Hello, I’m Ian Mountain and you’ll find out a bit more about me here.

I was born and grew up in Cumbria, way back in the last quarter of the twentieth century. In 2001 I moved to London thinking for a few years.. maybe five..

In 2010, still in London, I joined Cygnet rowing club and through the club I met Katie. We married in 2014. Both northerners, we wondered about moving back towards the fells, the bulk of our families, and more affordable houses.

In 2017 we packed our things and drove up the country. We bought a house in Wigton in December. Our daughter was born in 2019.

Three pictures: a distant Criffel under a blue sky with low white clouds; Ian standing by a trig point under a pale blue sky with black-yellow clouds, a tent at sunset under a blue-yellow-orange sky.
Back under northern skies (left to right): on the Solway coast; in the northern fells; camping above Bowscale Tarn.

But what about work? What am I doing now? What next? What about before?

Now

I’m building websites and business applications, working mainly with the core web technologies HTML, CSS and Javascript (Google Apps Script is a Javascript platform). It’s always interesting and absorbing. It’s also challenging and sometimes frustrating, but working hard, solving problems and learning is endlessly rewarding.

There are technical and creative elements to everything I do and my approach prioritises clarity, simplicity and speed for the end user. Less is often more.

If we work together on a project we will almost certainly be looking at ways to refine your messaging and/or processes. We want to engage people and make things straightforward, not give them reasons or cause to abandon or look elsewhere. Put down some solid foundations, and build from there.

Next

No big surprises – find more people to build websites and applications for. And I’m always open to connecting with other developers, designers, copywriters etc. with a view to collaborating on or contributing to larger projects.

I want to make a positive contribution (I think the world really needs that from all of us); I want to keep enjoying what I do; I will find ways to give something meaningful back over the longer term.

Before

Between 2001 and 2017 I worked for the Met Police as a member of support staff.

I managed servers and client workstations; provided first line support to colleagues; developed Oracle SQL queries and SAP BW reports; coded Microsoft Visual Basic modules.

In 2012 I was the technical lead for the logistics software used to plan, manage and monitor coach transportation of police officers across the Met area during the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

I left the Met as a Technical Data Analyst in Fleet Services.

A spark

In 2014 I started a part-time MSc in Business Systems Analysis & Design at City, University of London. The course introduced me to plenty of new ideas, people and technologies and it was the beginning of a shift in direction.

On some level it gave me the courage to step out on my own, and the modules mixing technical and creative elements helped me realise what I really enjoy doing.

Which brings us neatly back to where I am now.

And that’s me

Thank you for reading this far! If you’ve any questions you know where to find me. And if my work and my approach to that work appeals then don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Ian Mountain
November 2023