineer for Squeaky Energy Ltd. Having spent a number of years working in an agency environment, I'm now enjoying the challenges of working in a product based company. I currently work remotely with occasional visits to the office in London.
I enjoy all aspects of development, especially the problem solving and creative aspects of frontend development. I'm always looking for new challenges and ways to improve my skills.
Skills and interests
Like most developers I have a keen interest in all sorts of technologies but don't often get a chance to use them all commercially. This list is what I would consider my most frequently used programming languages and tools.
Although I spent a number of years working with PHP for the lasr 5 years I've been more focussed on full stack JavaScript. Most of my work now is with React and Node.js using a microservices architecture with RabbitMQ.
I enjoy creating slick user interfaces with a focus on the ever increasing need to acheive AA accesibility standards. The creative aspect of frontend development is what drew me to this career and I still enjoy it as much now as I did when I started.
I'm also firmly on the AI bandwagon and enjoy finding new ways to make the development process more efficient.
Platforms and frameworks
Most of my frontend work over the past few years has been with React and Next.js, I find them both incredibly powerful and flexible to work with.
At Squeaky we work with a microservices architecture, using Node.js and RabbitMQ to build our backend services. I've found this to be a really interesting way of working and has helped me to understand the complexities of working with distributed systems.
A lot of the projects I worked on at Orange Bus were built with Drupal. being a framework rather than a traditional CMS it is extremely powerful and flexible to use.
At Capita I spent some time developing with Salesforce, using Apex and lightning web components to build custom applications.
Hobbies
My main hobby is golf, although not quite down to a single figure handicap yet but I'm getting close! I dabble with a bit of photography and enjoy playing darts and badminton when I get the chance.
I try to fit in a run now and again but probably not as often as I should. I also try to make time to read, usually a mix of fiction and technical books.
My career highlights
My first career highlight as a developer was working for Leighton, who were contracted to provide all frontend development for the British Airways website. This was a huge step up from the small freelance projects I had previously worked on.
From Leighton I moved to Orange Bus, a digital agency in Newcastle upon Tyne. This is where I really cut my teeth as a developer, working with some very talented people on range of different projects. I was promoted to Senior Developer and then Lead Developer during my time there.
Orange Bus was taken over by Capita, and following an organisational restructure I was promoted to Lead Solutions Developer. This was a great opportunity to work closely with the sales team and help shape the technical direction of some very high profile projects.
In 2021 I joined Squeaky Energy as a Lead Software Engineer. This was a big change for me, moving from an agency environment to a product based company. At Squeaky I work closely with key stakeholders and the CTO to help shape the technical direction of the software products we build. I manage a team of developers and oversee many of the projects we work on.
March 2021
Lead Software Engineer
July 2020
Lead Solutions Developer
January 2020
Lead Developer
January 2017
Senior Developer
April 2015
Developer
November 2013
Frontend Developer
April 2010
Freelance
Web Design and Development
April 2002 - 2013
Sales Executive
2001
Event
Built first website!
September 1995
Fitness Instructor
Key clients
I've worked on a number of projects over the years but there are some that I consider to be a little bit more special. Working with large brands and industry leaders is always a privilege and these are my favourites so far.
Please note Barbour, Joules, Racing Point, SGN and IOPC were all Orange Bus clients and British Airways a client of Leighton. I worked on these projects under their respective employment.
Blog posts
Lockdown Life and Beyond
November 19th, 2020
Nuts and bolts of this site
November 15th, 2020