Expertise : Ed Birchmore, Information Architect and Usability Expert

Ed started his career in the transport sector, where he was responsible for the global quality assurance (QA), maintenance and repair for Nautical Tank Containers owned by Tiphook Tank Rental.

Moving briefly from the Transport Sector, Ed worked for the Information Unit of the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) where his responsibilities included answering Parlaimentary Questions for the Secretary of State for Education and providing statistics to the National Press.

Back in the Transport Industry, this time in the Public Sector, Ed played a key role Franchise Management Team in the Office of Passenger Rail Franchising. He was given the ominous undertaking of creating a prototype online Franchise Payment System. The resulting system was used to calculate initial Incentive Regime payments for Train Operating Companies in the UK (calculations in the region of £1billion), whilst the legacy British Rail Mainframes were updated and permanent systems implemented.

A 24-hour flight took Ed out of the Transport Sector and into the Retail Banking with the Bank of South Australia in Adelaide (later bought by St George Bank, based in Sydney). Seeing the opportunity to improve and enhance existing business processes, Ed designed and developed a online Mortgage Preparation System that was an integral element in the largest customer-based consolidation in Australian commercial history. The system, originally proposed to be an interim solution, was still in use some 5 years later.

A return to the UK saw a brief return to the Transport Industry where Ed project managed the redesign and build of the Strategic Rail Authority's (SRA) Intranet.

After the SRA, Ed worked for 2 years at Cable & Wireless (C&W) where he was Quality Assurance and Testing Manager for the Global Internet Group. Managing a global team of QA professionals, including IBM Performance Management, Testing and Scalability Services, he was the lead QA on two global migration projects (18 Websites in 10 languages) and helped design bespoke Content Management Systems.

Since leaving C&W, Ed worked as a consultant before coming to Four Square Media. His work has included:

  • Cheltenham and Glouchester Bank (www.cheltglos.co.uk)
  • Standard Life (Bank, Insurance and Health - www.portal.standardlife.com)
  • Thus - Demon.net (www.demon.net)
  • Sky Business Website (business.sky.com)
  • House of Fraser (www.houseoffraser.co.uk)
  • Muraspec (www.muraspec.com)
  • Ovid (www.ovid.com)

In addition to Project QA and Testing, Ed specialises in website usability and accessibility, including the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) - and Section 508 in the USA.