AFTER 25 years clocking in with the same company, life should hold no surprises.

Not so for Bill Ellis, 53-year-old development analyst and hardware project leader who helped found award-winning IT firm Mitrefinch in Clifton Moor, York, in 1979. He was lured to the boardroom last Friday to discuss a "serious new hardware project" and found himself surrounded by cheering staff.

Bill was interviewed in This Is Your Life style by managing director Andrew Simpson who traced his career from the day the former university computer science lecturer started the company through to its recent triumph in the Innovative Use of New Technology title in the 2004 Evening Press Business Awards.

Not long after setting up the new firm, Bill and his two co-founders evolved the concept of time and attendance software - computerised clocking-on which he demonstrated to millions of TV viewers on BBC's Tomorrow's World.

His system designs for the software have stood the test of time and helped the company to quadruple in size in its first three years as customers like Rowntree Mackintosh, predecessor of Nestl, joined a growing client list which today needs a staff of 80 to manage in the UK alone. There are also offices in London, Dublin, Toronto and Sydney with more than 2,500 clients worldwide.

The company has extended its product range to include human resources management and eye recognition security systems.

Mr Simpson presented Bill with a plaque and an electric golf buggy, given that his playing partners at Mitrefinch consider him a "bandit" on the golf course.

Bill said: "In a company of this size no one can keep secrets, but I suspected nothing, so I'm delighted and impressed."

Updated: 11:06 Monday, December 06, 2004