Welcome

to my website. Based in Mallorca I offer programming and design services in all aspects of website development

graphic design;
programming;
hosting;
support & Webmaster Service

Websites can range from the simple presentational website to the on-line business which requires back-office processing functionality.

A speciality is multi-lingual websites which are becoming more and more important in the modern world.

Essentially I offer a service which covers the whole life-cycle of a website from the initial concept through to the ongoing maintenance. The ′after service′ or webmaster is a role which is all too often taken for granted and consequently neglected but it is essential to maintain the vibrancy of the site – I can help with this too and at a modest cost.

Website Design

First impressions are most important in order to encourage the visitor to read your website and navigate around it.

I work closely with experienced people in the graphic design and marketing fields to produce a design which is in tune with your business profile.

I always find that the design stage is the point to discuss content since the kind of content you wish to display will often have an impact on the overall design. Obviously I cannot do your textual content for you – I can help however, and have resources available to me for translation into Spanish, Catalan, German and French and being based on a very cosmopolitan island I have access to speakers of several other languages. If, for perhaps legal reasons, you require officially authenticated translations I can arrange that for you at cost.

There are other considerations which should always be discussed at this stage, for example, Google positioning and Search Engine Optimisation. This is a very fast moving area and is to a certain extent, subjective. Therefore, I try to keep myself abreast with the latest opinions and guidelines and in any case I have access to expert advice in this field.

Programming

Essentially this is the technical job of constructing the site. I have at my disposal well tried and trusted in-house tools to accomplish this task but these tools do not restrict me in any way because there is invariably the need for some bespoke programming.

I am also happy to construct a website for clients who specifically require the use of a proprietary package such as Drupal.

My websites are written in PHP (server-side) with considerable javascript, Ajax and jQuery to enhance the client experience. I can also develop in ASP and Visual Basic if required.

My websites are dynamic and driven by a MySql database and can run on either a Linux/Unix based platform or a Windows platform.

I always test the websites I create against the most commonly used browsers, namely Internet Explorer (7 +), Firefox (3 +), Safari and Google Chrome – essentially these four browsers are my yardstick for quality assurance.

Hosting

I normally host websites which I develop using server resources which I manage. However I can quote for implementing a website on a host of your choice. Furthermore if you already have a website but are looking to switch hosts I can quote for that too.

Support and Webmaster Services

Websites which I develop include a secure administration tool which you, the client, can use to update the content of your site.

I can however quote you a price for doing this for you – a webmaster service. Sometimes it is difficult to know up-front how much work is involved in keeping the site up-to-date. Therefore I always offer to do the work for a small monthly cost but if there is nothing to do in a particular month then there is nothing to pay. After 6 months we can review the situation.

I do not offer a formal support contract as such but will make this commitment: if there is a problem I will fix it. Nor do I charge for occasional queries and advice.

John Drewitt

Martins Bank Limted (1964-1969). Started as a bank clerk after leaving school and worked for two years in various junior roles which gave me an invaluable grounding in the core processes of the UK clearing system. Transferred to the London Computer Centre at its inception and worked as a Computer Operator and then Team Leader before becoming a trainee programmer.

Hill Samuel Merchant Bank (1969-1986 and 1990-1992). Worked exclusively in the IT Department for the three main business operations of the group (Banking, Investment Management and Registrars). The vast majority of this time was on wholesale banking projects, front, back and middle office. Roles ranged from programming, technical and business analysis, to project manager. Used a variety of programming languages from assembler through to higher level languages and on a variety of equipment and operating systems (GE, Honeywell, ICL, Burroughs, IBM, DEC). Business areas covered all the major financial instruments both on and off-balance sheet. Held senior positions of Chief Programmer, Manager – Treasury Projects, Project Manager – Overseas Offices. In terms of bank status achieved three board appointments.

Travelled for extended periods on assignment to Paris, Jersey, Dublin, Johannesburg/Durban, Hong Kong, New York and Sydney.

Freelance Consultant (1986-1990 and 1993-1995). Role as hands-on Project Manager for Hill Samuel looking after the day-to-day support and development of Treasury Systems. During this time was also a consultant to a software house on their banking projects. Designed and programmed various PC and micro-computer based systems in the Direct Marketing field.

Citibank (1995-2001). Freelance consultant in a Business Analysis role on a Global FX Options project. For a while engaged in the same capacity on the day to day support for that system and its successor leading to eventual full-time employment in a more technical role with specific responsibilities for managing quality assurance and release of new versions to some thirty financial centres throughout the world.

2005-2010. Website design, programming and support initially in collaboration with others in this field before setting up in business on my own.

Pricing Structure

I do not publish a pricing schedule because that would be misleading to all concerned. I do, however, operate on a fixed price basis, i.e. I issue a quotation for a job and that quotation covers the total job. I also include in the quotation a target date for completion and hold the quotation open for a period of 30 days.

As mentioned earlier the quotation covers the total job as per the client′s agreed requirements.

Normally, quotations include some elements which are not dependent upon the specifics of any website. Such elements are domain registration and hosting. Any charges incurred for third party design work and translation will be passed on to the client at cost and will be included in the quotation.