About Paul Skirrow

I was born in Derby in 1965, went to Bemrose School and then Warwick University where I obtained a BSc in Electronics. I moved to Ipswich in 1987 to work for Lindos Electronics and met Tracey, my wife, in 1988

Octopus Systems

I started my own business in June 1994, trading as Octopus Systems. I work as a computer consultant doing software development, technical documentation and training. I have also developed my own products which I market and sell directly, including LA100 Control software, Teletext software and Caller Display software.

I have successfully developed several large commercial software projects for numerous clients, including Acorn, Lindos Electronics, Castle Technology, Pace Micro Technology, Endurance Technology, Nestle and many others. Developments. I develop code in assembler, BBC BASIC, Visual BASIC, C and Fortran for embedded systems, RISC OS, VMS and Windows. Applications include audio testing, production testing, TCP/IP network systems, network computers, embedded systems, computer integrated telephony with projects ranging from custom device drivers to windowing applications. Click the link to read about other success stories.

The Kids

We've got two children, Josie who was born in September 2003 and Nathan who was born in April 2005. We have great fun together and working from home means I see a lot of them.

Josie is really interested in marine life and can identify clown fish, anemones and most of the other things you see in Finding Nemo. At the time of writing Nathan is just 14 months old and nearly walking.

Scuba Diving

I am a keen SCUBA diver. My most spectacular dives have been in the Red Sea (Egypt) with turtle and Lion fish and also on Ningaloo Reef (NW Australia) where I swam with 8m whale sharks, huge manta rays and Wobbygong sharks. I've also dived in France, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Scotland, Ireland and, of course, the North Sea off Felixstowe (murky, but good for wreck diving) and I've even met a few sharks, manta rays and whales.

I've also dived in the Coral Sea and the Barrier Reef, spending a week on board Spoilsport, a large, purpose-built catamaran. The best dive there was the Yongala which sank in a storm in 1911. It is now covered on coral and teaming with life as it is a long way from the nearest coral reef. On our first dive we swam with eight large Stingrays and three turtles.

I was an active member of the Sunstar Sub-Aqua Club, a local BS-AC club before we had kids and have served on the committee as new members representative, newsletter editor and communications officer. I set up the Sunstar web site and produced dozens of SubScript newsletters. I also helped with training, lecturing, publicity and social events.

Octopush

I play Octopush in Fore Street swimming pool. Octopush is best described as underwater hockey, and is played with mask, snorkel, fins and protective hat and gloves. Two teams attempt to push a squid (puck) into the opponents gull (metal goal tray). It is fast and lively and best played with 6 a side.

Home Cinema and Home Automation

With two young children we don't get out as much as we used to so I've spent a lot of time perfecting our home cinema system with a High Definition TV system (Pioneer 436XDE plasma, Sky HD), DVD recorder and Dolby Digital Surround sound system. The picture quality on a HD channel is stunning but when we have a babysitter they need a two page instruction sheet explaining how to watch telly...

Other hobbies

I play Badminton regularly and run a Badminton Club which meets at Copleston School every Tuesday. I enjoy cycling and I once did the London to Brighton cycle ride. Other hobbies include sailing and drinking real ale.

Contact Details

You can email me at