First point is that, yes, Lovelady really is my surname! Originally from Liverpool in the UK, after a Modern Languages degree in French and Spanish, I spent 15 years in an IBM environment working for companies and software houses in the UK and France. I worked initially on mainframe programming and then as a team leader/project manager for mainframe and internet projects in the financial services domain.
I spent a year or so out of IT setting up and managing a “cafe-theatre” in Spain as well as working the bar and playing piano in the in-house jazz quartet. Unfortunately, due to financial difficulties it didn’t turn out to be my escape but it was a great year!
I moved to France on a more permanent basis in 2002 and had to re-adjust my focus after being let down on a permanent I.T. job in Montpellier. I had to use my language and IT skills as a self-employed “consultant” (or “multi-spécialiste” as they paradoxically say in France) to make ends meet – translating and teaching English.
I also worked on an internet marketing project aimed at rental accommodation and property sales, based in the French market before being taken further afield. But lack of funding for some innovative search engine solutions in this marketplace meant we never really got our act together – I still live in hope!
However, due to personal circumstances, in 2005 I moved back to the UK (Wirral on Merseyside) and, after a spell in telephone customer services for HMRC (!), I opened the Green Dolphin Brasserie & Bar in 2008.
Kevin Lovelady 