Derek graduated from the University of Salford in Manchester, England receiving a B.Sc. Degree in Electronic Computer Systems.
Derek worked for IBM for 13 years in the research and development labs in a software engineering and project management role; largely based in the USA interfacing with software publishers promoting IBM PC products under development. He tried, unsuccessfully, to get IBM to invest in Autodesk and in Mathematica when each company had less than 20 Employees.
That unsuccessful attempt caused Derek to join Mathematica, Inc. as VP of Sales and Marketing in 1990. Subsequently becoming President and CEO, Derek learned valuable business and personal lessons as the company grew and tripled in workforce. In 1994, and 5 attorneys later, Derek decided to close the Company and then subsequently dated one of the attorneys his now wife Kimberlee.
From 1994 to 2009 Derek enabled thousands of companies, in Florida and throughout the world, to obtain free web pages on his “Fox Business Network” portal system.
In 2009 Derek started Essential Depot. As the years passed, with the help of his wife Kimberlee, they have built a Company that has helped 100,000+ businesses (mainly women owned) make a rewarding living from handcrafted Greener Life Products (see GreenerLifeClub.com). Traveling the world, they bring customers the best Greener Life Ingredients.