Personal

My name is Tony Draper and I am 32 years old, I live in Northampton, England although I have travelled a lot as a child and also as an adult. I have visited most of the western and middle hemisphere whilst serving in the armed forces and intend to visit the rest of the world in the future. I have a partner and 2 children and we have arranged to be married in August this year in a nice Georgian stately home with wonderful grounds.

I enjoy my family life and also play squash to a good level. My other interests are my company and networking.
I love music but rarely find the time to appreciate it.

How did I get where I am today

Whilst serving in the armed forces I rose through the ranks relatively quickly although I turned down a commission. Having started off my career as an aircraft technician specialising in communications and electronics I soon began to get more involved in the Cryptography/Security aspects. It wasn't long before I moved away from the hands on side to the more technical and expert areas of Communications and Electronic Warfare. Upon becoming the subject matter expert on various military projects I realised that I wanted to diverse into the telecommunications and IT fields.

It was then that I became a Project Manager working on above Restricted projects within the IT and Electronic Warfare environment. Having served for 12 years I left the armed forces to act as a consultant for the MOD providing advice and running various IT/Telecommunication procurement projects in the East Anglia region.
Whilst consulting for the MOD I was approached by EDS to contract my services out to them for the rollout of a multi billion pound programme with the MOD at which I accepted.

So I now act as a Programme Manager rolling out an IT infrastructure for the MOD in the East Anglia region.

I am passionate about my business and have created a niche market specializing in finding the right people and solutions for our clients.

My company is called Otium Consultancy Services Ltd.

Owner & Manager/CEO.

Activities: Extreme Project Management Consulting and Recruitment www.ocsltd.net

Consulting

"Extreme Project Management Consulting" I hear you say. I know what your thinking, "what does Tony mean by Extreme?". Carry on reading and I hope I explain well enough for you.

Having worked in the public sector in a number of fields I have built up a vast experience on how to manage and implement large (and small) Programmes/Projects. I have worked my way up very rapidly from a Project Manager to Programme Manager and I believe a lot of this was to do with my military
background. It is because of this that I have realised that in order for me to
provide the best consulting services available I should utilise quality ex
military people.

A few words to describe an ex military businessman - Adaptive, Flexible, Disciplined, Driven, Quality Driven, Leadership, Confidence etc

Therefore my consultancy is made up of ex military personnel with vast experience in their fields who can take on or consult for any complex, fluid, target driven etc, project/programme out there. We also have people SC/DV cleared (you will know what that is if you work in these circles) for RESTRICTED
and above contracts.

Without going on anymore and boring you I hope this snippet of our services explains where the word "Extreme" has come from.

Recruitment

I was inspired to set this side of the company up through my experience of leaving the armed forces.

Upon leaving I was looking for work and of course I placed my CV on every jobsite going. I was inundated with numerous agencies phoning me up and putting me forward for interviews. Unfortunately they were large commercial agencies and they did not have a clue about my background and were unable to translate it into the commercial world. In turn I found myself attending interviews where I and the client could not understand why either of us had been put together. Also with my time consulting for the MOD I have come across a number of staff that had been placed by commercial agencies and they were not even half way to being suitable for the job. It was because of this that I felt that a more suitable consultancy was required to allow ex military personnel a chance of a career upon leaving the forces.

Therefore we carry out a complete employment process. We provide careers advice to people as they are leaving the armed forces. We recommend what and where to carry out there training for their particular career and we in turn place them in 2 weeks work experience on completion of training. Then should the company providing the work experience like the person they can take them on at a reduced cost "try before you buy" else we place them in work elsewhere. If we require anybody for our contracts then we employ them for our company.
A lot of the people we work with have Security Clearance and are ideal for MOD and Government Jobs. This is also why we are ideal as an outsource to carry out government projects.

Take a look at our website www.ocsltd.net which is still developing. If you are in IT/telecoms yourself and wish to advertise any vacancies then please do so for FREE.

Although we mainly work in the IT/Telecoms arena, we also cover other areas and can possibly work in any areas ex military personnel can work.

Elevator Pitch

IT/Telecoms Recruitment for Permanent and Contract staff. What would it mean to you if your recruitment company could guarantee that if they did not provide you with the quality person/persons you require in a negotiated timescale (account dependant) then it will not cost you a penny?

Therefore if you have staffing requirements and you want a company with the confidence to put there money where there mouth is, then call Otium.

I have a wealth of knowledge and a lot of contacts within the IT/Telecoms arena which I would gladly share with anyone who would like some advice. Don't be afraid to ask a question that you may deem silly because we all have to start learning somewhere and we are not masters of the knowledge for everything. I have a lot of knowledge and contacts in the government/MOD arena and would gladly help anyone seeking advice on current projects to details on how to work within.

On a less professional front I have a lot of personal problem solving experience having met all walks of life whilst serving in the armed forces. Don't mistake the forces for lots of disciplined people waiting around for the next order. It is a multicultural environment whereby lots of different backgrounds are thrown together to carry tasks professionally whilst at the same time living and eating together. As you can imagine this requires a lot of flexibility and understanding.

What can my company do for you

We again have a wealth of knowledge in a number of field and are able to provide "Extreme Project Management Consultancy" in many areas. We have a lot of ex military staff which enables us to act as an outsource for a number of projects and can work up to DV cleared levels.

We carry out employment services and can provide career advice for employees to employment advice to companies. We can supply permanent staff or contractors for any number of roles within the IT/Telecoms arena but can also supply almost any field that the government and MOD work within.
We offer a FREE try before you buy scheme for companies, where the company takes on the candidate for 2 weeks work experience FREE and should the company like the candidate and vice versa then negotiations at a cheaper rate take place for employment.

We offer FREE vacancy advertising within the IT/Telecoms fields. This would normally cost a company hundreds and even thousands of pounds but we offer the same facility FREE.

We offer an Umbrella Service for contractors wishing us to carry out there accounts and expenses. We offer this at a cheaper rate than an accountant would charge and offer insurances as well.