FEATURE
Big hitter
Dean Benson has ambitious plans to help businesses grow – and to give young people on Teesside an equal chance to realise their potential . The CEO of Visualsoft talks to PETER BARRON
PICTURES BY GRAEME ROWATT
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VER since he was a little boy , determined to beat his sisters on early computer games , Dean Benson has been thinking bigger .
He remembers playing one of those tennis games that plugged into the TV , and working out how to give himself an advantage .
“ When everyone was out of the room , I broke into the computer , had a quick look at the coding and learned how to increase the size of my bat so it was easier to hit the ball ,” he laughs .
Dean grew up to be co-founder and chief executive of Stockton-based ecommerce specialist Visualsoft , employing 320 , with expansion plans that will create 100 more jobs over the next year .
Think Bigger is the Visualsoft motto , artistically prominent on the wall at the company ’ s Prince ’ s Wharf headquarters . But those two words would also comfortably represent the theme for the boss ’ s life .
Dean grew up in an ordinary Middlesbrough family , in the house in Nunthorpe that his mum and dad still occupy . Dad , Darryl , was a civil engineer , who went on to launch his own consultancy business . Mum , Linda , worked as a home care organiser for elderly people .
“ They worked hard to give us a nice life ,” Dean recalls . “ We had a caravan , and dad would drive 24 hours non-stop , just so we could have holidays in the south of France .”
Dean was the youngest in his class , and never very attentive . “ They tested my hearing at one point , but it was just that I didn ’ t find lessons very interesting ,” he explains .
Everything changed when his dad bought the family their first computer , a Sinclair QL . “ Dad ’ s very analytical , he loves doing puzzles , and I used to watch him using the computer to work things out . As soon as it arrived in the house , something clicked with me . It just came naturally .”
As Dean ’ s digital obsession grew , he was soon showing the teachers at Newlands School how to use the computers . At the same time , he made money cutting grass for his nanna ’ s friends , and had five paper rounds .
“ I wasn ’ t motivated by money , but I wanted to be independent . I used tips from the paper rounds to buy an early Casio digital watch – I ’ ve still got it .”
Despite computers being Dean ’ s clear vocation , his careers advisor recommended that he should develop other skills to avoid “ burn-out ”. He signed up for A-levels in maths and computing at St Mary ’ s College , but walked out on day one when he realised the computing wasn ’ t hands-on enough . Instead , he made his way to Longlands College and promptly enrolled for a BTEC in computing .
The course featured a three-month placement , which led to Dean and a fellow student being despatched to Ostrava in the Czech Republic . Serendipitously , they arrived at the wrong university and were greeted by a professor called Ivo Vondrak , who seized the opportunity of having two bright sparks from England at his disposal for a project using artificial intelligence .
By the time the placement was over , Dean had written a programme that recognised handwriting , and returned home with an enriched CV .
His next step was to sign up for a four-year degree in computer science at Teesside University where , years earlier , he ’ d cleaned the computers while on work experience in the days when it was a polytechnic .
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