Our Team You’ll find a diverse bunch in the team at Converged. Ice hockey players, motor bikers, hikers, dog lovers, gamers, military trainers, musicians, quiz champions and more. But one thing our professionals have in common is a passion for providing top class client comms, solving head scratching challenges and most importantly, ensuring client satisfaction.
Let us introduce you:
Neil Christie
Technical Director
Having created the company nearly 15 years ago, Neil is the godfather at Converged. He also goes by the titles Technical Director, Managing Director & CEO, but given his technical background he's much more comfortable with the former. His catalyst for going into business was to address a requirement in the IT and Telecoms industry for a service provider driven by cost-effectiveness, commitment to excellence and accountability. Neil will always dislike sloppy shoulder providers who merely point the blame between one another. Also unwavering is his love of Bruce Springsteen & Apple (Computer). Life is never dull for Neil and his wife Emma as they raise 3 children under 5, while juggling copious extracurricular activities and teaching them Gaelic.
Craig Todd
Network & Telephony Engineer
Our Network and Telephony Engineer Craig holds an Abertay University Applied Networking degree and is responsible for maximising the performance of our clients’ connections and telephone systems. Overcoming network issues, configuring firewalls and setting up phone diverts are all part of his job. Craig's love of tech extends into his private life where he can often be found analysing computer issues or working on VoIP and game servers from his home in Fife. He also enjoys gravel cycling, walking his dogs and spending time with his niece and nephew.
Alex Forbes
Systems Engineer
At Converged, Alex is a Systems Engineer and spends his day resolving technical issues for clients, building and configuring PC’s and laptops, and can frequently be seen out and about in one of the Converged liveried vehicles. Outside work, Alex can be found riding motorbikes, playing drums in a classic rock band and growing fruit and vegetables, chillies being his speciality. He shares his home with two grown up children, a dog, two kittens and four chickens.
Andy Ferguson
Systems Engineer
Andy is one of our systems engineers and part of the technical team. Andy can normally be found knee deep in amongst new servers, doing the set up and prep work for installations and migrations or fixing faults in active servers and workstation equipment. He is also responsible for monitoring and processing requests made through our in-house ticketing system, ensuring that all client queries are dealt with quickly and efficiently.
Andy Flett
Service Desk Engineer
Andy F is a Service Desk Engineer. Aside from an HND in Computing Technical Support his skills have been amassed by hands on experience. Andy is often found with more computers than he can use, probably due to being a hoarder and not throwing anything away. In his role as Service Desk Engineer he can often be found in the depths of audit log files in Office 365, finding out when and why something has occurred. Andy enjoys the variety of his work. Two days are rarely ever the same.
Andy McKay
General Manager
As General Manager, Andy is responsible for the day to day operations at Converged. Well known for never sitting still, he is also the brainchild behind many strategic moves including new service launches, geographical expansions and additions to our partner portfolio. Andy is equally well known for being a gadget guy; claiming to have more Alexa’s than Amazon and kicking back while his robot hoover does his chores. Andy enjoys golf, walking his dog Luna, spending time with his family and supporting his budding YouTuber son. The apple certainly doesn’t fall far.
Brian West
Business Administrator
Brian is part of the Business Development team at Converged and his duties are to liaise with existing and new customers, pre and post sales, helping Converged provide the highest quality service. Brian, educated at Robert Gordons College, initially trained as a Cost Accountant, however in a change of career path he diverged into Business Machines and IT. Latterly he was a director of Century Business Systems a long established and successful Aberdeen IT Company which was acquired by Converged during 2016. Brian is married and has one married daughter. Leisure time will see Brian working in his garden, enjoying playing the piano or socialising with family and friends.
Carolynne Yule
Client EngagementCo-ordinator
Carolynne is our Client Engagement Co-ordinator and works alongside the BD team, with responsibility for retaining positive and sustainable relationships. Along with an HR and Business Support background, Carolynne was previously a transatlantic flight attendant which has given her a strong belief in outstanding customer service. When Carolynne isn't visiting clients, she provides support to our management team and ensures the smooth running of the Aberdeen office. Carolynne has a teenage daughter and in between parental and chauffeuring duties, she enjoys going to the local gym as she is planning to sign up for a half marathon in the not too distant future. She also likes karaoke, though some say her singing and talking tones are exactly the same!
Dayna Ransome
IT Administrator
Dayna is IT Administrator at Converged and currently training with the technical team. She enjoys the problem-solving element of her role and putting what she learns in her training into practice. She recently graduated from RGU, plays guitar and ukulele in her spare time, and is an Associate member of the British Association of Teachers of Dancing.
Doug Allan
Systems Engineer
Doug is one of our IT Systems Engineers and can often "not" be found as he’s out and about conducting onsite visits, hidden in the depths of a client’s server room or out of view under desks installing equipment. When in-house, he can be found staring at his monitors, engrossed in (some) complicated tasks and generally avoiding human contact. We all love Doug’s dry humour; it is true that one of our colleagues managed to elicit no fewer than five smiles from him last year! Away from Converged Doug enjoys outdoor activities including skiing, skateboarding and especially mushing with Huskies. Although now with age, he admits to slowing down and being more careful on his outdoor adventures.
Doug Crichton
Systems Engineer
Our systems engineer Doug, like the hands-on nature of his job which sees him undertaking client site visits more often than not. From equipment configuration and set up to complete IT system installs, no job is too big or too small for Doug. Away from work, he can regularly be found cheering on AFC with his 14-year-old son, who has also recently taken over as FIFA Champion much to his Dad's disappointment. Doug enjoys coaching a local primary school football team, camping and hill walks. He also makes a mean cocktail.
Emma Anderson
Marketing Consultant
Emma is responsible for developing and managing our marketing strategy and executing marketing campaigns both on and off-line. No two days are the same as she juggles planning, PR, social, events, newsletters, CSR, client comms, partner relationships, analytics and more. You can blame her for our penchant for pink! She holds a BA honours degree in Business Studies and a Post Grad Dip in Marketing. Outside of work her two kids keep her equally busy. Emma is a sucker when it comes to charities and has raised over £700k for local causes. Lockdown has taught her that she absolutely made the right career choice as she'd make a terrible teacher!
Gareth Williams
Service Delivery Manager
Most if not all of Gareth’s time when not at work is spent taking care of his 2-year-old twins, Amelie and Hugo, along with his wife Erin. As a Service Delivery Manager, he maintains important relationships with his clients and also works as a first responder on the service desk. Gareth is also an avid gamer something which gives Gareth the stress relief required to function as a normal human being.
Gavin Simpson
Technical Manager
Gavin was employee #1 and as Technical Manager performs 2nd & 3rd Line desktop & server support, and client relationship management. This includes client problem solving, project management, implementation and troubleshooting. He couples this with administrative roles such as procurement, backup management and our own system administration. Gavin is Interested in virtualisation and responsible for researching new technologies to add to our portfolio. Outside of work, Gavin enjoys being a Dad and doing the morning school run as well as dog walking along the old Deeside railway line at weekends. He's into DJ culture & mixes, PC gaming, movies, barbeques, comedy, American crime fiction and a good Indian meal.
Greig Scott
Head of Infrastructure Sales
Greig joined us in October 2020 and brings 15 years of network sales experience to the role. Specialising in managed networks, he also has a strong background in telecoms, data centres, security and LAN utilising brands such as Cisco, Meraki, Juniper and Mitel. Outside of work Greig lives with his partner in Westhill where he volunteers as a community first responder for the Scottish Ambulance Service. When not planning fibre networks or saving lives, Greig enjoys the odd game of golf and is a bit of an amateur gamer.
Jillian Manson
Business Administrator
As one of the Business Administrators at Converged, Jill works closely alongside the Business Development and Sales Team to ensure the smooth running of the quotation, sales order and invoicing processes. With an extensive background in customer service, she loves chatting to clients and building strong working relationships. In her spare time, she likes to spend quality time with her family and 2 young twin stepchildren along with whipping up some tasty new recipes in the kitchen. Jill enjoys exploring the surrounding areas of her home in Aberdeenshire and is trying to convince her partner that the addition of a four legged friend would be the perfect companion to accompany her on those long walks.
John Gillies
Lead Cyber Security Assessor & Cyber Account Manager
Based in our Inverness office, John is Lead Cyber Security Assessor and Cyber Account Manager at Converged. He has assessor qualifications in Cyber Certification as well as being a certified GDPR expert. He really enjoys helping companies to improve their business performance through the use of IT. John is married and has 2 step sons. Outside work, he and his wife love exploring in their campervan and are often found as far away from home as possible, especially the south of France. Closer to home Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival is an annual event he rarely misses. John is an avid amateur astronomer and geographer.
Karyn Evans
Service Desk Engineer
Based in our Inverness office, Karyn works as a Service Desk Engineer within the Telephony and Connectivity team, ensuring issues are resolved in a timely manner or escalated within the team for resolution. Her favourite part of the role is unpicking technical issues and being able to oversee a particular query or challenge from start to finish enabling her to deliver a great experience to the customer. Away from Converged Karyn can be found dabbling in her favourite pastimes of bread making, cake making and conjuring other sweet delights. She is an avid reader and daily offender of HIIT workouts and weight training.
Kevin Sinclair
Technical Sales Manager
Kevin is our Technical Sales Manager, neither sitting solely in Sales or Technical departments, Kev bridges the gap between both of these making sure that clients get the best possible solution from our portfolio of services. Having been a former owner and director of a successful IT Service company with Brian for nearly 20 years, he brings a wealth of experience to the role gained from over 30 years in the industry. Kev is married with two grown up sons and has a rescue dog called Jess. When not at work he enjoys being outdoors walking with his dog or under the bonnet of family and friend’s cars. Failing that the local pub is another place Kev hides.
Kyle Blyth
Senior Business Analyst
Our Business Analyst Kyle is part of our Business Support team, primarily managing the Billing department, client facing and non-client facing projects. He also manages our Business Management Software (ConnectWise), implementing new functions and features to improve business process. Out of the office, Kyle enjoys DJing, hillwalking and the usual catching up with friends.
Mandy Mowat
Accounts Manager
Mandy is an Accounts Manager with Converged, tasked with ensuring all finance systems run at their maximum efficiency. Out of working hours Mandy keeps very busy; with home & garden improvements, keeping up an active drink… SOCIAL life and acting as the fulltime Mowat matriarch and peacekeeper for her three children. With her daughter’s upcoming wedding planned there’s always plenty going on.
Mark Johnson
IT Delivery Manager
Mark is our IT Delivery Manager and provides a Business Support Service to companies that need guidance and input from an experienced IT Manager but don't want to employ a full time person. Mark also coordinates the IT Support Team to ensure a high quality customer experience and balances this with preparing new equipment, maintaining servers and networks and delivering projects to agreed time-lines. Having only joined us in April, he is looking forward to familiarising himself with our clients and their needs. He brings over 30 years of IT Consultancy & Management experience to the role. Mark lives near Inverurie and loves country, hill or coast rambles with his family and dogs. He enjoys dinghy sailing when he gets the chance and can usually be found in the garden at weekends.
Natalie Perks
HR Consultant
Natalie is the owner and Managing Director of Redstart UK and is our HR guru. She has 25 years Human Resource Management and learning and development experience, the majority of which were gained whilst operating at Management Board level. Prior to relocating to the Highlands, Natalie spent 15 years working for premium car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover. She has extensive experience in employment law, strategic HR planning and provides us with practical and pragmatic HR management support and advice. She has delivered many seminars and training programmes in HR and leadership related subjects. She has a business degree and is a member of the CIPD. Natalie is married with two children and enjoys running, bird watching, cricket and reading.
Nicola McConnachie
Cyber Administrator
As our Cyber Administrator, Nicola's role includes supporting our clients with information gathering and liaising with various certification bodies. Nicola is involved in every step of a client’s journey to cyber certification, from initial enquiry, through IT audit to successful accreditation. Out of work, Nicola loves to spend time with partner Andy, son Ben and granddaughter Isla. Not forgetting her lovely dog Luna. She is a lifelong avid supporter of the Scottish National football team and a proud member of the Tartan Army. If not with her family or at the footie, you'll find Nicola planning her next girls’ night out.
Peter Deans
Systems Engineer
Peter Deans
Systems Engineer
As a Systems Engineer Pete is responsible for both hosted and in-house telephony systems, connectivity installations and maintenance, and firewall management. He is also our resident handyman and always happy to roll up his sleeves and get stuck in when asked for help. Cheers Pete! Outside work, his technical tinkering continues, and he enjoys 3D printing, home automation and photography. Electronic music is Pete’s vibe.
Robbie Ross
Chief Security Officer
Our Chief Security Officer 'Robbie the Bobby' joined us after spending 22 years working with Grampian Police and then Police Scotland. His most recent role was as Cybercrime Safety Prevention and Resilience Liaison Officer where he was responsible for promoting cyber security to businesses and tackling the cybercrime threat across Scotland. As a self-confessed Apple fan-boy he loves all things iPhone, iPad and iMac and is a supporter of Aberdeen FC. Robbie is married with 2 boys and like many people has been spending much of the past few months juggling work and home schooling.
Sameer Ladha
Business Development Manager
Sameer is our Business Development Manager. Day to day he runs the BD/Commercial team. He enjoys building long term and trusting relationships with clients, staff and suppliers, and takes pride in providing solutions that will help our clients to achieve their goals. He has a BA(hons) Degree in Business Management from The Robert Gordon University. Sameer is a huge sports fan and his love for Liverpool Football club is very obvious! He has a young family and spends most of his free time entertaining his 2 kiddies.
Sarah Main
Network Engineer
Sarah is a busy mum of two and enjoys the flexibility that working with Converged has offered her. With a background in Cisco networking and security, Sarah has worked with ISPs, MSPs and in the Oil and Gas sector. Since joining Converged as Network Engineer Sarah finds herself working predominately with Palo Alto technologies and has recently gained Palo Alto accreditation to add to her existing Cisco certifications. Sarah enjoys time with her family but when time allows can be found painting, a love she discovered in recent years at Gray’s School of Art.
Stacey Smith
HR / Service Delivery Manager
Since Stacey joined the team 9 years ago, her role has adapted as the company has grown. While she's been a familiar face on the service desk since day one, her HR responsibilities only began in 2016. Both roles provide challenges and new opportunities, so there's no time to be bored! Prior to working at Converged, Stacey provided IT support in the oil and gas industry, and cut her teeth in the NHS support team (entirely by accident – as they told her, you’re young, you must know computers 😊 ) Out of work you’ll likely find her doing mum stuff, watching true crime documentaries or making a complete shambles of herself at karate club.
Tiffany Murray
Network & Security Engineer
Tiffany Murray
Network & Security EngineerIn early 2020 Tiffany joined the company as a Network & Security Engineer within the connectivity team. She brings practical experience of running vulnerability and penetration assessments to help secure company networks. Tiffany graduated with an honours degree in Ethical Hacking and is interested in further developing her social engineering and web application hacking techniques. In her free time, Tiffany enjoys outdoors activities as well as exploring Scotland’s mountain ranges.
Vlasta Simpson
Accounts Manager
Vlasta recently celebrated 10 years with us. In her role of Accounts Manager, she looks after all aspects of the day to day smooth running of the Finance Department. Amongst significant accomplishments she claims all the quarantine fads; yoga challenges, the sour dough starters, banana breads and Netflix box sets. She’s a fervent feminism enthusiast, podcasts junkie, aspiring jazz connoisseur, political debates aficionado & good weather gardener. Vlasta loves spending time dining out with her gal pals, taking long walks with her dog Sam and shorter walks with hubby Gavin and son Oskar.