Matt Grest

Current

Head of Software Development for NHS Choices http://nhs.uk at Capita
Software Development Director at LocallyCompared.com
Project Director at QBurst Technologies

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Past

Head of Software Development at PlusNet plc
Senior Project Manager at 3T Productions Ltd
Product Manager / Senior Business Analyst at PlusNet plc

Senior Software Engineer at PlusNet plc

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1 more...

Education

Sheffield Hallam University

Recommended

18 people have recommended Matt

Connections

334 connections

Industry

Internet

Websites

My Company

Matt Grest’s Summary

An experienced and passionate Internet industry senior professional with a broad and mature cross-functional skill-set

I have worked at the cutting edge of Internet development for 10 years. I was part of the core team that took Plusnet (a UK Internet Service Provider) from £6m turnover in 1999 to an eventual £67m acquisition by BT in January 2007.

I played a lead role in the design and implementation of the UK's most sophisticated ISP provisioning and CRM platform. A methodology of automation and customer self-serve created a platform that made Plusnet the most profitable major ISP in the UK market on a per customer basis.

I come from a technical background with a broad knowledge of software technologies, specifically LAMP, .NET and SharePoint. I have successfully managed multi-million pound project and departmental teams on a range of internal and customer facing projects using waterfall and agile methodologies.

I have also successfully completed several offshore transformation projects over the past few years at Plusnet, 3T Productions and LocallyCompared; taking existing UK based processes and skills and moving the work-flow to newly created offshore teams in India and Poland. As a result of this particular work I have extensive contacts around the world in this area.

I am presently Head of Software Development at NHS Choices where I am responsible for delivery of all new software development on the NHS flagship website, NHS Choices - http://nhs.uk. Receiving over 1.5 million visitors per week, the site is one of the highest profile websites in the UK and is the largest SharePoint publishing platform in Europe.

I have developed a “can do” reputation, with the ability to solve a business problem with the appropriate technology and process.

I'm happy to discuss new opportunities and provide my experience where it's best needed.

Matt Grest’s Specialties:

Offshore transformation, managing large multi-disciplinary project teams, process automation, product design, Web2.0, SharePoint, Health and education, leadership, NHS

Matt Grest’s Experience

Head of Software Development for NHS Choices http://nhs.uk

Capita

(Public Company; CPI; Outsourcing/Offshoring industry)

January 2009 — Present (11 months)

Responsible for delivery of all new software development on the NHS flagship website, NHS Choices - http://nhs.uk, an £80m programme.

The NHS Choices is the largest SharePoint site in Europe, receiving over 1.5 million visitors per week and my responsibilities are for the delivery of all software projects to support the UK Government Choices health agenda.
Software Development Director

LocallyCompared.com

(Internet industry)

June 2008 — Present (1 year 6 months)

UK start-up servicing the local-search market; incorporating community generated content and the richest business data available in the UK.

Assembled an offshore software development team, and put in place all processes and procedures to ensure the smooth running of the software build. Spent significant time working with the team in India to ensure requirements were understood and schedule agreed.
Project Director

QBurst Technologies

(Privately Held; Computer Software industry)

June 2008 — Present (1 year 6 months)

Assisting UK companies with turning their business ideas into software development projects.

Acting as the interface between the UK business and the various offshore development teams around the world, providing ongoing project consultancy to ensure that the project is accurately scoped and costed, and then delivered to an agreed time-scale and project management methodology.
Head of Software Development

PlusNet plc

(Public Company; 51-200 employees; Internet industry)

February 2006 — July 2008 (2 years 6 months)

Successfully implemented an offshore transformation programme. Set up new teams in India and Poland and migrated existing software development process to offshore teams.

Evangelised and oversaw the delivery of the implementation of a bespoke software framework that allowed the legacy software platform to be abstracted, thus paving the way for modular future development, increased speed of delivery and more robust applications.
Senior Project Manager

3T Productions Ltd

(Computer Software industry)

January 2005 — March 2006 (1 year 3 months)

Project Management and Account Management position, focusing on the design and delivery of bespoke software solutions to the Education Publishing market.

Responsible for the delivery of multiple, high-profile and award winning software products for world-leading clients in the field of education publishing.
Product Manager / Senior Business Analyst

PlusNet plc

(Public Company; Internet industry)

December 2001 — December 2004 (3 years 1 month)

Designed and managed the delivery of a range of Internet Access Products (dial-up & Broadband) as well as various value-add services such as email, hosting, web-apps for the Plusnet and Force9 ISP brands.
Senior Software Engineer

PlusNet plc

(Public Company; 51-200 employees; Internet industry)

June 1999 — December 2001 (2 years 7 months)

Designed and developed the main software platform that powers Plusnet. Features include; Front-end and Back-end websites, CRM tools, internet access product, supplier interfaces, web-based apps.

Matt Grest’s Education

Sheffield Hallam University

Software Engineering , 1997 — 1999

Additional Information

Matt Grest’s Websites:

My Company

Matt Grest’s Interests:

The future of the Internet and the role it will have in everyday life from a business and consumer perspective.

Matt Grest’s Groups:

On Startups - The Community For Entrepreneurs
Outsource work to India
GeekUp
edocr.com
Startup Specialists
Project Outsourcing Management (POM)
Business Process Out-sourcing
Outsource and Nearshore Competence Group
NHS Management Professionals
CEO/ CIO/COE/COO/CFO/Head/VP/ Director/President Level - Senior Leadership Group
Technopark
Sheffield Hallam University
NHS Professionals Network
ISP Networkers
Marketing Sheffield
Sheffield Software Industry
Web 3.0 Applications
NHS IT Project Professionals
QBurst Technologies - Technopark - Trivandrum
NHS Contract Professionals
NHS - Healthcare - Networking
NHS - Sharepoint Group
The Northern Mafia
NHS Personnel
HSJ - For NHS News, NHS Jobs and Health Management Resources
think Yorkshire! Software Development Leadership
Yorkshire Digital
I.T Professionals in Yorkshire