Meet the Team

Tanya is our travel-loving, bookworm who heads up our Customer Service and Sales Teams! She absolutely loves travelling and is a nightmare for hopping on a plane to see the world. In fact, she’s visited 40 countries so far!

Although she rarely watches TV and admits that she definitely would not have seen your favourite movie or any of the popular Netflix series (unless it’s a good documentary!), she does love reading! She will read absolutely anything, right up to the last page, even painfully boring books! The only book to have beaten her so far is War and Peace!

When asked for a fact about herself, she said that ‘Frank Bruno once saved my life.’ That’s it. We have no other context for you but please do ask about it next time you speak to her!

Brook is our football-loving Key Account Manager who joined the Commtel family in April 2022 as our Internal Sales Executive. His eagerness to learn and team ethos meant that he picked up his new role in record time and was recently promoted to Key Account Manager: Installation and Bespoke in November’23! Watch this space!

Not only is Brook a team player at work, but also on the pitch. He has been playing for Oxted & District FC since he was 5 and in 2022 he earned the Captain Title for the 2022 Season!

Meet Mark, our Kalimba-playing Internal Sales Executive who joined us in August 2022! Yes, we said ‘Kalimba playing’… Mark’s self-taught Kalimba skills were acquired when he received one as a gift in 2021! So far he’s mastered ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ and a couple of Elvis songs.. we’re still waiting for him to serenade the office though! Mark’s musical interest doesn’t stop there, he loves everything from Beastie Boys to Mozart!

Mark is also a skilled woodworker and often creates furniture and sculptures for his friends, but his favourite hobby is surfing/bodyboarding!

He also collects slogan t-shirts, and like our other Mark (who collects trainers), he wears a different one every Friday!

Lilly (aka Lilypad) started with us in 2017, looking after our SIM cards. She was poached by the sales team about 6 months later to try her hand at Sales Admin, alongside SIMs, and very quickly progressed to Business Development Manager whilst, also taking on Warranties – phew! Lilly has recently returned from Maternity Leave and now manages our Warranties and Support Agreements.

Apparently, her favourite hobby is bottomless brunch… and if that doesn’t count then it’s long walks and going to the gym. Did you know that she’s also run the Brighton Marathon?!

Lilly is also Mum to one of our mascots, Juno the Labrador, who frequents the office with her buddy Margot, our other Labrador mascot!

Josh has such an interesting history – with French, German, Portuguese and English heritage! Living in Portugal for a few years means he can understand the language perfectly and is not too bad at speaking it too! Why not put him to the test?

Josh joined our programming team in 2019 and is also a part-time Network Ninja, assisting Paula with TG Telecom! On top of this, he is learning flutter so that he can help our Senior Technical Engineer, Paul, with app development! He’s like a young Jedi.. learning from Obi One..

Lewis is our cat loving, boxing mad, programmer who has been with us since 2019.

Like Tigger, he’s always moving and likes to be kept busy, whether it’s at work or with his intense fitness training. His main goal in life is to be a middleweight world champion Boxer by 2025!

Lewis also produces some of our training videos, and in his spare time, is a frequent Twitch streamer!

Callum joined us in 2021 as part of our programming team and has a passion for providing top customer service!

He’s a gamer at heart and spends most of his spare time glued to his computer or listening to music! He also loves travelling the world and will snatch any opportunity to visit somewhere new!

When he was only two years old, he had Craniofacial surgery (“the most complex of facial plastic surgery” according to google) which lasted just over 9 hours!

Don’t let Callum’s calm voice fool you, he’s the Programming team’s very own Karate Kid with around 7 years martial arts experience!

Sam is our pink-haired, cat-loving, proud Brummy marketeer, who joined the Commtel team in 2014 as a Sales Administrator. In her time here, she has also helped in the programming team (when the team was small!), was promoted to Sales Consultant in 2015, and eventually became our Senior Business Development Manager. In November 2021 Sam hung up her sales hat and moved into marketing full time, after a year of doing it alongside her sales role!

With her vast sea of knowledge, she is often called upon for help by members of every department.

When Sam is not working on a marketing campaign or showing off her party trick (licking her own elbow!), she can be found making candles, renovating her new home (a 200-year-old cottage in East Grinstead), or being mum to the company’s favourite cat, Jay (who has even visited the Commtel Office on more than one occasion!).

Meet Mike, our coffee-loving ‘Chief Botherer’ who joined us in May and always has a random fact to share (seriously, he is full of them!). Don’t let his relaxed nature and calming voice fool you though, he’s a tough cookie and spent many years as a Doorman!

Before he joined the Commtel family, he worked as a Planning Designer in residential development for 10 years and also co-owns a bar with his Dad!

Originally from Bolton, Mike now resides on the south coast with his wife and young son. When he’s not keeping the team’s caffeine levels topped up, he can be found gardening, on long dog walks in the New Forest or barbequing. In fact, he has a BBQ on his birthday every year, even though it’s at the end of November… To be fair though, this is the same man who only wears shorts, even when it’s snowing!

Jez started working with us in 2018 and is part of our fabulous production team and is now in charge of our QA! Jez has brought a wealth of knowledge and experience into the department, enhancing our QA standards and procedures.

He’s big on all sports, but mainly Rugby, and is the youngest Chairman of a Rugby club (we think in the country – certainly the least retired from playing anyway!). He’s also our very own connoisseur of cards against humanity…

Paul started working with us in 2018 as part of our programming team. He also looks after our IT and is constantly dialling into our PC’s remotely to fix them, which has been especially useful since we all started working from home! He also designed our recent apps and was promoted to Senior Technical Engineer in 2021!

If you’ve already read Dave’s bio, you’ll know that he used to be a Baker… well so did Paul! What’s weirder though is that they worked for the same supermarket (in separate branches) and started here at the same time, earning themselves the nickname ‘Baker Boys’..

Paul’s favourite thing to do is to watch Fulham play (he’s a season ticket holder, obviously!) and he’s also the main instigator of any Jägerbombs which may appear on a staff night out. Oh, and his dance moves are incredible!

Dave is one of our senior programmers and works closely with our firmware developer! Dave has been with us since 2018 and he really hates watching programming scenes in films… apparently, it’s nothing like that in real life?!

A former Baker, Dave also has a passion for gaming and writing random programs which serve no real purpose (yet!). He has also learned C, C++ & Java since working with us, alongside his full-time role, so he will soon know more about programming than he does about bread!

Mark is our music-loving, basketball fanatic who joined the Commtel family in February 2020. His music taste is hugely varied, so he can always be relied on to sort the playlist out at our company socials!

When he’s not playing basketball (which is a lot!), or watching the Boston Celtics, he’s either out walking, doing some sort of outdoor activity with his friends and family, or practicing his landscape photography.

Not only does Mark collect fridge magnets for every place he’s visited, but he also has a fairly large collection of shoes and wears a different pair every week on our dress down Friday!

Ethan joined us in July 2021 as a Junior Production Engineer and was promoted to Engineering Build Lead in December 2022!

He is absolutely obsessed with anything car-related, specifically VW, and when not at work, he’s either out driving or fixing his cars. His weekends are spent attending various car shows, and if he isn’t working on cars, talking about cars, or driving cars, he can be found tinkering with bikes!

Ethan is also super helpful and always willing to lend a hand. Whether it’s a bit of manual labour or changing the odd headlight bulb, he’s always there to assist!

Meet Kaydon, our art-loving Junior Production Engineer, who joined us in January, amidst the chaos of one of our busiest months! Even though we threw him straight into the deep end, his super chill nature and background in assembling cameras and screens, set him off on a flying start!

Our very own music nerd (his words, not ours!), Kaydon loves seeing live music when he can and spends some of his free time researching different types of music. His main hobby, however, is art! Particularly painting and drawing, and he’s designed most of his own tattoos too! When he’s not painting or researching music, he can be found playing various instruments, mainly bass and guitar!

Say hello to Reece, the newest member of our team, who joined us in March!

Reece is our motorbike-riding Junior Production Engineer who has a flair for adventure and a love for technology! With his polite and friendly demeanour, and approachable nature, Reece is always willing to lend a hand.

When he’s not immersed in a computer game, you can find him cruising the open roads on his beloved motorbike or perfecting his archery skills. In fact, Reece’s dedication to archery goes beyond personal enjoyment as he actively contributes to the sport. He serves as the Equipment Officer on the committee of the archery club he attends, demonstrating his organisational abilities and attention to detail!

Suresh is our superstar CFO who joined us in 2020. In his first 2 years, he made significant improvements to our processes and systems, and has recently been promoted to Chief Financial Officer!

Suresh is a bit of a foodie, and his favourite dish is Chilli Beef. He is also a huge family man and was graced with his first daughter in early ’21 and another in May ’23! We all love seeing photos of them growing up and hearing about their milestones!

Di is our monster munch loving, travel fanatic, bad ass Chief Operating Officer who started with us part time as a working mum back in 2010. That’s right – she has been putting up with us for over ten years!

During her time, she started taking care of the warranties, progressing onto Purchase Ledger, Head of Accounts, Operations Manager and now runs the day-to-day business as our Chief Operating Officer.

Remember we mentioned Di was a mum? The job doesn’t end when she steps through our door! With a heart of gold, she is open for all of us at Commtel, and will never close regardless. At the same time, she will be the first to put us back in line!

Even with the challenges of working remotely over the last couple of years, she’s always the first to ask how we all are in the company group chat and get us all interacting. Whether it’s asking us all what we’re up to or what music we’ve been listening to recently, she works hard to ensure the whole team is happy.

With her extensive product knowledge, and all-round awesome management skills, Di is truly treasured, and we really wouldn’t be the company we are without her!

Bernard joined us in January 2019 as our Head of Special Projects and has recently taken on the role of Acting Commercial Director.

His favourite thing to do is shopping, and he absolutely loves design – cars, architecture, furniture, watches, you name it!

He’s a registered gold and silversmith too and is very well travelled. He’s spent many years working internationally and always has a wise story to tell.

In his short time at Commtel, he has helped the company get numerous projects over the line and we wouldn’t be without him!

Piers is our Aikido loving, Chief Financial Officer, who joined us in around 2012 as a consultant.

By day, he oversees our finance department, but by night, he’s our very own Sensei! You think we’re joking, but he’s been practising for 40 years and is currently the chairman of the British Aikido Board – the Governing body of aikido in the UK! A bit like Batman.. or maybe more like Splinter, actually.. (if you know, you know).

Piers also enjoys spending time in his wood workshop making toys and furniture for his grandchildren.

Meet the heart of Commtel!

Alan is our golf-loving, CEO who, when not on the golf course, or up on a ski slope, can be found walking his dogs and spending time with his family.

He was a choir boy in his younger days (before his voice broke, of course) and a ball boy at Wimbledon in the really hot summer of 1976! Alan’s expert dad-dancing and sense of humour often entertain the team at the company’s social events too!

When we asked him for a fact about himself, he said that he is “a dyslexic state-school underachiever, who left school with no qualifications” (his words, not ours!), but Alan’s passion, positive outlook and innovative ideas paved the way for telephone-based door entry as we know it today. That very first prototype, born from a passing comment back in 1985, and based on a BT-type handset using speed dial, robotic fingers and a bit of old hoover pipe (seriously!), is the foundation of the Telguard and Optimus intercoms our customers know and love.

Alan is full of wise words and thought-provoking advice, but something his Nan said to him many years ago is something he shares with us often, and that is “I would rather be mad and know it, than mad and not know it.”