Hello, my name is Michael Horne.
I am a web developer and company director with over 20 years of experience developing database-driven websites and managing small teams of developers.
This page tells you a bit about me, my work, my hobbies and my family.
Contacting me
You can contact me here or you can find me on LinkedIn for a view of my professional history.
For more social contact, find me on BlueSky, X or Mastodon where I ramble on about technology in general, 3D printing, electronics, mental health, theatre and politics.
Web development and coding
In my spare time, I have developed and help maintain websites for friends, family and some of their small businesses using the WordPress platform. You can see some of these websites on my portfolio page.
My current development stack is a mixture of coding languages and technologies including CFML (aka ColdFusion, but I actually use Lucee), HTML, jQuery, SQL and Bootstrap 4. You can read about my professional career over on LinkedIn.
I am currently the Director of Systems Development and IT (and a member of the senior leadership team) at The Case Centre which is an educational charity based at Cranfield University in Bedfordshire, UK. The Case Centre sells business and management case studies to business schools, mostly for their MBA programmes. We advocate The Case Method which is a way of teaching concepts and strategies in the field of business using case studies.
“I love my job and I love the people I work with. The job gives me the opportunity to develop new functionality around an extensive content library and I feel like I’m making a difference to the accumulation of knowledge and skills around the world. The Case Centre is a small company but my colleagues are big-of-heart and have a high level of skill and knowledge. I count myself very lucky!”
Speaking about coding
I have occasionally spoken publicly about coding and some of the projects I’ve been involved with. My latest talk was at CFCamp 2023 (a CFML conference in Munich, Germany). You can see a recording of it below!
Family
I live in Potton, Bedfordshire with my wife, Tracey and two step-children. Life hasn’t always been easy, but we hold together in our faith*. Tracey’s other two children were sadly taken from us, along with their father David, in a road traffic accident in 2008. You can see a tribute video to them on YouTube.
* We are believers in Christ. However, I respect all faiths, and none. All that I ask is that you respect my right to believe in any God that I wish.
Hobbies
Raspberry Pi
In 2012, I launched one of the first ever Raspberry Pi blogs, called Raspberry PiPod. It is still going after all these years, but I’ve slowed down a lot in my posting as my interests have changed.
In 2014, myself and Tim Richardson launched the Raspberry Pi-based Pi Wars robotics challenge competition as a result of our work 
running the Cambridge Raspberry Jam computing meet-up.
Theatre
I am also involved in amateur theatre, most recently with Sharnbrook Mill Theatre where I performed in and directed plays and musicals. My next production is The Mill’s 2026 production of Come From Away.
In most societies, I offer my design skills for posters and programmes and, over the past few years, I have been the chairman for Sharnbrook Mill Theatre’s marketing committee.
I am a keen theatre-goer and try to see how the professionals do it as often as possible!
I have previously attended the ROSS Summer School and have been a member of several different amdram societies including Little Hadham Pantomime Group (where it all began!), Bishop’s Stortford Musical Theatre Company, The Dunmow Players and others.