RefNow - Employment Reference Checks

RefNow is revolutionizing the way HR teams and recruiters collect employment references with our cutting-edge online platform. With over 12,000 satisfied clients, we've streamlined the process, allowing references to be collected in under 30 seconds. Our platform is scalable and suitable for businesses of all sizes. With our free option, you can request references from up to 5 candidates, and if you require more, we offer flexible plans to meet your specific needs.

Sign up today at https://refnow.com and experience the future of employment referencing.

Co-Founder and Co-CEO

Bally's Interactive

Senior Software Engineer

Gamesys

Software Engineer

Graduate Software Engineer

iTradeNetwork, Inc.

iTradeNetwork Europe provide SaaS hospitality management for large businesses inside and outside of the UK.

Graduate Software Developer

Games Inc

Internship at GamesInc providing Quality Assurance tests for a company that produces gaming platforms for the distribution and usability across HTML5 and flash based systems including Windows, Mac, iOS and Android.

Software Quality Assurance Engineer

Camps Kenwood & Evergreen

Worked as a general counsellor looking after children ranging from 7-15 years of age (specifically 13-14 year old boys). Engaging in activities and camp trips throughout a period of 7 weeks making the experience for them both exciting and rewarding.

My working experience as a general counsellor has allowed for greater improvement with personal and communication skills with people from around the world. It has opened up a realm of contacts and friendships that will always provide opportunities.

Responsibilities:

•	Leadership
•	Communication
•	Honesty
•	Reliability
•	Teamwork

General Counsellor

3-month Internship working within the field of quality assurance testing and ensuring that products had been developed correctly and excluded any sign of technical bugs that could affect consumers. The internship involved online slot machine gaming and required a high level of detail and constant attention to guarantee the finest quality in online gaming.

Software Quality Assurance Intern

As an experienced software engineer, I have had the opportunity to work on captivating user experiences that foster strong engagement and a sense of belonging.

I am the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of RefNow, an automated referencing platform. At RefNow, we focus on revolutionising the recruitment process and providing an unparalleled user experience, ensuring a seamless and efficient journey for candidates, referees, and hiring managers alike. Our platform simplifies reference checks, saving valuable time for all parties involved.

Recognising the significance of community in driving user satisfaction and loyalty, I have witnessed firsthand how it can enhance retention strategies.

My passion lies in building websites, problem-solving, and generating innovative ideas. While I may not be an AI expert, I am deeply intrigued by its potential and eager to expand my knowledge in this rapidly evolving field.

If you share my enthusiasm for optimising recruitment processes, fostering engaging communities, or exploring the possibilities of AI, I would love to connect. I am always seeking opportunities to collaborate, learn, and make a positive impact.

They hired tens of thousands of police officers.

Without checking a single reference.

Let that sink in.

For six years, forces including the Met, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside and Cumbria simply switched off pre-employment reference checks.

The result?

130+ officers and staff went on to commit crimes or misconduct. Including David Carrick, now serving 37 life sentences. And Cliff Mitchell, a serial rapist.

These aren't admin roles. These are officers with powers of arrest. Access to sensitive data. Public trust.

All because someone decided references were optional.

Here's what frustrates me:

Reference checking isn't complicated. It's not expensive. It doesn't take weeks.
But when you're under pressure to hit recruitment targets, corners get cut. And the "boring admin stuff" is always first to go.

Except references aren't boring admin. They're the last line of defence before someone enters your organisation.

If a nursery or care home skipped references, Ofsted would shut them down. But somehow police forces got away with it for years.

This isn't a technology problem. It's a priorities problem.

And until organisations treat pre-employment checks as non-negotiable, we'll keep reading headlines like this.

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Level 2 Certificate in Coaching Football

University of Birmingham

Loughborough University

We worked in groups of 4/5 to accomplish an instant chat messaging system as part of a group task whilst studying at the University of Birmingham.

Development involved the fundamental use of SVN coupled with Software Development in a real-world environment, being part of a team and understanding the difficulties of creating a Java application.

My main role was to completely design and implement the GUI for our chat messaging system (without the use of a GUI-builder) and to assist with some parts of the client and back-end code.

ChatterBox Instant Chat Messaging System

Designed, implemented and organised a partially interactive flight comparison site within 2 days using an online web design/development tool known as Wix.

The idea was based on the concept that more often than not, people don't necessarily want to search for an exact location in which they would like to travel.
Sometimes, people may want to simply explore the world yet become trapped within the social enticement of listening to friends and family advice, rather than educate and search the world for themselves.

Flight comparison sites have become limited in what they offer, therefore onawing.com provides a simple solution that examines the world and does all the hard work for you.

Human Computer Interaction Project - Creating a Flight Comparison Site

Studied the effects of a supplement known as Citrulline Malate (CM) and its effects on anaerobic performance.

It has been contested that under aerobic conditions, performance has seen a noticeable increase when supplemented with CM. However, under circumstances regarding a lack of oxygen during periods of increased stress, evidence is limited as to the understanding towards the benefit of such a supplement.

I contest this theory in my dissertation and provide a valuable evaluation and analysis as to why these differences are reported.

The effect of Citrulline Malate on Anaerobic exercise - Dissertation

Developed an Android Application for children as part of my summer project/ thesis whilst studying at the University of Birmingham. 

Including: Android Development from beginning to end, Eclipse, Java, SVN, Spring Framework, and a PostgreSQL database.

Kenko - Android Health Application

Founder & Co-CEO @ RefNow

Founder @ RefNow | Stop Chasing References | Get Them Back in 36 Hours, Automatically

Work experience is cool and all.

But tell me what you do for fun.

As a candidate, I thought the hobby section of my CV was filler. Who cares that I like football, padel, or reading business books?

How does that make me any better at my job?

Turns out, it does.

Hiring is one of the most critical decisions any business makes. Get it wrong, and it costs you months.

Here's what I've learned from the other side of the table:

Skills get you the interview. Culture fit gets you the job.

When I'm reviewing a CV, I read the hobby section carefully.

Team sports? Probably works well with others.

Marathons or triathlons? Likely disciplined and self-motivated.

Reads business books? Curious, invests in themselves, and probably thinks about growth when no one's watching.

None of this is a guarantee. But it's signal.

And when you're a small team where one bad hire can derail everything, signals matter.

If you're a candidate, don't treat your hobbies as filler. Use them to show who you are beyond the job title.

If you're hiring, don't skip this section. It might tell you more than experience ever could.

HR teams spend 6+ hours chasing references every week.

In 2026, that's embarrassing.

I've spent the last few years talking to hundreds of HR teams about their reference process.

Here's what I keep hearing:

"It's all manual."
"I'm constantly chasing people."
"I have no idea where we're at with any candidate."

Sound familiar?

The problem isn't that reference checking is hard. It's that most teams are still doing it like it's 2010.

Emails. Phone calls. Spreadsheets. WhatsApp messages to candidates asking them to chase their own referees.

Meanwhile, time-to-hire stretches out. Candidates get frustrated. And sometimes you lose great people to competitors who moved faster.

Here's what we've learned building RefNow:

Automation isn't about removing the human element. It's about removing the admin so humans can focus on what matters.

When you cut collection time from 2 weeks to 32 hours, three things happen:

Candidates feel valued (not stuck in limbo)
HR teams stop playing inbox tennis
You actually spot fraud before it becomes your problem

The shift from manual to automated reference checking isn't about technology. It's about respecting everyone's time.

Yours. Your candidates'. Your referees'.

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