Meet Hugh, our new(est) Senior Software Engineer!
What were you doing before you jumped to Freetrade?
Immediately beforehand I was working at a medtech startup called U-Med (short for United Medicine). They were working on patient consent management for medical research data. Pretty complicated, right?
It was a great idea, but I think potentially the product was a bit too niche for me.
Before that, I was at a company called Lovecrafts.com — an e-commerce and social platform that powered craftspeople running small businesses.
Why did you join Freetrade?
I discovered the company when I was recommended by a mutual friend of myself and Ian. The product made immediate sense to me, which is hugely important.
What are the differences between work at Freetrade and your previous companies?
We’re more in an early growth stage right now. It’s very fast-paced and a very high standard of engineering.
Ian’s a big part of the reason I joined too — he’s a great person to learn from.
As Senior Software Engineer, what areas do you cover?
I’m mostly platform right now, but we’re making sure that every engineer covers the full stack to some extent.
A big focus for me at the moment is the work on ISAs, specifically creating and validating the right user flows.
It’s such an important piece for the company, not to mention our users, so it’s very satisfying to be working on it straight away.
What are the most interesting engineering challenges building a stockbroker?
The big challenge is integrating with all the 3rd party systems and institutions out there to execute trades and source data. Some of the inherent infrastructure of the stock market is still very legacy.
Our expectations and speed are at a completely different register.
It’s also really important that everything we do is super-scalable and we can expand to many, many more users.
Aside from the ISA, what features are you most excited about bringing to the app?
I’ve also been working on withdrawals too right now, to make the process faster and more efficient. Of course, we hope that our users won’t want to use that function too much!
Are you a keen investor?
Yes! I think it’s incredibly important; I do try to invest as much as I can.
In my previous roles, I was always the one person who knew something about investing. It’s quite funny and gratifying to come into a company where I’m the investing newbie.
What’s your investment style?
Like a lot of the team, I focus on long-term, index investing. I’m not driving to beat the market necessarily, just grow with it.
I got started after reading a great blog: Mr. Money Mustache.
It’s a really interesting site driven by a programmer who retired at 30 through an unstinting programme of saving and investments.
Aside from personal finance and investing knowledge, there’s also a lot of content around what drives consumption and what the role of money should be. He’s basically a philosopher disguised as a finance blogger.
Aside from engineering, what are the best bits of working at Freetrade?
The socials have been great already and the company has a lot of benefits too. The culture’s just been generally very benevolent.
Ian reckons you look like Hugh Grant, what celebrity does Ian most resemble?
“Chris Pratt”… That’s according to Ian.
We’re on a mission to bring fee-free investing to Europe and beyond. 🔥
Freetrade does not provide investment advice and individual investors should make their own decisions or seek independent advice. The value of investments can go up as well as down and you may receive back less than your original investment. Tax laws are subject to change and may vary in how they apply depending on the circumstances.
Freetrade is a trading name of Freetrade Limited, which is a member firm of the London Stock Exchange and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales (no. 09797821).
