Meet Alex
Next up in our 'meet the team' series is Account Executive and Resource Manager, Alex Fenton. Alex moved to Shetland from Edinburgh where he ran his own audio company following completion of a Music Technology degree at Edinburgh University. Always seeking to blend creative and technical pursuits, Alex worked as a live sound engineer for venues, festivals and events, and a music producer from his studio premises in Leith. But working for yourself means mastering the balance of many other activities too which meant Alex joined NB with a breadth of skills covering sales, business development and marketing.
Alex joined NB in 2015 as business development officer, and now looks after our existing clients in Shetland and Orkney whilst also taking care of sales activity and management of internal resources.
Alex makes regular trips to Orkney where NB's client base has grown significantly over the last few years. A lot of his time is spent speaking to businesses, finding out what would help them and developing solutions that will generate meaningful results for our clients. In Orkney, NB has had the opportunity to work with many different types of business, from jewellery and gin distilleries to accountants, furniture makers and public bodies.
In his spare time, Alex likes to brew his own beer, make his own bread and write music from his croft house base in the South Mainland.
Alex's Q&A
We asked Alex a series of fun questions, so you can get to know him a little better.
1. Tell us a surprising fact about yourself?
I have a diploma in the Clarinet.
2. What are your top 3 life highlights?
A month-long trip to Guyana in South America when I was 16. My stag do. And the day I married my wonderful wife.
3. If Hollywood made a movie about your life, who would you like to see cast as you and why?
I would have said Kevin Spacey a year ago but not anymore! Maybe John Simm.
4. If you could be any animal, which would you be?
Definitely some kind of bird. Like an Osprey.
5. What are your three most overused words/phrases?
Awesome. To be honest. Pint of ale please.
6. What’s the coolest thing you’re working on right now?
At work – working with e-commerce sites is pretty cool because everything is so trackable.
At home – brewing my own beer.
7. What’s the best meal you’ve ever had?
Awesome fillet of beef in Spain last summer (accompanied by seafood starter and several cocktails).
8. If you could live in any period of history, when would it be?
The future. I’m a sci-fi fan so any kind of technology fuelled land of futurism would be right up my street.
9. What is the most important personal attribute that you bring to your job?
Being solutions-focussed. I naturally want to solve things so getting to know a business and providing them with solutions for fixing problems is very enjoyable for me.
10. What technology innovation made the most impact on your life?
As a music producer who used to run their own recording studio, I’d say digital music. The fact you can carry around thousands of songs on a tiny device is mid-boggling. And they’re just made from strings of 0s and 1s. Amazing.
11. What would you name your boat if you had one and why?
Boaty McBoat Face. Has someone already said that?
12. How would you convince someone to visit the place you love the most?
I wouldn’t convince them. I’d just say things that would make them decide to go for themselves.