In 2024, Spyrosoft Ltd. is undergoing major positive changes. We have hired many new employees and have opened two new locations. Amidst this exciting growth, we are thrilled to welcome David Mawer as our new Lead Delivery Manager based in Manchester. Starting as a Software Engineer, David’s unwavering belief in his abilities has seen him grow into a strong leader over the years.

Besides caring for our newly opened office and employees, David also acts as the Lead Delivery Manager for the North of England and Scotland. After hours, he’s an avid cyclist, enjoys cooking, and is a big Star Wars fan. In this conversation with Marija Jurina, David offers valuable insights into how a leader or manager can influence a potential candidate’s decision during the recruitment process. Learn more about Spyrosoft’s presence in Manchester and plans for further growth.

Marija: When you first joined Spyrosoft, you had to hit the ground running, onboarding a new team while simultaneously learning the ropes yourself. How do you feel when reflecting on that experience, and now when you see the progress?

David: It’s been an incredible journey, and we’re only really getting started! My baptism of fire has been both challenging and exciting in equal parts. I owe a great deal of gratitude to Stuart Ralph (my fellow Site Manager for the south of England), who couldn’t have been more helpful during my onboarding, plus, of course, Shane Poole (my Manager), Shari Jenkyn and Lauren Rose (Team Extension Specialists), who have been integral to the teamwork that has allowed the growth of Spyrosoft Ltd in the UK.

At the time of this interview, I’ve been in this role for less than six months and reflecting on where we are now, it almost feels unreal how much we’ve achieved. The pace we’ve maintained is what has been so impressive, and I’ve enjoyed personal growth by learning about visa sponsorships, how to negotiate better and getting on-site to meet the people in person – all of this has been incredibly rewarding.

I understand you started as an engineer many years ago, but you had leadership potential and wanted to take advantage of the opportunities. How did you feel in that first leadership role you took?

During my time as a developer in my previous role, I found myself covering more and more leadership duties, such as sprint planning when the team leader was absent (holidays, etc) and coaching junior team members. I eventually became the first person he would ask, ahead of Seniors at the time, and I started to enjoy it.

After I was promoted to Senior Developer, I took on even more responsibility by mentoring several of the apprentices and junior members, representing the team at Scrum-of-Scrums and Sprint Reviews. I became an advocate for the squad, but I was torn because I was still very much enjoying programming.

When a hands-on Team Leader role for the team I worked on became available, I decided to apply and was unsuccessful, but I kept applying [for other leadership roles], and eventually, I was appointed. This offered me the best of both worlds: planning the team’s work, managing people and keeping my hand in with the programming. I wasn’t scared because I had confidence in my own ability; I had plenty of domain knowledge and knew a lot of the developers and testers who I would be working with – many of whom also recognised my leadership potential and actively encouraged me to pursue it.

So, this year, in 2024, we opened our offices in London and Manchester. We’ve already spoken with Stuart Ralph about how Spyrosoft is growing in London. What are the expectations for the Manchester team?

Yes, I’m very proud to see us expanding rapidly all over the UK. For the Manchester office, the expectation is that we will establish a foothold with our existing clients in the north of England and Scotland whilst continuing to expand our talent pool. Currently, we have a framework agreement with one client, which is consuming most of my time, but I want us to secure other contracts and build up a talented bench of highly skilled specialists who are transferable across all types of projects. I have a new Team Leader joining the office in September to help me manage the team, and I have a vision that we expand to the point where we need more Site Managers in the UK!

Does the IT industry in the UK truly support development and growth? Does the infrastructure keep up with the industry’s demands? What’s your take on the current state of the UK IT industry?

IT is so integral to business now that it is essential, and I believe the IT industry in the UK is in rude health. The recruitment market for software engineers and developers is commanding high salaries, which tells you how much those roles are valued by employers. You just need to look at how quickly we are innovating and integrating with Artificial Intelligence. Also, a lot of companies are making Manchester their second headquarters (after London), which is great news for me and Spyrosoft. There are many networking events across the country, organised via meetup.com or other websites, which I like to attend – they are very popular.

In your opinion, how much influence does a leader or manager have on the final decision of a potential candidate during the recruiting process? And what do candidates in the IT field look for in their leaders today?

We can be hugely influential in the candidate’s decision. Once they are through to us, it’s our responsibility to ensure that we sell the opportunity to them. We are a Spyrosoft delegate, looking the part and living the company values. A positive experience with us will, more often than not, lead to the candidate being successful with their application.

Equally important, though, is that we are recruiting people who will also represent Spyrosoft to help us build reputations with our clients. We need to ensure we use our experience to assess the candidates carefully (and fairly) to ensure we only put forward the best people we can, the real best in class, who can hit the ground running and impress.

That challenge makes our involvement in the recruitment process exciting. No two interviews are the same! Stuart and I are both passionate about finding highly skilled and motivated individuals to join us, and we are both fortunate to work alongside a talented recruitment team and a group of skill assessors based in Poland to help us identify and progress the candidates.

You really enjoy cycling, and I don’t mean just riding to the grocery store or the park. You take on serious, challenging rides. This requires discipline and a strong mindset. Do you view this hobby as an escape from work, or do you see it as something that helps you and prepares you for business challenges?

Yes, you’re right! It’s very much a hobby when I am not working but I think some areas overlap with work. I’ve cycled up some serious mountains in France and Italy and the length of the UK over nine days, both of which require a combination of physical fitness/endurance and mental strength. There were times when I felt completely exhausted, but I still had another ten miles to go – experience taught me that I would get through it (often by imagining a nice cold drink at the end!), but I have to use that mental resilience at work, too. Scientists claim that sports are more mental than physical, and I agree.

I remember reading a lot about Team Sky during their success in the Tour de France and the Olympics around 2012 and how they analysed all aspects of what they were doing, looking for tiny improvements. They came up with a concept of ‘marginal gains’ – doing one or two of these small changes individually altered little, but when you combined a hundred, you could affect a lot. Some examples of changes they made were to bring their own mattresses for the riders to sleep on to improve their quality of sleep and they would also clean the hotel rooms themselves (after the hotel had done so) to improve the air quality. I try to apply this notion of continuous improvement to my professional and personal life.

Final and short question. What is the right order to watch Star Wars?

Oh, what a question! I’m a huge fan of Star Wars and like many people reading this, I have grown up with it. My first memory was my auntie taking me to watch Return of the Jedi at the pictures when I was 4! I made her sit right at the front of the cinema, staring in awe at the enormous screen watching Luke Skywalker fight Darth Vader and then at the end of the film, I was dancing with the Ewoks. Later that year, Father Christmas brought me the official Millenium Falcon toy (which would now be worth a fortune!) and I “flew” it all around the house and garden.

There is no doubt that the original trilogy will forever live fondly as my favourites, however (setting myself up for ridicule) I actually quite enjoy the prequels and the sequels as well! I would argue that the origin story Rogue One can hold its own, too (Solo, less so) and of course the three series of The Mandalorian series are epic. So I would say the correct order is…. ‘The Phantom Menace’, ‘Attack of the Clones’, ‘Revenge of the Sith’, ‘Rogue One’, ‘A New Hope’, ‘The Empire Strikes Back’, ‘Return of the Jedi’, ‘The Mandalorian’, ‘The Force Awakens’, ‘The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker’.

See yourself as a part of Spyrosoft in the UK? Browse open positions and apply!