Following a PhD from Cambridge University in digital speech processing, Bob Crichton worked in research and development roles in the healthcare and defence industries before moving into technology consulting. He was a founder of technology consultancy Scientific Generics and went on to set up HOP Associates in 1991.

He believes that organisations fail to understand and get the full benefits of their technology investments and has worked to make technology solutions easier to understand and more accessible.

HOP Associates has developed an online website creator, WebSpringer, which allows organisations to build advanced websites with built-in accessibility. WebSpringer sites can include slide shows, video, audio, quizzes, surveys and a range of other features that are normally only available at high cost and from specialist designers.