Salford GIS Ltd - North-west, UK GIS consultancy

About Us

Paul Coward

A geography graduate, Paul has been involved in the GIS industry since the late 1980’s. After a solid technical grounding he developed and delivered GIS training courses until the mid-1990s before becoming a dedicated consultant and project manager.

With a solid understanding of all industry leading software Paul has worked with over one hundred local authorities as well as numerous private sector and central government organisations both at home and abroad.

Developing strategies and managing projects in ‘plain English’ Paul is renown for raising enthusiasm and awareness wherever he works.  The adoption of his GIS strategies has enabled his clients to fully develop and exploit their spatial data to the benefit of staff and customers.

Nick Hall

A Civil Engineering graduate, Nick has been involved with GIS since the early 90’s.  He has worked for two MapInfo Premier Partners and has built up a vast experience of the different uses of GIS in private business, utilities and local and central government.

During his time with the MapInfo partners Nick learnt about GIS software development and project management as well as maintenance and support issues.  He has also gained a wealth of experience in the sourcing and processing of spatial data sets from both the Ordnance Survey and other providers.

Nick has a broad experience of the application of GIS and puts all this to use during the MapInfo Professional courses he delivers.  Over one hundred local authorities, as well as numerous private sector and central government clients have attended Nick’s MapInfo courses.

Nick also provides on on-site consultancy, which involves developing strategies, handholding support, managing projects and overseeing MapInfo implementations.

Rob Knight

Since graduating from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1985, Rob has been involved in the business of Geo-Information. Starting as a Land Surveyor, he developed an involvement in various data capture techniques such as Surveying, Photogrammetry and Map Digitisation. This provided a solid technical grounding in aspects of GIS which enabled Rob to gradually develop a role as a GIS trainer and consultant.

Since the late 1990s Rob has delivered GIS training courses, mostly in ESRI products, to a wide range of customers in both the public and private sector, and in so doing has developed a comprehensive appreciation of the broad range of applications for this technology. He also provides technical support, and has undertaken a number of consultancy projects, for Local Government clients.

Rob has authored all of Salford GIS’s ArcGIS training documentation, and is constantly looking at ways of developing and improving the courses. 

Chris Nelson

Chris began his career as a civil engineer working in local authorities managing drainage schemes and highway maintenance programmes. His interest in the application of IT to the business needs of the organisation led him into the role of Systems Manager where he provided the link between the technical IT resource and the users business requirements. It was during this period, in the 1980’s, that Chris developed his interest and skills in GIS.

After working for one of the major suppliers of GIS systems to local authorities he became one of the founding co-directors of Salford GIS Limited where he provides independent GIS consultancy and project management services. Through all his projects, Chris endeavours to apply a practical, no-nonsense approach to providing IT solutions and is very keen to encourage user involvement throughout the whole process.

Chris has over 20 years experience in land and property systems and has a sound understanding of all the main GIS products and associated business applications. He has a particular interest in GIS data quality and data management issues and has worked with many organisations in both the public and private sector to address their concerns in these areas.