My background in languages began in service with the Royal Air Force using Russian, and after this as a Language and Culture Specialist/Intelligence Analyst with a major British Government department. I held diverse applied language posts, both in the UK and overseas, and underwent rigourous training in language and regional studies. I worked extensively using Russian, in many different arenas, and, later, after intensive training, in Bulgarian, in areas related to sanctions, crime, weapons, and all variants of Serbo-Croat in support of military operations and government requirements during the Bosnia war, usually under tight deadlines and often in high pressure situations.

My main areas of expertise were originally in the areas of the Soviet military and security apparatus, defence-industrial complex, telecommunications, political, economic, aerospace & aviation and related spheres. I have subsequently encountered many other areas of interest, including: Russian political issues, general commercial, industrial, capital building and contracts, natural gas pipeline construction and impact assessments (involving a giant Russian oil and gas company), life sciences, legal (including arbitration court matters, tax evasion, judgments, claims, objections, suits, commentaries, etc.). Using Serbian, the main focus has been on Power and Energy, contracts, construction projects. In Bulgarian, the main areas have been legal matters (often concerning property at District court level), contracts, environmental issues (including wind farm technology, pollution), geological and mining matters, with recent emphasis on EU related issues and natural gas (pipeline construction, with a impact assessments).