Kate Craig-Wood

Kate Helen Craig-Wood (1 February 1977 – 22 September 2020) was a British IT entrepreneur and the co-founder and managing director of Memset Dedicated Hosting. She received a number of awards for her work in business.[1] Craig-Wood was a trans woman, and was known for promoting green IT, women in IT, and acceptance of trans people.[2]

Kate Craig-Wood
Craig-Wood in 2010
Born(1977-02-01)1 February 1977
Died22 September 2020(2020-09-22) (aged 43)
NationalityBritish
EducationUniversity of Southampton
OccupationIT entrepreneur
Known forIT entrepreneurship and advocacy of green IT, women in IT, and acceptance of trans people
Websitekate.craig-wood.com

Biography

Craig-Wood was born on 1 February 1977.[3] She was educated at the Royal Grammar School and attended the University of Southampton, obtaining a 2:1 in Biomedical Sciences and a master's degree in the same field.[4] Craig-Wood taught herself various programming languages and internet technologies, and after completing her master's,[5] joined Arthur Andersen as an IT consultant.[1] She later became head of business development for Easyspace Ltd., one of the UK's largest web hosting companies.[1]

Craig-Wood married in 2000 and divorced in 2006. The divorce was a result of her beginning her transition, which she undertook between October 2005 and November 2006.[6]

In 2002, Craig-Wood left Easyspace and founded Memset with her brother, Nick.[6] Memset has grown rapidly since its inception. It has been described as Britain's first carbon neutral ISP.[7] Memset has been voted best UK Web host six years running (2006–2011)[8] and won a number of other awards for innovation, environmental awareness and IT strategy.[9]

In March 2008, she came out in The Sunday Times Magazine, in the hope that she might be the role model to younger trans women that she never had, and also to try and dispel some myths about [transgender people].[10] She was an executive committee member and trustee of the Gender Identity Research and Education Society, and worked with the group with a focus on improving medical care in the UK for young trans people.[11]

Craig-Wood was a proponent of energy-efficient computing and was a UK finalist in the 2008 BlackBerry Women and Technology awards for "best use of technology by a woman in a small to medium business".[6] She was a director of Intellect UK, the UK's high-tech trade association,[12] and chaired its climate change group.[13] She was also involved with the British Computer Society's efforts on green IT via her committee membership of the Data Centre Specialist Group.[1]

Kate resigned as a Director of Memset in August 2018,[14] and relinquished her share of financial control, under the name Kate Helen Bishopwood, on March 12, 2020,[15] when the company was sold to iomart.[16]

Craig-Wood died on 22 September 2020, at the age of 43, of a suspected drug overdose.[17][18]

References
  1. "The 25 most influential women in UK IT: 4. Kate Craig-Wood, managing director, Memset; Intellect board member". Computer Weekly. 10 July 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  2. Meyer, David (15 November 2007). "MP: Tech needs more female role models". ZDNet.
  3. Kate Craig-Wood [@Memset_Kate] (1 February 2015). "This is pretty cool, and just a bit creepy: Google wishing me Happy Birthday! ow.ly/i/8tiYE" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 13 February 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2021 – via Twitter.
  4. "Sex change Kate has never looked back". Surrey Live. 12 December 2008. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  5. Jardine, Cassandra (7 July 2009). "Kate Craig-Wood: 'I'm lucky, many men would never pass for a woman'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  6. Whitehead, Peter (14 May 2008). "What IT means to me: No longer a member of any boys' clubs". Financial Times. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  7. "Memset goes Carbon Neutral". Hub Magazine. Enterprise Hub Network. Archived from the original on 25 February 2008. Retrieved 9 April 2008.
  8. "PCPro award winners 2007". PC Pro. 4 December 2007. Archived from the original on 28 April 2008. Retrieved 9 April 2008.
  9. "Press Releases". Memset. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  10. "Best of Times, Worst of Times: Kate Craig-Wood". The Sunday Times. 30 March 2008.
  11. "Transphobic bullying: Could you deal with it in your school?" (PDF). UKTrans. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  12. "Female entrepreneur joins Intellect's board". Women in Technology. 25 May 2007.
  13. Teuton, Dan (5 December 2012). "Kate Craig Wood – Memset". The Business Magazine. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  14. "Kate Helen CRAIG-WOOD personal appointments". Companies House. GOV.UK. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  15. "MEMSET Ltd - Filing history (Free information from Companies House)".
  16. "Pre-close trading statement for year ended 31 March 2020 - Iomart Group plc". iomart. 3 April 2020. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  17. "Kate Craig-Wood". The Gazette. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  18. "Xmas 2020". Nick Craig-Wood personal blog. Archived from the original on 9 August 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
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