Jonathan Booth
Head of Technology Programmes @Fair4All Finance
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WORK HISTORY
Head of Technology Programmes @Fair4All Finance
The role of Fair4All Finance is to level up financial inclusion. We want to see well designed financial products and services that better respond to people’s needs and support their financial wellbeing.
EDUCATION
The Open University
MBA, Business administration & strategy
Birkbeck, University of London
Master of Arts - MA, History of Art
SKILLS
ABOUT JONATHAN BOOTH
Since leaving college with an unexpected family and a realisation that I wasn’t going to be the next John Hoyland my career path has been, shall we say, somewhat random.A long, long time ago there was quasi-government agency called the Manpower Services Commission. This legendary organisation ran, with a long dead UK company called Systime, a training course to equip people for this new thing called ‘computer programming’. Not want to be unemployed for any length of time I grabbed this opportunity and became a ‘computer programmer’ using a language called ‘no-extend BASIC’.(I also used COBOL and FORTAN 77 none of which will be familiar to anyone younger than 45).From that point I spent the next few years fitting financial applications into 8 and 16 kilobytes of memory on machines that resembled top loading washing machines. I know, 16 KILOBYTES, crazy right!I was able to move from supporting and developing sales ledgers to writing calculation code for financial futures like currency options, interest rate swaps, and floating rate agreements. All of this was done in the heady days of 2 hour lunch breaks and specifications on the back of beer mats. Over the years, as I developed into Systems Analysis & Design and lately Project Management in software houses, Banks, and an Insurance Company, I have witnessed incredible changes in I.T. where now the amount of space a program takes is not important and we now have code-less development. Latterly I have been focused on the business enablement aspects of technology and the positive effect that properly implemented systems can have on people.We are now, as I am repeatedly told by the incessant pop-ups that attack my every move on the web, in a ‘digital revolution’ and it is true, the way software works now is fantastic when compared to the beginnings of the Internet in ARPA. However, I still keep in mind that at the end of the day all of I.T. is ‘digital’ and it all comes down to either a zero or a one.I have worked with great people, and some not so great, and have been lucky enough to have built some fantastic teams who have delivered great stuff under difficult circumstances. These people have taught me that most people come to work wanting to do their best, that they want to be given the space to develop, and to take a pride in how they work together. My role is to know when to lead, when to follow and when to get out of the way.
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