About Me
Working-class frontend dev from Newcastle. Building stuff that works for people, finally doing what I should've years ago.
Who I Am
Alright, I'm Andy. Currently working as a frontend dev for a local authority, but that's not all I am. I'm dad to 3 beautiful children, solo traveller, football manager and goalkeeping coach, a writer (working on a novel and some short stories), and when I get time I also do the occasional modelling and TV work.
My Journey
As I mentioned, I have 3 children and for years I was juggling a full-time job, two part-time jobs, and a full-time degree just to get food on the table. No time to breathe, never mind to code properly. Now the kids are older, the craziness of life has settled a bit, and I can focus on what I love: creating stuff that makes life easier for people.
How It Started
I've been messing with code since I was a teenager in the late 90s, back in school when we had a few 'internet computers' in a lab. After school I would wait in the cupboard until the cleaner left and locked the door, then I would come out and load up Windows 98 to browse the internet. We couldn't afford a PC at home but I always wanted one and felt naturally talented with them, especially during IT lessons.
So I would go on the websites that were about at the time and look at 'view page source' to see how it was all put together. Then when it got to about 6pm I would turn it off, open the window from the 1st floor and jump onto the roof below, then onto the grass. Luckily schools back then weren't like prisons with CCTV and 8-foot fences everywhere.
When I was 22, I built a VBA tool at a bank that took a 20-minute admin task and cut it down to 30 seconds. That little tool ended up saving over £3 million a year. It showed me early on that if you fix something properly, you fix it once.
What I Do Now
Now I'm a frontend dev at Northumberland County Council, leading the way in how we're displaying our website, introducing them to accessible ways of working, componentisation, clean structured code and making the website useable from the user's point of view.
What I've Built
These are things I've built in 2025 because I needed them to make my job easier:
EmilyCSS - A simple CSS toolkit for building accessible public sector sites. Works with plain HTML, Drupal, Astro, no unnecessary frameworks or junk.
CSS Audit Tool - Scans projects for unused or duplicate CSS, respects load order, and produces a cleaner, lighter file. Makes it easier to reduce bloat and debug issues fast.
Content Clarity Checker - An offline tool that checks reading age, flags jargon and helps keep content readable for real people. Built for local government teams who don't need more logins or subscriptions.
These aren't fancy side projects. They solve real problems I've hit in my work and they actually get used.
My Approach
I'm not here to make things look pretty; I'm here to make them simple and easy to use. I want people to go to a website or application and get what they need without any friction, in the easiest way possible that's accessible for the majority.
Accessibility's massive for me. Everyone should be able to use it, no excuses. Too many frontend devs get caught up on flashy designs - "look at this shimmering button I have created" - but I'd rather strip it back and make it work simply. Once we have that as a base, then look to add style to it, but as a minimum it needs to work for everyone.
Pet Peeves
What gets on my fucking nerves? Messy codebases. It's like walking into an old house when the previous owner has stuck wallpaper on top of wallpaper and then decides to paint over it, layer after layer of mess because no one could be arsed to strip it back and make it tidy and useable. So I would say improving developer experience is something I'm always looking at too. I've got to peel it all off, get to the brick, and start again. It's time consuming, but it's got to be done right.
Looking Ahead
Working within the council has reinforced how accessible and UCD can really help people, which is why I'm possibly one of the few devs who doesn't see AI as a threat. I'm looking forward to creating tools that take the boring bits out of dev work and make things smoother for users too.
I've got ADHD, so I need projects that keep me excited and give me purpose so I get that dopamine hit. If it's not useful or exciting, what's the point?
My dream job? Something that matters. Building tools or sites that solve real problems, things I can get into and feel good about. Freelance or not, I just want it to be worth the time.
Life Outside Code
Outside of code, I manage a grassroots football team up in Newcastle and I'm also a dedicated goalkeeping coach. Coaching's taught me loads about mentoring, managing people, spotting weaknesses and trying to improve on them, but also seeing the strengths and building on them. All that feeds into my dev work.
Solo travel resets me, but it also pushes me. I have a stammer, which has made things hard in the past - job interviews, presentations, just everyday conversations. But I've spent the last 5 years working on it, and solo travel is part of that. Backpack, cheap flights, no plans, and I'm forced to talk to people. This year alone I've been to Lagos, Marrakesh, New York, Lugano, Lake Como, Milan and Ibiza, and it's only June. It clears my head and gives me a fresh take when I'm back at my desk.
My Drive
Parenting's my drive. I want my family to be proud of me, I want my kids to see what hard work looks like. Every job, every hobby, it's all building skills you can use somewhere else.
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