Fast-growth technology firm Vapour Cloud has announced its latest appointment – cloud and network engineer Stuart Hodgkinson.
Armed with 11 years’ IT experience, he joins the Elland-headquartered team having previously worked as a senior network technician for the NHS at Salford Royal Foundation Trust.
Used to managing, monitoring and troubleshooting wired and wireless network infrastructures, Stuart is an experienced engineer with a breadth of knowledge spanning servers to SVIs and everything in between. Having also worked for Interserve, a number of county councils, plus a manufacturer of PVC compounds, he has a wealth of empathy for end-user environments, which means he is well-placed to support Vapour’s customers, large and small.
In his new role, Stuart will be responsible for the installation of servers, networks and storage across Vapour’s five UK data centres, as well as the day-to-day management of the network infrastructure including switches, firewalls and edge routers.
Commenting on his appointment, Vapour’s CEO Tim Mercer said: “We proudly claim to look for the industry’s brightest talent when we’re on the recruitment hunt, and Stuart’s CV proves the strategy works!
“He’s been involved in managing NHS Trust’s virtual infrastructures, having used VMware hypervisors to virtualise their estates; he’s been responsible for implementing the free-to-patient and staff WiFi mandated by NHS Digital; and has held second and third line support roles, which evidences the depth of his technical know-how.
“This degree of insight is exactly what we were looking for, in our growing cloud engineering team. Whether we’re deploying an agile solution for a start-up or a complex unified communications system for a blue-chip brand, our customers want us to have the answers to all their tech requirements.”
A highly qualified IT professional, Stuart gained an ICT diploma from the Open University in 2007, before securing CCNA Routing and Switching, Wireless, and Security certificates, as well as the ITIL v3 Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management.
Commenting on his reason for joining Vapour, Stuart concluded: “I was very impressed with Vapour’s technology and the solutions provided to customers, but what also stood out to me is how much the company values employees.
“During my short induction period – before the COVID-19 lockdown – it quickly became apparent that I’ll have an environment to thrive in.”
