About Us
A little history...
Sarsen Education is a trading name of Sarsen Software. The company has been created as a result of discussions held over the past three years between two close friends: Mat Tobin (Wantage Church of England Primary’s IT and English coordinator) and Niki Dinsey (former Executive Director of a successful local software company). While out walking in the North Welsh hills, the two friends discussed at length how difficult it is to find decent engaging and worthwhile educational software for Key Stage 2. They came to the conclusion that teachers should demand more from software producers and more for their e-Learning Credits.
Surprised with the lack of quality teaching software, they decided to design some simple electronic white board software apps that Mat could use with his Year Five students in their weekly ICT sessions. Initial trials with this software were well received by the students and teachers alike. Further refinement took place and it was about this time that interactive white boards started to be installed in classrooms across the country. Therefore Niki and Mat decided to go into business developing interactive white board software and bring their ideas to a wider audience.
The two friends understood that to make truly exceptional software it shouldn’t just describe the subject correctly, the whole experience should look and feel great. They searched for some time to find the right designers and developers to help build their software vision. Prudence paid off when they finally met a partner duo of a freelance graphic designer and comic book author, Liam Faulkner; and a freelance Adobe Flash designer, Katherine Boardman; they shared their dream of shaking up the UK education software market. To finalise the development team, Niki called on a very talented friend Ian Packard (a Senior Java Enterprise developer) to build the backend infrastructure that supports and manages all the individual software deployments throughout the country.
In late October 2006, with the development team defined, the hard work started around day jobs to produce Sarsen Education’s first software title based on mathematical word problems.
With the development team working nicely, Niki started the search for a dynamic management team to run the serious side of the business. Recently retired from board level directorships at some of the country’s largest the telecoms companies, Niki’s father Eric Dinsey was asked to be chairman. To complete the team Niki, called upon friend and ex-colleague Gary Price to discuss the financial aspects of the business. Gary proposed that his wife, Michelle Price be appointed Finance Director. Michelle has previously been Finance Director for Virgin Projects, working with start-ups from the ground up and growing them into multi-million pound businesses. Gary also continues to play an active part in the business, looking for opportunities as well as essential analytical reporting going forward.
Late June 2007 the prototype product was finally ready for release to selected local schools in Oxfordshire area. The response has been excellent with well over 25% response rate confirming we’ve hit a sweet spot in terms of design and functionality. More on the survey can be read here.
With the survey complete and the business planned, Sarsen Software is now actively looking for investment to complete the first product in time for BETT 2008. More updates to the history will be posted as the story unfolds.
