the ants

Meet Craig Hide Craig

With a dedicated team of professionals with many years of experience, Red Ant keeps ahead of the very latest and innovative solutions, always opening up new opportunities for our clients. Our team brings expert knowledge to the table, ensuring that your project will be a success and to make your experience with us a very positive and lasting one.

• Dan Mortimer

  Managing Director

  Well where to start, I am the managing director, sales director, account director and tea boy all in one.

  My passion is strategy and showing how digital can open new opportunities for clients. I love working with the team to come up with ideas to push brands for maximum exposure and return. I consult and lecture for a number of groups through government, universities and private sector.

  When I am not at work, I like to chill out walking my 4 crazy Springers, makes you realize how much fun life is with just a few tennis balls!

  

• Paul Bidder

  Commercial Director

  My background for my sins is in IT which eventually led me to starting my own IT support company. However after 10 years in the trade I found that I enjoyed playing with figures more than I did servers and therefore I sold up and moved into digital. I have worked with a number of top brands with a range of digital strategies such as Laura Ashley, Designers Guild, Nokia, Focus DIY, Letts Educational, London and Quadrant Housing, MHRA, Internet World and Clarion Events (to name but a few). I love doing what I do and networking with clients and new people, well we are all about social after all...

  My first love, well that's an easy one, I love being a daddy! My little princess (I don't think she'll like that when she's 18, but hey...) is a huge part of my life and she is already an adrenaline junkie at 3 years old and looks trendy regardless of what she is wearing, the same cannot be said of me however. I love playing golf, even though I'm a bit of a bandit (apparently) and tenpin bowling is also something that I am a bit of a dab hand at (well my best score is 268)

  

• Richard Conyard

  Technical Director

  I started off working with the Internet in 1994 since that time I have run an ISP (top 5 UK rated), developed internal applications for some of the largest companies in the world and security audited a number of household websites. My job at Red Ant is to make sure the company moves along the right technical lines and delivers solutions that match Red Ants clients needs.

  I love rugby, cricket and new technology; I hate cold calls from recruitment agencies :)

  

• Ben
  

  I have been at Red Ant for 8 years, specialising in system integration, scaleable database systems and custom CMS's. Projects have included work for Cisco, GPRD, Warwick University, PointOne IPTV, Airfix and Changeboard.

  When not working I enjoy playing hockey and am a PADI diving instructor.

  

• Chris
  

  I joined Red Ant in March 2008 after graduating from Loughborough University with a degree in Information Management and Computing. Since joining the company my responsibilities have grown from simple site maintenance and troubleshooting through to in depth involvement in projects, developing CMS driven websites from beginning to end.

  I have done Reading festival 7 years in a row, like drinking, music and badminton.

  

• Craig

  I've been working at Red Ant the past 5 years, gaining experience mainly in SQL Server, ASP, ASP.NET, XML and Javascript. Mostly my job is to work on our projects as a technical role. Taking a sliced website and integrating it with our CMS to produce the final working product. I'm also heavily involved in our CMS which I've been improving over the past 3 years.

  I love reading and collecting comic books. I am in the process of getting a couple of Tattoo sleeves and love gadgets, been keeping up to date with the latest tech since forever.

  

• Emma

  I started working at Red Ant straight from University where I gained a first class hons in Marketing and Psychology. I started working at Red Ant as Office Administrator dealing with the day to day areas of the company, which helped me to gain knowledge on how we work fairly quickly. I have progressively become part of the Account Management team and have several clients under my care. Before joining Red Ant my part time jobs all involved customer service and I pride myself in making sure I am giving any clients the best possible service.

  In my spare time I like to socialise with my friends and enjoy going to the gym (although I may not enjoy the lead up to going, I like it when I'm there!). There is also, of course, my terrible shopping habit that keeps me busy!

  

• Francois

  As a project manager, my main role is to co-ordinate the project team to ensure projects are built to the clients requirements. I graduated with a degree in Information Systems in 2007. I have 2 years experience working as a developer in both the Public and Private sector. I have been working at Red Ant for just over a year.

  If I were to sum myself up I would say that I am a bit of a workaholic :) I also go to the gym in my spare time and if I have any spare time after that I play guitar (badly).

  

• Gems

  My role is to help clients plan and market their websites. I am passionate about digital and have worked across all disciplines, managing multiple campaigns and targeting multiple audiences. Coming from a client background (Topshop and Teletext holidays) I understand what clients really want is a clear understanding of their business and someone who can work openly with them to get results.

  I also love horse riding and have my own horse, which I take show jumping and on sponsored rides. I love travelling and experiencing new things that push me to my limits. I have been skydiving, bungee jumped and camped for 5 weeks next to a glacier in Iceland.

  

• Luke

  Having worked at Red Ant for 6 years, I have previously worked full time as both a designer and a developer. I progressed through the ranks to manage a team of talented designers and developers to ensure clients projects are completed within budget, on time and in-line with each of their requirements. My most exciting project management experience was working on the Scalextric project; the famous slot car racing brand where I managed a challenging and fully featured e-commerce website from start to finish.

  In my spare time I like to spend time with my friends, have a real passion for motoring and can usually be found attending a gig or two in the City with my lovely girlfriend.

  

• Matt

  I joined Red Ant at the start of 2006. Before that I worked in a technical support and data centre engineering role for a web hosting and server co-location provider, having previously run my own small hosting and design ventures while studying IT and business at college. I'm a keen Web Standards advocate and have a special interest in HCI, UX and Accessibility. For fun I like to write and design, both digitally and in a sketchbook.

  I'm an astronomy and space flight geek. Id probably be an astrophysicist or an astronaut if I werent so hopeless at maths.

  

• Fitz

  I joined Red Ant in July 2007 after graduating from Canterbury Christ Church University with an BA(Hons) in Digital Media.

  My role is to take the static design and create the sites look and feel, using HTML, CSS and creativity. I am interested in the web and read hundreds of blog articles a week to keep up with the latest trends and technologies.

  I enjoy Ten tin bowling (as you can tell by my avatar) and I play in an amateur league. I have a top score of 224!

  

• Rob

  I've been at Red Ant for 2.5 years now, producing front-ends and mockups for countless sites. My background is in fine art and illustration; however I designed my first site a number of years ago and haven't looked back since.

  I play in goal for a local hockey club and no, I'm not mental and I'm planning on making more time for painting, as I've not done anyway near enough arty stuff recently.

  

• Sarah

  I joined Red Ant in November 2005 as Copywriter, and soon became fascinated by the world of digital and online marketing.

  My job role now involves looking after a variety of digital marketing campaigns, with web page optimisation, search engine marketing and web analytics as my key areas of knowledge.

  I am planning a wedding and trying really hard to pass my driving test so that I can have my dream holiday; driving the east coast of the US. I am a bit of a bookworm and a rugby fan so can often be seen watching Maidstone on Saturday afternoons.

  

• Shane

  I have been an Account and Project Manager for a number of years I have been responsible for a number of accounts including Rank Hovis and Dylon. My experiences in both an Account Management and now Project Management roles are helping to build a strong all round character with both client facing understanding and project management knowledge.

  I love doing anything practical, DIY, Building, Car Maintenance etc. For my sins I am a Manchester United Fan and my claim to fame is sitting next to David Beckham on an aeroplane (the early Becks/Posh era though!!)

  

• Tim

  I design printed material, in a nutshell. Anything that requires a physical end-product, thats me, basically. Ive been doing this now for 9 years straight, pretty much since I left University.

  I am trained in 3 forms of martial arts (4 if you count jeet kune do, but thats more a Taoist philosophy, meaning you teach yourself, basically). I have also broken a bone in pretty much every part of my body during 10 years of riding my BMX.

  

• Will

  I have worked on a few websites over the years including Saga's and Viewlondon.co.uk where I gained much of my prowess in programming C# and SQL Server. Having moved into agency work I am further broadening my horizons.

  I'm in a band called the Mighty Worm where I play lead guitar and weve been together for nearly 10 years now. On the weekends I usually go mountain biking with friends in Bedgebury forest. I also go to quite a few gigs and festivals throughout the year.

  

• Zaf

  I joined Red Ant in December 2007 having gained experience in the industry at two other design agencies. My duties include preparation of creative treatments for new projects, flash work and day to day build and maintenance of our websites.

  I love 90s hip hop but think (most of) the hip hop of today is terrible. I once won a game of chess in 6 moves! And I would like to live in Las Vegas if I could afford it.