A senior software developer, Manos was the seventh member of staff to join Sigma Seven. Having worked previously in Athens, in his native Greece, he will have been with the company for five years in November.

‘I work with client projects to ensure that our product meets their requirements. When a new project comes along, I go out with the Project Manager and we liaise with the customer to find out about their needs and specifications. We put the planning in place and then I lead through the development process for the customer. It’s an interesting challenge because each project is different.

‘An important part of what I do is improving usability. We try to make our products as easy to use and intuitive as possible. Over the years, we have built up a lot of experience in meeting specific client needs and that means we can anticipate a lot of potential requirements. Of course, we are also very aware that we have to be responsive to specifications that we haven’t come across before.

‘Recently, one of our customers needed us to ensure that the map was readable by an employee who was colour blind. We configured the mapping so that rather than using conventional colours to represent different types of mapping data, we used colours and shading which were colour blind compatible. That way, the employee who was colour blind could differentiate between the different data just as clearly and easily as his colleagues could. We always work very closely with our customers to make sure that the end users have a say throughout project implementation.’

Before working with Sigma Seven, Manos spent four years in sports software and web development in Athens. He came to Scotland to do a Masters degree in computing at Edinburgh University. Recently married to Evi, who he met in Edinburgh, Manos is coming to appreciate the strange beauty of Scottish League football.

‘I follow the Greek league and the Scottish league,’ he says. ‘I’ve been to four Hibs games and they have never lost once. The first one I went to, they won 7-1.  I must be lucky for them.’