John is Managing Director of Four Business Solutions which he co-founded with Shaun Cassidy in 2003. John’s philosophy has always been that success takes a lot of hard work, something he applies both to his own business and to his work with Four’s clients.
Under John’s leadership Four has focused on becoming truly agile and quickly able to address client needs. He knows that integration delivers some of the most important benefits to Four’s clients. Equally, he believes that streamlining business processes to ensure users can easily get the information they need to complete tasks, is paramount.
John started out as a keen entrepreneur from school, setting up an engineering factory, ultimately employing 30 engineers. He then moved onto accountancy and software sales, where he enjoyed success in the construction industry and later in the City, working with financial institutions.
In 1993, John was made a director at Touchstone, where he spent 13 years helping the business grow from a struggling software re-seller to a highly successful, profitable, cash-rich, public limited company. Its user groups, client workshops, training, seminars and a first class helpdesk became industry-leaders, setting new standards under John’s passion and care for putting the client first.
In his own time, John enjoys scuba diving with his children. He compares the stress of the rescue training he did while cavern diving to the nature of dealing with complex business problems, breaking everything into simple small steps. In practice, you know things may go wrong, but you plan and test to ensure you minimise the risk. In life as in business, he says, it’s a more comfortable world knowing you can handle it.