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Picture of Ash Connolly

Ash Connolly 👋

Consultant Software Engineer

I’m a consultant software engineer working with React, TypeScript, and Next.js. I love building applications, front end architecture, component libraries and design systems.

I’ve been doing this for 13 years and worked with large clients the BBC, HMRC, WWF, and Microsoft. Details of my skills and experience can be found on my CV.

Projects

2024

The Random Show →

The Random Show is a podcast hosted by Tim Ferriss and Kevin Rose. It's a brilliant podcast, but the episodes can be hard to track down as they're hosted in various places, on different domains. So I made this site to bring them all together.

the randow show homepage

2022

Episode Ratings acquired →

See if a TV show improves or declines over time. Features include episode rating graph, "Where to watch" info based on your location, best & worst episodes, episode summaries, and similar shows.

A fullstack application built with React, Next.js, Zustand, EmotionCSS, Tailwind, serverless (Next.js API routes), multiple APIs, and MongoDB. Pages are statically generated at build time and incrementally regenerated for increased performance.

episode ratings homepage
episode ratings show page

2020

Line Height Adjuster acquired

A chrome extension that allows you to adjust the line height of any website to give a better reading experience. It had over two thousand MAUs when acquired.

Writing

  • May 2016

    A More Seamless Workflow: Style Guides For Better Design & Development popular →

    47,499 views

    An article outlining the effectiveness of style guide driven workflows, and how they benefit both the design and development of an interface. It's been recommended by an industry leader, and has featured on multiple publications.

  • Sep 2021

    Prevent "window is not defined" Errors With a useClientSide() Custom Hook →

    2,221 views

  • Jun 2021

    How To Quickly Add Cypress To Your Next.js App →

    3,086 views

Recent Work

2021 - 2025

HMRC Customs Search Service (via Equal Experts) →

Building a React, Next.js search application

As solo/lead frontend developer I built the HMRC Customs Search Service frontend: a multipage React, Next.js application that served ~400 million records to an internal team of ~2000 staff. It allowed staff to use various filters & search criteria to find specific records.

Further details of this project can be found on my C.V

2018 - 2021

Sky Betting & Gaming →

Building multiple apps for millions of users.

I helped develop what is currently the fastest login interface in the betting industry. Comprised of a SSR login interface using React, Redux & Next.js. I also rebuilt multiple safer gambling applications, migrating them from older technologies like create-react-app, class components and redux, to Next.js and hooks.

Additionally myself and another engineer developed a boilerplate application island, using Yarn Workspaces and Next.js, to solve tribe-wide scaling and performance issues. Further details of my work at SkyBet can be found on my C.V.

skybet login page
skybet self exclusion
skybet self exclusion blocked

2016 - 2018

UAccount

Creating a new front end from the ground up, and introducing React.

I led the front end development in building a new, scalable and robust front end architecture, combined with a living component library. This allowed developers to be more effective, but more importantly led to a better UX for users.

I also built the foundations of an entirely new React based front end, introduced front end guidelines covering everything from principles to code structure, carried out performance audits, trained other members of staff to improve their front end skills and understanding of scalable design systems.

uaccount home page
uaccount money manager

2016

World Wildlife Fund →

Building a new front end system for one of the worlds largest charities.

I had the pleasure of leading the front end development for one of the worlds largest charities. I created a flexible, component based front end system, coding guidelines and a living styleguide to make future updates and site maintenance as easy as possible.

This made it easy to create unique page layouts by choosing from a selection of components. This helped developers working on the site as well as leading to a more consistent user experience for site visitors.

World Wildlife Fund where we work page
World Wildlife Fund adoption page
World Wildlife Fund tigers page

Work History

2021 - Now

Equal Experts

Software Engineer (Contract)

2021 - 2025

HM Revenue & Customs

Software Engineer (Contract) via Equal Experts

2018 - 2021

Sky Betting & Gaming

Software Engineer

2016 - 2018

U Account

Front End Developer → Senior Front End Developer

2018

Freelance - Man & Van mobile Application

Software Engineer - React, PhoneGap

2015 - 2016

Techdept

Front End Developer

2014 - 2015

Rare Creative Group

Front End Developer & Designer

2012 - 2014

MB Advertising & Marketing Ltd

Front End Developer & Designer

Get in touch.

I always love to hear about new opportunities and projects. If you're looking for a consultant, development help, or have any queries, dont hesitate to contact me.