George Cook

Bio

George is a web developer at Halt. He works across the front-end and back-end of our recruitment websites, pushing to make our sites do more than just look good.

As well as working on front-end builds, most of his time goes into the parts nobody sees: the architecture underneath a build, and the systems that keep our clients’ websites and recruitment platforms properly in step with each other. This is the area he enjoys the most, and he takes these custom solutions from initial scoping through to launch and beyond.

He is happiest when he is learning something new. That might be a new front-end tool, a better approach to site performance and accessibility, or improving development workflows. Whatever he is working on, you will know he is in the office when you hear country music playing through the speakers.

Experience

George came to Halt after a career in food and beverage, most of it at the Michelin-starred end. Through that career he managed group-wide beverage operations, worked as a distiller and vermouth producer, and ran drinks and operations consultancy.

Alongside that, he holds a degree in illustration and a background in art and design, which he has carried through both his careers and which still influences how he approaches his work at Halt.

The transition into web development was a shorter leap than it sounds. Recipe development and software development ask for the same things: a clear idea of the outcome, a methodical route to reaching it, and the patience to keep refining something long after it works on the surface. He builds a website the way he used to build a menu: obsessively, and with the person on the other end of it in mind.

Outside work

When not in the office, George spends most of his spare time renovating his home, to questionable effect, or in the gym trying to escape the renovation.

He also has an allotment, where he wages war on slugs and bindweed while sometimes managing to grow his own vegetables. Anything that does make it out of the ground tends to be served at a dinner party with friends, or used to fuel a long pub walk near his home in Bath.