myApricot | Staff | Matt Birch

Staff Profile | Matt Birch

Matt Birch

In early 2007 Matt co-founded digital and print based design studio, myApricot. He currently develops web based material for the company using Flash, Action script, Java Script, PHP, CSS and HTML.  Matt always had a passion for design and decided to pursue this interest into university. He attended the University of Ulster and graduated with a degree in Interactive Multimedia Design.

Matt’s had a desire to start a company of his own from an early age. He realised the importance of understanding the fundamentals of business and the need to understand the internal processes of an organisation before trying a venture of his own. Matt took part in Intertrade Ireland’s cross border FUSION initiative. This involved a three-way partnership between Matt, the University of Ulster and a Dundalk based distribution company.

The partners work collectively to develop and implement an innovative software solution to enhance the company’s product line and to aid in further technical challenges within the company. During his time on the project, Matt became the company’s product manager and assisted in the streamlining of production processes.

Matt has also attended UCD Michael Smurfit School of Business, and came out of it with a First Class Post Graduate.

Matt has always been a person that has tried to get involved in exciting and innovative projects. He was given a great honour in 2003, when he was voted into the position of Student Union President of the Newry and Kilkeel Institute for Further and Higher Education. Matt relished this opportunity to lead a positive and hard working team.

He spent the year organizing student charity events, visiting cross border colleges and updating the Student Union website with information. He was fortunate enough to have an article published in Trinity University's newspaper concerned with the life of a new Student Union. He acted as the college’s representative and met many members of the Student Union of Northern Ireland and also many elected public officials.  Matt still remains involved in club and society work in his community. He is the creator and head coordinator of a small audiovisual club called Vaportrail Film.

Matt has had the opportunity to work as a web developer and graphic designer for a number of different companies in fixed term placements or projects during the completion of his multimedia degree. He has even had a taste of international work experience during a fixed term project for Italian design company, Adrialabs. Matt remains focused, resourceful and innovative enough to take any project to completion stage.