CHRIS LOCKE

Database Developer | SQL Server & .NET | 37 Years in IT | VB6-to-.NET Migration Specialist

Colchester, Essex | contact@chrisjlocke.co.uk | 07594 616 440 | GitHub | LinkedIn Notice period: 4 weeks

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

37 years’ experience across the full IT stack, from hardware and networking through to database and application development
Maintain a live operational database of 354,500 UK hotel records and 23 automated import processes handling up to 67,000 records per run
Redesigned commission processing, cutting a 24 man-hour monthly run down to 3, and weekly transaction matching from 16 hours to 1
Hands-on experience migrating legacy VB6 systems into VB.NET and SSIS, with C# actively in progress

PROFILE

I am a database-focused software developer with 37 years’ experience across the full IT stack - from hardware, servers and networking through to application and database development. I specialise in designing and building data-driven systems in SQL Server and VB.NET: normalised relational database design, complex T-SQL (CTEs, joins, stored procedures), SSIS-based ETL pipelines and SQL Agent automation. I act as the technical conduit between departments, turning inconsistent source data (CSV/XLS imports, third-party feeds) into reliable, structured systems that other teams can depend on day to day. I am equally at home diagnosing an infrastructure problem as designing a schema, having spent two decades before this covering servers, networks and end-user support before moving into full-time development. I am currently extending this skillset from VB.NET into C#, and maintain a genuine interest in picking up new languages and tools outside of work. Practical, detail-oriented, loyal and reliable, I work efficiently both independently and within a team, with a track record of long-term roles, several spanning 7-10 years, and of taking projects from concept through to delivery. I am now looking to bring this experience into a senior database or development role, with particular interest in legacy modernisation and migration work.

KEY SKILLS

Databases & Data: SQL Server (design, normalisation, CTEs, joins, stored procedures), SSIS, SQL Server Agent, SSRS, SQLite
Development: VB.NET, VB6, C# (in progress), HTML/CSS, XML, object-oriented application design
Legacy Modernisation: hands-on experience maintaining and rewriting legacy VB6 applications into VB.NET, including migrating VB6 business logic into SSIS
Data Integration: CSV/XLS import & transformation pipelines, ETL design, third-party data feed handling
Infrastructure: Windows Server (NT4-Server 2012), virtualisation (Hyper-V, VMware), Active Directory, Exchange Server
Networking: FTP, DNS, DHCP, WINS, IP packet fundamentals, VoIP telephony, wired & wireless networks
Other: ERP system support and extension (Klaes), software licensing & hardware inventory management

WORK HISTORY

Desktop Software Application Developer | Inntel Ltd, Colchester, Essex

Oct 2019 - Present

Legacy Modernisation Focus: joined to maintain a legacy VB6 application and quickly became the primary developer rewriting it into VB.NET - direct, hands-on experience of exactly the kind of migration work many organisations now need.

Built and maintain 23 automated HR import processes (daily to weekly), handling datasets ranging from 250 to 67,000 employee records; used hash table lookups to keep large imports fast and reliable.
Maintain a live database of 354,500 UK hotels, ensuring core details - from car park numbers to EV charging point availability - stay accurate and current.
Design and build SSIS packages and SQL Agent jobs to import and transform data from varied external sources - hotel booking imports, HR data feeds, station/location lists - into structured relational tables.
Write complex T-SQL (CTEs, joins, stored procedures) to support reporting and downstream application logic; produce supporting reports in SSRS.
Build lightweight in-house maintenance utilities that let non-technical users safely add and edit records in individual database tables, reducing reliance on direct SQL access.
Designed and built a detailed commission invoicing system, reconciling third-party Onyx payment data and matching transactions across systems; reduced the monthly commission run from 24 man-hours to 3, and cut weekly Onyx transaction matching from 16 man-hours to 1.
Created a regular billback statement importer processing 900+ transactions daily, interrogating existing billback systems and automatically adding new transactions as required, removing hours of manual data entry per run.
Applied AI tooling to build modern productivity solutions, including automated email summarisation and an invoicing process that scans over 2,300 invoices per day (280+ per hour at peak), plus fuzzy-matching of hotel names across inconsistent data sources.
Converted legacy VB6 invoicing logic into a streamlined SSIS pipeline shortly before leaving, improving reliability and enabling invoice packs to be automatically archived to Azure storage or emailed out directly.

IT Manager | ATE (UK), Essex

May 2019 - Oct 2019

IT Manager for a small trailer manufacturer and parts sales business (approx. 20 users), primarily responsible for the company’s ERP system.
Helped launch the company’s online sales offering, supporting the move to selling parts directly via their website.

.NET Software Developer | Call Assist, Colchester, Essex

May 2018 - May 2019

Developed new business requirements in a standalone VB.NET application alongside the company’s existing VB6-based in-house software.

IT Manager | Mumford & Wood Ltd, Tiptree, Essex

Aug 2011 - May 2018

ERP & Infrastructure Leadership: progressed from Systems Administrator to IT Manager, taking ownership of the company’s core ERP system, server estate and financial software delivery with significant strategic autonomy.

Joined as Systems Administrator, promoted to IT Manager after three years; supported 60+ users across Windows XP through Windows 10 and MS Office 2010.
Worked alongside one colleague in a two-person IT department, initially reporting to the Head of Finance and later to the Operations Director, with significant autonomy over IT strategy and delivery.
Assisted in implementing a new ERP system (Klaes, German-language, no public schema available); reverse-engineered structures and wrote custom dashboards and additional modules to extend it into other departments including Finance.
Rebuilt the production management system from a non-relational structure into a fully normalised, object-oriented relational database in VB.NET.
Designed and developed financial software to raise pro-forma invoices, linking with the ERP and financial systems and tracking payments received.
Consolidated the server estate onto two virtual server hosts running six virtual server guests (Server 2003-Server 2012), alongside Exchange 2010 and the company’s ISDN/ADSL/fibre network infrastructure; restructured IT to introduce terminal servers and network storage.
Migrated company telephony from a self-hosted system to cloud-based VoIP, cutting licensing costs from £2,000/year for 5 users to a system saving approximately £450 a month (£5,400+ a year); built server health dashboards to pre-empt issues before they caused downtime.
Redesigned the purchasing workflow, saving approximately 16 man-hours a week of manual processing.
Role made redundant following the company’s merger with another timber manufacturer.

IT Administrator | Concurrent Technologies, Colchester, Essex

Feb 2009 - Jul 2011

Sole IT support for 60+ users at the UK office plus around 30 users across two remote sites.
Rebuilt the corporate website and intranet from a table-based layout to CSS/ASP; implemented virtual servers to consolidate and reduce IT costs.
Introduced a software licensing database and hardware inventory system; resolved a number of long-standing infrastructure issues.

IT Administrator | CML Microcircuits, Langford, Maldon, Essex

Jul 2001 - Dec 2008

Part of a four-person IT team supporting 120+ users across UK and international remote sites.
Developed bespoke Windows software in VB6 and VB.NET; maintained SQL Server 2000 databases and an NT4/Server 2003 Active Directory environment.

Earlier Career | Braintree Commercial Services & Braintree Council, Braintree, Essex

Jul 1991 - Jul 2001

Sole IT support for c.40 users at Braintree Commercial Services, developing bespoke VB6 Windows software; began career in a finance/billing role at Braintree Council.
This was my introduction to Microsoft servers, networking and Exchange Server, learning NT4 and Windows 95 from scratch at 22 years old in order to introduce them to the business, back when both were cutting-edge technology.

PERSONAL PROJECTS & CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT

Alongside day-to-day work, I regularly build small tools to sharpen my skills and solve real problems on my own systems - good evidence of self-directed learning as well as practical, working code:

Currently learning C# through a structured, project-based course, working through language fundamentals with a view to bringing a second modern .NET language alongside VB.NET.
Taught myself Python from scratch to build an image-management utility using the Pillow library, my first project outside the VB ecosystem.
Built a Windows system-tray network monitoring tool in VB.NET, using rolling averages and hysteresis logic to give early warning of network latency issues rather than reacting after the fact.
Wrote a self-updating application launcher pattern (a shared class library) to keep several in-house tools current without manual redeployment or server file-locking issues.
Built a screenshot logging and history tool with automatic deduplication, multi-monitor awareness, and a custom viewer for browsing and reviewing captured images.

EDUCATION

NVQ in Information Technology, Levels 1 & 2 - Witham Technology Centre, Essex (1991-1992)

PERSONAL INTERESTS

Active in the open-source community, providing user support and troubleshooting help within the DB Browser for SQLite project’s issue tracker.

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