In the words of an early 90's pop classic, Alt Tab was 'Born of Frustration'. It was spring of 2005 and Internet technology had been growing quickly and for some time. The unsettled frustrations of it's adolescence had long since passed and commercial adoption of the Internet was widespread. The technology was maturing and with its newly grown facial hair came seemingly boundless and exciting possibilities.

However, two developers who sat eagerly coding in the leafy suburb of Knutsford saw their career taking a less attractive path.

For a number of years Cathy Brewster and Cliff Woodworth had been happily working for a successful B2B marketing communications company. During that time they (actually we) worked as part of a talented creative team and had the opportunity to develop a host of exciting new media projects.

So, if all was going well, why did we decide to leave the security of employment?

The primary reason was the shift in focus that our employers were taking. The anticipated success of a particular product offering meant that website projects were no longer seen as core to the business.

Although this situation presented an opportunity to broaden our experiences, as website developers, it was clearly holding us back. We had also reached a point in our professional life when we wanted a greater challenge and we sought ownership and accountability over our work.