IT expert Chris Gillie loves nothing more than solving problems whether it be a runaway mouse or a cyber attack

Chris Gillie has worked in IT for more than 25 years and joined the Chamber to provide IT support.

Starting his career at EuroTunnel, he now works as an independent IT professional managing the IT for three small to medium sized organisations.

He is also a resident of Brentford, highlighted in our Spotlight Focus Area this edition.

“I have lived in Brentford for about 15 years, and I am a live-in landlord of an HMO, renting out three rooms,” said Chris.

“I had lived in West London before, and this house was perfect. Priced as a three-bed, I knew it would make a four-bed once I’d taken a partition wall down. It was in my price range and had good parking.

“Over my time in Brentford, I have been the owner of WaveLogic, a small IT support company (now sadly closed), the IT Manager of Brentford School for Girls and IT manager of MapMechanics which was a map related technology firm in Brentford.”

It was in this last role that Chris met Chris Greenwood, now Chair of West London Chambers, who introduced him to Hounslow Chamber of Commerce about four years ago, to help them with IT support.

“When I first joined the Chamber to do their IT support, while visiting them on that first day, I noticed the labels on the icons on their screens suddenly change to gobbledygook and then see a ransom demand appear,” he said.

“It was a ransomware attack. I therefore had to wipe the machines, install everything from scratch and restore the data from backups.

“Although somewhat stressful, it helped me to get to know the team much faster than otherwise would have happened and brought forward the upgrades I would have had to do anyway, as their systems were a little out of date.”

Chris always knew that IT was the career for him and studied computing at university. “I enjoy solving problems for people,” said Chris.

“I think the funniest incident I have dealt with is a woman who thought she was being hacked because her mouse cursor kept moving on the screen. I asked her when it had started and she said it was when she returned to her desk. I asked her where her mouse was as I could only see her laptop and she said it was in her blouse pocket. So, every time she moved, the mouse moved. She had put it in her pocket when she had moved her laptop to her desk.

“Everyone always thinks it’s marvellous what I do and thinks it’s really complicated, but to me it’s really simple. It gives me a lot of satisfaction.”

Sally Smith, COO of West London Chambers of Commerce, added: “Chris was incredibly calm and reassuring during the ransomware attack and continues to be an immense help to the Chambers.” solution they can call, message, WhatsApp and even Teams call with one number managed by the company. No more need for employees to use their own numbers or forward their calls. And all of these services are usually half the cost of your current phone system. surprises. We then work to Implement that plan, ensuring the whole company Is on board and taking advantage of the efficiencies. Our goal Is to Improve process, reduce waste and utillze technology to drive business. Ask us today how we can help you.

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