EPeeps Simon Robinson | Chief Financial Officer

Hi, I’m Simon, CFO at EP based in beautiful Queenstown, New Zealand. I’m originally from Ipswich in the UK, and came to NZ for a season of snowboarding in 2003. I fell in love with the mountains, scenery and outdoor lifestyle here and eventually decided to make it my permanent base. I live here with my partner, her daughter, 2 dogs, 1 cat and 2 guinea pigs! I joined EP in 2018 and have never looked back!

Why become an EPeep?

I love working with high growth businesses, and enjoy the dynamic of constant change and new challenges. EP was an ideal opportunity, in a scale up stage, expanding internationally, and having a positive impact on society. The flexibility of location was also beneficial as I wanted to stay based in Queenstown and the business was well set up for dispersed work even before we had heard of COVID.

What are you most excited about for the future of EP?

I’m super excited to see what we can achieve over the next few years – we have built some incredible foundations and we are now looking to broaden our growth. Reading the feedback from our users is really inspiring and I’m excited to grow into new global markets, and offer our customers new products. Schools are still relatively early on their digital transformation, and it feels like we have a generational opportunity to work alongside them to improve learning outcomes for students across the world, regardless of their background or location.

What’s one thing that surprised you when you began working at Education Perfect?

When I joined I was blown away by how passionate and energised the team was but also how young and inexperienced they were. In my first year, although I did sometimes feel pretty old, I loved the fact that I could pass on advice and suggestions from previous experience and see the team run with it. Since then it’s been great to combine bringing in some amazing external talent, with developing the internal team and seeing how they have grown.

How do you start your morning? Does it set you up for a successful day?

I normally try to take the dog for a walk – it’s a great way to clear my mind and prepare for the day ahead.

Tell us about your pets!

Sadie is our 7 year old Wheaten terrier who I love exploring the Queenstown countryside with and we have been on lots of fun missions in the mountains. She has since been joined by Winnie (a 2 year old tiny fluffy dog), Lulu the cat and Moo Moo and Coco the guinea pigs (I didn’t get naming rights!).

Where is somewhere you’d like to visit?

I’ve always loved travelling and am always thinking about where to go next, which has made the last couple of years hard! First priority will be to get home to the UK to see my family but when things open up more I’d love to spend some time in Africa.

What advice would you pass on to a younger version of yourself?

I didn’t have a typical career path and it is always hard to know if you are making mistakes when you are younger. I gave up a top professional job in London, and spent 5 years travelling, working as a river guide in NZ, and with stints living in Spain and Argentina. For me, the most important thing is to constantly be learning, growing and challenging yourself, and crucially, to be happy. I knew that London wasn’t right for me, so I’d simply tell myself to go for it – it’ll work out ok!