Your stories: autumn 2024

I recently had the honour of being painted by my close friend, and royal portrait painter, Jeff Stultiens. I’d been invited as the alumni representative at a University ceremony in December 2022, and when Jeff saw a photo of me in my alumni dress for the occasion, he knew he had to capture the moment. The portrait was to be Jeff’s last painting, and he passed shortly before it was complete last spring.

The work was displayed at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters’ Annual Exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London this year. The exhibition was a lovely gathering, made more so by being joined by five of my friends, all Physics graduates from the 1971 class and part of the group that we affectionately refer to ourselves as ‘The Dullards’.

On completing my degree, I departed for South Africa for five years pushing water around the country. I subsequently have delivered multiple infrastructure schemes including expressways in China, rail in the UK, metros in Portugal and Qatar, power schemes in the UK and Laos and many others. 

On my journey I picked up another degree in Construction Management from Bath as well as becoming a Fellow of two Institutions. 42 years after leaving Birmingham I have just finished my role as Engineering Director for High Speed Two. To bring the circle around I have ended up living in Tipton so almost back to Birmingham. 

Since graduating from Birmingham, I have spent more than 25 years working in financial markets, and in 2011, I founded my own business (Plain English Finance). The company exists to help people improve their financial literacy and understanding of money and financial markets. My latest book, Our Future is Biotech, looks at what will very likely be one of the most important drivers of human progress going forwards. It aims to provide the reader with an understanding of arguably the most important investment theme of the next century, help them make better use of these new technologies and ideas for their mental and physical health and, perhaps most importantly, attempt to foster a sunnier disposition and sense of just how much better the world is (empirically) than all too many people realise nowadays.

I have found my degree to be helpful in developing the skills required to be an author, and probably more relevant to that than to my career in banking in many ways. At University I had to get through a huge amount of reading, pull my thoughts together in a suitably structured way, and produce many thousands of words. Not much has changed since, except for the scale of source material and the size of the documents I’m producing!

After graduating, I moved to the Southwest where I became a practising GP. However, the time I spent at Birmingham had given me a real interest in biochemistry and pathophysiology, and that has helped me in my other venture with fellow Birmingham alumnus Professor Paul Winyard (PhD Experimental Medicine, 1987).

Together, we are researching the benefits of watercress extract. We’ve already found it to be perfect for the skincare market, being soothing and helpful in protecting against irritation. Our skin-care range, Prof&Doc, is really taking off since launching earlier this year. We’re now exploring global markets for our product and looking to further unlock the potential of watercress extract for medical use.

Earlier this year, my work ‘Passing Through’ was commissioned by the University to celebrate the new University train station, and to bring public art to all those who visit and travel through.

After graduating, I trained in fine art. My work has spanned animation, illustration, textiles, ceramics, sculpture, public art and print – but it was my studies at the English department that fuelled my interests in storytelling, community publishing and language. I also went to free life drawing classes at the Guild every week for my three years at Birmingham.

I’ve since been artist in residence at The British Consulate in Chicago and the University of Birmingham, and recipient of the 2019 Feeney Fellowship.

I was honoured to be recognised in the Study UK Awards for India this year as a finalist in the Social Action category. Along with my nomination in the Professional Achievement category in 2021, it serves as a real motivation to continue to make contributions in my chosen field of public health and policy.

Working in public health, the education I received in biological sciences from Birmingham provided an important foundation to my career. I learnt the all-important fundamentals in the subject, especially genetics, and the University actively encouraged and focused on developing and honing important transferable skills such as oral and written communication through different channels and team work.

I met some of my best friends at Birmingham – people I am still very much connected with, even though we are now based in different parts of the world.

I’m currently a PhD researcher studying English Literature and Creative Writing at the University of York. My doctoral thesis focuses on trauma writing and sincerity within millennial art and literature. Alongside my thesis, I have written a novel, for which I won a 2024 Northern Writers’ Award for Debut Fiction. Literary agent and NWA judge, Rachel Mann, said: ‘I was blown away by the sense of place and communication of trauma in this one. The horror, struggle, beauty, and mundanity of motherhood are all articulated with such control and sophistication.’

Way before this novel existed, I was a student at Birmingham writing a short story collection under the supervision of Dr Ruth Gilligan. Shortly after graduation, I published several of the stories I had written during my MA and, with a recommendation from Ruth, I interned for Atlantic Books. During the internship an editor sent my collection to a literary agent, and I’m proud to say I am now represented by that very same agent, Imogen Pelham, at Marjacq.

My time at Birmingham gave me the confidence to start my own business and taught me how business could, and should, tackle the key challenges of our generation. Even before the cost-of-living crisis, more than 10 million people in the UK were living in poverty and struggling with their household finances. Pocket Power ensures these individuals aren’t left to face these challenges on their own. We worked with people on low incomes to design a service that works for them, identifying three key barriers to accessing savings and discounts on household bills – Time, Tech and Trust.

Pocket Power has saved over £1,000,000 for 4,000 people, and we’re only scratching the surface. We’ve got ambitious plans to grow the service and expand the range of partners we work with.

After graduating from Birmingham, I worked at the Hong Kong Paralympic Committee & Sports Association for the Physically Disabled, where I began my para-sport career and managed the development of various para sports, with a particular focus on boccia, a Paralympic sport designed for athletes with severe physical disabilities. I am a boccia coach and ramp operator for BC3 class athletes, who have significant limitations in arm and leg functions and poor or no trunk control. They are unable to consistently grasp or release the ball and cannot propel it into the field of play without assistance.

With the help of a ramp and an assistant, they can compete at the highest levels, and at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games we won Gold in the Mixed BC3 Pairs event. This was the first Paralympic medal for Hong Kong in this category and marked a historic achievement for our boccia team, which topped the boccia medals table with three Gold and two Silver medals. I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved and look forward to continuing to contribute to the world of para sports.

In my final year, I chose a module that enabled me to observe and take over Computer Science lessons at a local school. I crafted workshops to help teachers learn how to use AI tools in their lessons and that’s where the idea for my education company Teachify came from. I wanted to create software that could instantly provide resources that would both ease teachers’ workload and enrich their teaching practices.

It’s early days, but already I’m proud to say that Teachify has been named Education and Training Startup of the Year at the Midlands Startup Awards, and renowned entrepreneur Theo Paphitis (of Dragons’ Den fame) selected us for his coveted #SBS Award (Small Business Sunday).