After an early career switch from advertising to IT, Warren Lipman has never looked back, building and adapting a company that now employs more than 20 people and supports thousands of customers across the globe.
After leaving the University of Greenwich with a degree in Real Estate, Warren (OE 1986–1988) worked in the 1990s as a Planner Buyer for industry giant MediaCom.
“But,” he says, “I was always very technical, and after an enjoyable career in advertising and in 1999 ahead of the millennium, I decided a career in IT was a good idea. I took a City & Guilds course in Micro Systems and OS, and then went to work as a contractor installing ‘millennium bug’ fixes for the banks.” After that, he worked as internal desktop support for a software company.
Then, in 2003, he started his own company, Storm IT, specialising in providing IT support to SMEs in the local area. The Barnet-based company has grown year-on-year and today employs more than 20 people, including technicians at all levels of competency, digital marketing experts and a full in-house accounts department.
“Our offering has developed and changed each year, embracing ‘comms’, business broadband, cloud computing and full security services.
“Professional highlights include buying a commercial property in Barnet, which became Storm HQ supporting many other businesses, and working with various blue-chip corporates, supporting thousands of users across the world.”
During the 2020 lockdown, in response to extensive feedback and requests from clients, he developed ‘Storm-In-A-Box’. Warren says: “It caters for the blended and hybrid WFH/work-from-the-office model – the premise being that we provide one laptop (and device) with unlimited ‘comms’ calling and headset, MS Office and cloud storage, and with all licences and IT support, for one cost per month. “This has been greatly welcomed and is a unique offering in the marketplace.”
Fresh from that triumph, Warren is now looking to pursue some other ambitions as well. “I have an interest in, and love of, coffee and have always wanted to open a coffee shop as a side passion project: this will be fulfilled in Q1 of 2022, as I am just about to sign a lease for a small shop in Radlett, Hertfordshire. I am an art and music enthusiast, too, and will be incorporating both passions in the coffee shop, which will sell ‘affordable art’ and possibly music. I probably have a few other businesses in me too!”
Thirty-three years after he left the School, Warren has “fond memories of QE (when I wasn’t in trouble!). It taught me the values and principles that have carried – and continue to carry – me through life. I am still in contact with one or or two fellow alumni (Ben Mendoza springs to mind) who are lifelong friends, and our children are friends, too.”