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About Us

Our Foundations

Graffica was created as a start-up business in 2000 by its two founding directors, Mike Vere and Mike Ballone, to leverage their expertise in software architecture, simulation, modelling and systems analysis.

Having successfully built the business to be a recognised provider of Air Traffic Management simulators and operational systems, we believed that we could also make a real contribution, through simulation and analysis, to help the rail industry solve its challenges. Using our proven Graffica System Development Kit and our software and simulation expertise we developed HERMES, which is now an industry proven railway simulation platform. In addition, we have built a rail team with extensive rail domain expertise who can provide a wide range of railway analysis, consultancy, and software solutions.

Our Purpose

“Improving lives through intelligent solutions for transport challenges.”

Graffica’s purpose is to create a brighter future for everyone through improving transport. We solve real problems together, making the world more available and efficient. We never stop learning and strive to bring out the best in ourselves.

Our Values

At Graffica, we work closely with our customers to clarify their ideas and utilise their expertise to guide us in effective system designs. Attentive and investigative staff gain a full understanding of our customer’s requirements, establishing and recognising the constraints and timescales of the customer.

We help to manage the complexities of real-world systems and operations and by rationalising the problems that need to be solved. Together, we achieve efficiencies and enhance system safety to make tangible improvements to the lives of the travelling public.

Collaborative Exploration

“We journey with you to create solutions in partnership.”

We know that solutions are not always immediately clear so together we have to innovate and discover to arrive at practical solutions. We pride ourselves on building personal relationships with clients and interacting at all levels, relying on one another to bring ideas to life.

Delivering Right

“We analyse the true problem to deliver a faithful result.”

The envisioned solution is not necessarily the final solution. We use our technical competence and industry knowledge to delve deep into the problem and root out the core requirements. We are always conscious of our clients’ constraints while maximising our output and make sure that we do right by them.

Teamwork

“We work together to achieve more.”

The whole is more than the sum of its parts and a team is no different. We value our colleagues and always live by collaboration. We also celebrate the individual, encouraging personal growth and rewarding success. We engage with and hire exceptional people who will work with us to enhance the company.

Drive

“We venture forward with enthusiasm and ambition.”

Whether through passion for transport, software or problem solving, we are motivated to resolve our client’s problems. We empathise with them to understand the fundamental obstacles and enthusiastically work with them to overcome the challenges together.

Integrity

“We build relationships with honesty and respect.”

Both within our team and with our clients, we depend on each other to be truthful and respectful. The personal relationships we nurture are mutual and enable open communication. We do not take advantage of others nor hide behind falsities. Through trust and dependability, we can say what we mean and ensure we deliver what we say.

Responsive Flexibility

“We learn and adapt to conquer the challenge.”

We know the objectives can initially be blurred and we do not enter a challenge with a prescriptive solution. We remain open-minded and proactive, responding adaptably to changing needs. We never stop learning individually, as teams and with our clients. With focus and agility, we know we can solve the challenges that lie ahead.

Our Undertaking

Graffica offers first class expertise in software development and its application in writing simulation and operational software. We are successful because we develop a full understanding of the needs and requirements of our customers and solve those needs. Our software development expertise is used to build models and apply knowledge from algorithm design and software architectures to make the models interoperable.

We apply this approach and endeavour to improve people’s lives.

Our Keystone

Any successful business needs to be built on firm foundations, and Graffica has adopted a modular approach to its software development, encouraging reuse, extensibility, and common building blocks from which our software is constructed. This is realised in the Graffica System Development Kit (GSDK), which offers an architectural toolkit to support loosely coupled functional components that may be deployed and configured to offer a highly capable modelling platform.

Using the GSDK toolkit has given Graffica the agility to respond rapidly to requests ranging from prototypes and concept demonstrators through to fully integrated systems.

TRUSTED BY

Our Senior Management Team

Our team has extensive experience of managing and delivering software projects, products and consultancy in the Air Traffic Management and Rail domains. Our specialist managers, analysts and software developers can help you solve your transport challenges and create innovative software solutions

Mike Vere

Technical Director

Mike Ballone

Director

David Franco

Head of ASM Solutions

Chris Dale

Head of Rail Solutions

Paul Fletcher

Head of ATM Solutions

Mike Vere

Technical Director

Co-founder of Graffica and company Director since 2000, Mike laid the architectural foundations of the simulation business, developing a widely scoped abstract toolkit to provide the basis of a simulation environment. Mike established a strong cultural paradigm of software reuse in the business, both in the simulation domain and more broadly in the implementation of operational systems.  Mike’s focus has moved away from Air Traffic Management to support diversification into Railway simulation.

Responsibilities?
Mike is primarily responsible for setting the technical direction of the company, providing technical guidance, supporting bid writing activities and providing input and critical decision-making in support of the company’s business development activities.

Experience?
Mike has over 30 years’ experience working in software and consulting, through simulation activities from Military Command and Control, Air Traffic Management and Railway Systems. Mike provides specialist experience in simulation architecture and design, coupled with excellent domain knowledge, developing Graffica’s in-house simulation toolkit, GSDK, to deliver software solutions addressing complex business domain challenges.

Motivation?
Mike enjoys the challenge of using simulation and algorithm development to explore and evaluate solutions that can improve people’s lives. He is also keen to impart his knowledge to the next generation of developers to support them in solving the many problems facing the transport world.

Mike Ballone

Director

Co-founder of Graffica and company Director since 2000, Mike has been instrumental to the development of the Air Traffic Management and Rail areas of the business.  Mike is responsible for the day-to-day management of the company’s software development and consultancy activities, and previously managed a number of Graffica's client projects.

Responsibilities?
Mike is primarily responsible for directing company operations, commercial activities, contracts, finance, HR and supporting the company’s business development activities.

Experience?
Mike has over 30 years’ experience working in software and consulting, spanning the Nuclear Power, Military Command and Control and Transport domains to deliver technical and process solutions to complex problems.

Motivation?
Encouraging personal growth within our team and building personal relationships with client to help them solve real world challenges.

David Franco

Head of ASM Solutions

David Franco is a mathematician by training, having received an MMath from the University of Leeds in 2010 where he was awarded the Kuznetsov prize for his thesis.  Initially a hobbyist programmer, he was drawn away from the academic world by the allure of real-world practical problem-solving.  A member of the Graffica team since 2013 in a variety of roles, David now heads the Airspace Management division where he is responsible for a range of operational software solutions.

Responsibilities?
Managing operational airspace management projects with software solutions deployed across Europe.

Experience/value? 
An outside-of-the-box analytical thinking style coupled with years of experience with operational systems in airspace management.

Motivation?
Solving practical problems with our fabulous team: be they the client’s original request, a stepping stone on our way, something unexpected, or anything else.

Chris Dale

Head of Rail Solutions

Starting out with a BSc(Hons) in Computer Science, his career has spanned 30 years of computing experience. During that time he’s performed just about every role there is, from network support to software developer to systems architect to technical director, learning all the way.

A relatively recent addition to Graffica, Chris joined us in 2017 as a senior developer and quickly stepped up to project and team leader. He was responsible for delivering the Graffica Scheme Diagram Reader project and our Infrastructure Design and Evaluation Framework project, both of which have been hugely successful and a lot of fun.

He now applies his skill and enthusiasm to the role of Rail Section Manager, responsible for all the company activities with respect to Rail. By promoting growth in the individuals that make up the Rail teams and delivering successful outcomes that delight our customers, the sky is the limit for what we can achieve.

Responsibilities?
Leading projects to successful outcomes both technically and by journeying with the customer from inception to completion.

Experience? 
BSc(Hons) in Computer Science and 30 years’ experience in computing roles from software developer to technical director.

Motivation?
Producing solutions that delight the customer and make the team developing them proud.

Paul Fletcher

Head of ATM Solutions

Paul started his career working in finance but, having become fascinated by IT, pursued this through post-graduate study and entered the software industry as a trainee programmer on mainframe systems. Having had a life-long interest in aviation, Paul jumped at the opportunity to join Graffica in 2007 and now leads the Air Traffic Management section of the business.

Still fascinated by all things IT, he also has responsibility for the company’s quality processes and the development systems that support them.

Responsibilities?
Paul leads the ATM section of the business and is also responsible for the Quality and Development Systems that are employed across the company.

Experience?
Paul has worked in the software industry for more than 25 years and, since joining Graffica, has worked on numerous ATM related projects in both technical and project management roles.

Motivation?
Working with clients to develop their ideas into practical software solutions and then seeing that software deployed and producing results.

We want to help with your project

Give us a call on +44 (0)1684 567200, email or complete the contact form