The Team

Founder of Helastel, the visionary behind Intelastel, and serial tech startup founder Iouri is at our helm. A seasoned CEO, Iouri is passionate about the strategies that engender successful business leadership and how to effect change through technology.

Ian has been integral in growing the company from a two-man band into the slick and substantial workforce it is today. In his present role as CTO, Ian deftly defines and delivers the company’s technical vision and strategy.

A qualified accountant and ACCA fellow, board member and rep for Wales, Duniya is responsible for all financial strategy in the company as well as HR, office management and compliance. Under her financial captaincy, Helastel has seen incredible growth.

Our business guru Niall draws his energy from the team around him, and is driven by making things happen. Colleagues describe him as a man with a rich repository of anecdotes. Niall's an avid windsurfer, wakeboarder and skipper.

Nick Sturge is an expert in innovation and was awarded an MBE for services to the digital economy in the 2019 Birthday Honours List. Starting in the semiconductor industry, Nick is an influential member of Southwest UK’s technology scene.

Helastel has big plans, and Rob has the ambition to match. Committed, dedicated, and always ready for a challenge, it’s ultimately working with people that makes him tick. A rugby and football fan, he’s also a dab-hand with a five-iron.

Grace soothes ruffled feathers daily - and that’s just taking care of her pet parrot. She problem-solves any issues that arise while motivating her team with her hallmark self-deprecating humour: she lists 'not being fired' among her top three achievements.

Forensic and level-headed, Sam plays a core role in growing Intelastel’s leading market position. Sam’s led multi-million-pound global software contracts for Coca-Cola, IKEA, and Airbnb - and he’s a self-proclaimed amateur portrait artist.

Zuckerberg gazumped Harry’s dream of being Facebook CEO, so he joined Helastel instead. He works strategically with customers to ensure they’re succeeding in their business objectives, tossing back his trademark swooshy hair as he goes.

Jenny works tirelessly (especially through pandemics) to shape the people-oriented and positive culture that’s come to be associated with the Helastel name. Ensuring staff are happy, engaged and looked after is central to her role - she seems to do it well!

Head of the Helastel marketing machine (and chauffeur of the company whippet, Wilson), Mariela is an expert in B2B marketing, brand, and strategy. A ‘fussy perfectionist’ in work, those who know her better, know better.

Owen's created software to robust government standards so is well suited to leading a Quality Assurance team that ensures all our clients’ solutions are 100% airtight. Owen has a flair for the performing arts, including plays, short films and dance.

Phil holds an MSc in AI, and with a BA in Philosophy and Russian has plenty of real intelligence to back it up. Career highlights include managing a team of 30 Devs and the migration and interface development for a 30 million record customer data hub.

With over 11 years’ experience as a test analyst and lead, Cindy is a highly trained and hardworking test force to be reckoned with. She thrives on the attention to detail and high level of communication her role requires.

'Designing, coding, and talking' are Matt’s core skills, and he’s all about exercising creativity within a digital space. He allegedly has a boat named after him, although The Matthew of Bristol outdates him by 500 years.

Kelly creates collateral, turning her fine design eye to everything from branded guidebooks to web design and UI. She loves the variety her work brings, as well as the welcome respite from her rambunctious Sprocker puppy, Juno.

Fashionable, but only occasionally aloof.

.NET lead developer Harry takes the reins on some of Helastel’s biggest .NET projects. His persistent and diligent approach involves making continual improvements behind the scenes to ensure knock-your-socks-off results for clients.

Katt’s goal is to keep customers happy. With 15 years experience working in IT, an ITIL certification and a self-proclaimed ‘natural nerdiness’, she’s prized for her jargon-busting explanations, integrity and encyclopedic music knowledge.

Alex’s organised nature meant a career as a project delivery manager was a natural choice. Agile trained and a certified scrum master, he’s a safe pair of hands for software projects - and also on the rugby pitch, playing for Great Britain at university.

Lucy heads up Compliance and Information Security at Helastel. Acting as DPO and SIRO, she works closely with the Executive team. If she’s not by the sea, travelling or hanging out with her sausage dog Noodle, she’s on the search for Bristol’s best G&T.

James heads up the Engineering and Technical teams at Helastel, maximising department efficiency and outputs while driving quality. James won a Silver Cannes Lions for Best Use of Technology 2018. His dry sense of humour hasn't won him any awards just yet.

Lauren’s interest in software and web development goes back to the MySpace era where she would tinker with the HTML on her page. Looking for a creative-yet-logical career path, she studied Software Engineering at Cardiff MET... and the rest is history!

How many spreadsheets do you look at a day? Probably not as many as Ben. He does the number-crunching that ensures everyone in the business has the support and resources they need. A keen sportsman, Ben was part of the GB rowing programme in his youth.

A former NHS worker, Jo happened across her BA role while on a course in healthcare leadership and swapped patients for proposals. Now, Jo works with customers to figure out their needs, before translating them into developer speak.

Stuart helms a tight ship and when challenges arise, he’s quick to find solutions and ready to go the extra mile. Skilled in PHP, Linux and leadership, he lets loose with motorbiking and DIY - and has an inexplicable phobia of Koalas.

A natural-born ‘word wrangler’, Tallulah is one of the team's content wizards. She loves learning cutting-edge concepts and creating copy that drives action. A free spirit, Tallulah enjoys wild swimming, crochet, dogs and Harry Potter.

Tom’s skills in listening, communication and patience are key to his success on the support team, ensuring customers consistently receive the best quality service. Patience also comes in handy as an LFC supporter.

Resourceful. Can find the snacks in any situation.

Calm, adaptable, focused on quality, and holding a raft of experience and credentials, Emma’s a natural and highly capable Product Manager, but she’s always ready to unplug with paddle-boarding, travelling, music and gigs, family and friends.

A Computer Science grad, aspiring developer Debo jumped ship when he discovered a career in testing meant he could contribute to product development by breaking things. Now he ensures customers' products are super resilient.

Organised, methodical, personable, always smiling, Laura is the perfect fit for a role that spans both HR and finance. A keen runner, Laura also acts as a one-woman ‘Couch to 5K’, helping coax her fellow Helastelians into their tracksuits.

Eddie is drawn to creatively challenging, heavy-duty software projects but a personable nature means he excels as a client point of contact too. He co-founded Bristol homeless charity Roots Independent Street Team to help improve conditions for rough sleepers.

Problem-solving dynamo Will is a natural-born BA, put on this earth to liaise with clients, document user stories, and tease out the best possible software solutions. Will won out for tallest Helastel employee in a close battle with Ben.

Senior test analyst Jacob has over 10 years in the field, plus an advanced level certification accredited by the ISTQB. His determination to always deliver the best possible quality is ideal for a role that involves finding fault in code.

Translating complex technical jargon into simple solutions is no mean feat. Lucky we have Lily then, Helastel’s bid-writing all-star and 'crazy plant lady'. A love for process, people, writing and winning underscores Lily’s eight years’ experience.

Knowing a bit about an ‘alarmingly large variety of IT stuff’, Simon is a digital jack of all trades. Involved in hardware upgrades, infrastructure maintenance, software testing and IT support, he’s never not busy - fortunately, that’s the way he likes it.

This level-headed go-getter relishes a challenge and is set for anything once doused in strong coffee. An expert in PHP, Laravel, SQL, JQuery, React and Vue, Mat’s career highs include debugging a world pay issue for a large accommodation portal.

Dennis “really, really likes coding” and documents his day-to-day work as “looking at code improvements in both front and back end application components”. Born in Libya, Dennis enjoys a romp in nature when he can pry his eyes off the screen.

Emma gets her kicks on directly helping individuals to achieve their career aspirations. Communication, talent attraction, recruitment strategies, interviewing, organisation and time management are her bread and butter.

As a former Technology Editor, Mark was remotely managing writers in Malaysia. Now he's traded writing about tech companies to writing for one in buzzing Bristol. Mark loves cycling, running, good food and drink.

A pro at building relationships and a dead-eye troubleshooter, Paula ensures customers’ tech needs and expectations are exceeded. That sounds like a tough gig, but she once abseiled down a lighthouse to repaint the stripe for charity.

Frequently found tackling bugs or improving codebases, George is a natural-born problem-solver. The Physics grad has developed solutions for Dyson among vast e-comm sites. Not just a master of coding languages, he’s also learning Japanese.

All-star techie Callum has as many talents in work as hobbies outside of it. Data analysis, coding, visualisation software and data science at 5:30 are switched for outdoor adventures with his son, powerlifting, rowing, cycling, and hiking.

He’s worked as a software engineer at CERN, owns 25 guitars and 120 board games - you don’t get many like Lewis. He craves variety, and with a wealth of experience underscored with credentials in computing, cloud, and product management, it comes easily.

Journalism and Comms BA Claire joins the team from a digital agency background, and is responsible for note-perfect brand promotion and organising intelligent comms that chime with clients. Sushi-loving, cocktail-supping Claire’s a demon on the hockey pitch.

When Francesca’s not splashing around in the ocean, she’s diving into UI Design and UX research, helping make digital experiences smooth and easy. Pleasingly for her co-workers, she’s also a keen baker, with a particular passion for cake decoration.

Omar loves getting stuck into ambitious projects. He’s co-written software for East Midlands Police to facilitate kidnap and extortion investigations in real-time and created a tutorial website to help other developers earn their SQL and C# stripes.

Guy is our go-to guy for everything data-related. BI is his forte and all that encompasses, including databases, data warehousing, and solutions. He can talk about anything, but you might find the topic drifting towards tech, sailing, or his puppy.

Blanks by name, live-firing by nature. Chatty BA Freddie thrives on building close relationships with customers and smashing their expectations. A former gymnast, jumping through hoops comes naturally. A rugby, cricket and cycling fan, that can also build computers!