John Batch (The Flying Doctor)

Stop Press!

the flying doctor has got so successful that we are looking for new franchise partrners across the country. So if you know someone who enjoys fixing computers and can see themselves piloting their own business, then get them to email the flying doctor, look at the website or call 01865 748197. Change their lives!

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So your real question is: what can the flying doctor do for you?

Keep your computers working so you keep making money. Nobody thinks of electricity or phones until they stop, because then you stop. It's the same with your computer. No emails, no contact lists, no work, no money.

We specialise in sole-traders and small businesses. We're small too so we understand your issues: getting up and running again to make money. If we don't, then there's no charge. If we think the most cost-effective solution to the problem is a new PC , we'll say so and no charge.

I've been involved in PCs for 30 years, since building my first one in 1978.
So I've got to know a lot.

We are business focussed rather than techno-geeks. Sure, we won't win computer industry prizes but we get you going: so which do you want?

We really do fix your IT problems
A family worked around the world for three years taking thousands of photos. Put them all on their laptop. And then it stopped. Three years of their life just vanished. I know, I know - they should back up, but the only people who do have already found out the hard way.

The Flying Doctor got the photos back. Three years of irreplaceable memories back from the dead. Happy customers? Oh yes.

An engineering company selling worldwide had its web site vanish. Just go. They trusted a second company to manage their site and own the domains. The web company sold the contract to company three, who were bought by another. To get anything done meant hours on the phone and days to see any result. The string of web companies had different views of the contracts so no one took responsibility for the web hosting. So it stopped. Without warning. On a web-based sales operation.

The Flying Doctor:

• got control of the domain
• sorted hosting
• put the company back in charge of what's theirs.

So I've got out of suit life into my life!

I used to be in corporate life (Scicon, Royal Mail), but as I got older I realised that the way to corporate success was not to think of helping the company who was paying you, but just how you could work your way up. Morally I wouldn't do that and left to set up on my own using the skills that I had developed: how to improve and change processes, understand true costs and innovation. I've always been inquisitive and read everything that I could get my hands on as a young child, even cornflake packets. I still like finding out and am pretty good at it, especially now the web gives such a vast expanse of information.

Born and bred in Rugby, going to the Lawrence Sheriff School, I followed the mantra 'go West young man' so ended up at UCW, Aberystwyth, reading Economics and Librarianship. After sojourns in Lowestoft and Milton Keynes (much nicer than people say) I've ended up on the edge of Oxford.

On the way, I learnt to fly gliders, SLMGs and then power aircraft (much duller). As I like helping people I've become a gliding instructor to share the experience and to remember the exhilaration of my first flight. Somewhere along the line, I found myself treasurer of Banbury Gliding Club. www.banburygliding.com

Having written flight planning software on PDAs for myself I'm selling it via my operation Flightbyte Computing www.flightbyte.co.uk/flightplanning.html. Great for e6b replacements, weight and balance and IFR holds.

We go ballroom dancing around Oxford and have entered some competitions around the country with reasonable results. We auditioned for Strictly Dance Fever and were in the clip shown on 'Richard and Judy'. We were most recently live on BBC1 from Blackpool Tower on New Years Eve 2006. Hollywood next stop!

Not having any children and being single, I've ended up surrounding myself with various toys - a Diamant 18 Glider, K16 Motor Glider, DG-500M, a rusty Fiat Panda 4*4 (you've just got to get one!) and a Maserati 430 - on the principle of do it when you can (I don't want to look back and say ' I could have…' but which just combine to keep me in a state of penury.

So what do I do for you? I help small businesses and people make computers work for them. With 30 years of practical knowledge and my commercial business experience I solve your problems in pragmatic, cost-effective ways.

We get your computer systems doing what you want:

• keeping you working and earning money by getting them running again
• increasing your profits by developing you into ecommerce and networking;
• making your investment earn you money by designiing the computer interface and creating user requirements specifications so that people actually want use the computers

Would you rather we won technical awards or that you make money? We think the latter so that what we do!

Bye!