Simon Johnson
Sales Manager, SQL Tools

When did you join Red Gate?

February 2004

What was your first ever job?

A huge, back breaking paper round!

Before you arrived at Red Gate what did you do?

Wandered around the Southern Hemisphere from beach to beach... dreaming about coming home and working for Red Gate! As well as dreaming of Red Gate, I also played semi-professional football in Melbourne, Australia for 6 months, which was great fun.

What does your job involve on a day-to-day basis?

My role encapsulates motivating, planning, supporting and developing the sales team members. I work closely with the Divisional Manager to put the appropriate strategies in place to meet the expectations.

What do you like about being the SQL Sales Manager at Red Gate?

My major focus is to help my team members learn and develop not only their sales skills, but also the other skills needed to really take the department forward. I love the daily challenge of working with my teams to meet the expectations of Red Gate and the Division. If we are not meeting the expectations and standards that we have set ourselves, then I am not doing my job properly.

Complete the following sentence: I know everything there is to know about...

Running a marathon in 3 hours 30 mins :), and my son, Henry!

What's your favourite book?

Platform, by Michel Houellebecq.

What super power do you wish you had (or have but aren't telling anyone because that's the point of being super)?

The ability to take a free-kick like David Beckham! Most of the time I pretend I can't take free-kicks and balloon them over... but every now and again I let my super power out the bag...

Why did you choose Red Gate?

– I chose Red Gate because the people I met during interview showed passion and verve for the company. I really enjoyed my first interview actually... and was asked to stay on for an immediate second interview with the Directors. As soon as I met them I knew that Red Gate would be a great fit for me.

What are your favourite Red Gate perks?

There are many reasons to want to work for Red Gate, and also many perks that we receive. Having a ten month old baby boy has really opened my eyes to the security of private health care, the excellent pension and travel insurance. On top of this we are also part of the cycle-to-work scheme, so I decided to invest in an awesome bike and as a result cycle to work every day. The free breakfast and lunch is also a biggy, as we are spoilt every day with top-notch healthy food.

What's your most memorable Red Gate experience so far?

The Red Gate day out in Amsterdam. The entire company (all 15 of us at the time!) flew to Amsterdam for a day of wall-climbing and great lunch. It was a brilliant day.

What's your stance on Marmite?

Take it or leave it really.

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