About Us

My name is Julian Swift, and I'm the proprietor, programmer and database designer.

My background is in the print trade, as I served a four-year apprenticeship as a proofreader (of which there were very few) in the last days of hot metal type. After successfully completing the apprenticeship, the company in which I had been trained was closed. After a brief period at another printing company, I began my own successful proofreading company in an office rented from an independent financial adviser. As computers and spell-checkers seemed to satisfy the needs of many in the fast-changing world of typography in the mid-1980s, I began to teach myself database design and programming, and the C programming language, both in MS-DOS.

The IFA became my major client, and my biggest project to date has been writing the back-office database system, and various bespoke utility programs that are utilized in the day-to-day running of the business.

I began my learning in the Microsoft Windows environment in 1993 with versions 3.1 then Windows for Workgroups 3.11. I have been designing and programming using Microsoft Access since 1996 (versions 2, 97, 2000, and 2003), and in Delphi/Pascal (again, self-taught) since 1997.

My proofreading training has taught me the importance of consistency and attention to detail when writing software, which makes familiarisation much faster and easier for you and your staff.

Since the beginning of this year (2011), I have formed a working collaborative agreement with a first-class freelance database designer and programmer, and a very talented freelance graphic designer with many years' experience, to assist with the web side of the business.

We are well located in Chard, on the borders of Somerset, Devon and Dorset, with excellent transport links in terms of roads and rail. If you are in any of these counties, an onsite visit to you won't be a problem. If it's for PC Help, there will be a charge for our travel if you're more than 15 miles from our postcode. Please see our Terms of Business under Legals.

For whoever is interested in my choice of photos at the top of each page, click on the Info link towards the bottom-right of any photo to learn more about them. They were all taken by me, and they are of some of my favourite places in the south-west of England. All the quoted musings are mine too!