Staff, Team Spotlight

Team Spotlight – David Hughes


Next up for our Team Spotlight is our newest member of staff – Sales and Business Development Manager David Hughes

Who are you and what is your role at Linknode?

I’m David Hughes – I am the  Sales and Business Development Manager at Linknode and have been here since August 2015.

If you could describe working at Linknode in three words, what would they be?

Educational – I have learned a lot over the last 8 months about an industry I knew very little about. I now can’t pass wind turbines or transmission towers (which I have noticed seem to be a lot) without offering my expert opinion on them – much to the annoyance of whoever I am imparting that wisdom on.

Interesting – a bit of a cliché I know – but no 2 days are ever the same. The changing landscape of the renewables industry has led us to look at new industry sectors to move into – which means understanding new market sectors and the requirements for businesses within those sectors. Learning to engage with people on new topics in new ways is helping me to engage better with prospective new clients.

Technological – I love gadgets and technology – and always like being up to date with technological advances. Since I have started I have been involved in some Virtual Reality Hack days and experiences – with more potentially in the pipeline for the future – which has peaked my interest. I have also seen our software engineers take gaming technology and transfer that skill and knowledge into practical uses within VentusAR (though I would argue against anyone that says that launching birds from a catapult at buildings isn’t practical). This has certainly opened my eyes to the potential for the software moving forward.

If you could switch your job with anyone else within Linknode, whose job would you want?

This is a tough one.
George and our software engineers are extremely intelligent and skilled guys – and having that skill and knowledge would change my career path and would open new doors moving forward.
Abi has great project management skills and planning – which has always been one of my weaknesses – so having that would definitely improve my day to day work.
Crispin is a gifted academic – something I always wanted to be but seeing as I’m 99p short of a pound – was never going to be a successful choice.

After all that I think I’m under-qualified for everyone else’s job and might struggle to keep my own!

What is on your wish list for the next 10 years with Linknode

We have a product that has a lot of potential to adapt and grow – not only in a rural capacity but also with the urban environment. My aim and goal is to establish Linknode as forefront of visualisation, with our software being used across all stages of the planning process and for VentusAR to become an industry requirement in future. I also see a shift towards Virtual Reality being our next step to help enhance communication of developments whilst moving with technological advances.

What is you favourite line from a movie?

It’s a close run thing between two – both of them that appeal to my warped sense of humour:

All right… all right… but apart from better sanitation and medicine and education and irrigation and public health and roads and a freshwater system and baths and public order… what have the Romans done for us?

 Or

 “Never rub another man’s Rhubarb”

If Hollywood made a movie about your life, who would you like to see cast as you?

The Mrs says I look a bit like Gerard Butler – and I was once asked by a girl who was selling me my sandwich for lunch (true story!!!) if I was related to him,  at which point I had to break her heart by saying no – so I guess he would be the prime candidate for such a varied and intriguing character. However knowing my luck he would be invited to film his new movie “Easterhouse has Fallen” so the only guy available to fill the role would be Johnny Vegas!! Every cloud has a silver lining though – as I’m sure a cameo from Monkey would add an extra $0 to the box office figures.

What is your hidden talent?

This could be up for debate but I have always fancied myself as a bit of a singer. If there is a karaoke I’m guaranteed to be up there singing anything from Frank Sinatra to Stereophonics – there really is no end to my talents.

I did once visit a recording studio for a session a few years back – where I recorded my hit record “One for My Baby”  – including 3 classic renditions of “Mack the Knife”, “Ain’t that a Kick in the Head” and “One for my Baby”.

Needless to say it didn’t make the charts or i-Tunes, in fact I don’t even think my Gran bought a copy which was a bit of a poor show. Soon after that the girl I was seeing also split up with me. Some people just aren’t cut out for stardom I guess!!