Simon studied at Brighton School of Architecture and won the prestigious British Gas Award in 1988 for his Degree project for the innovative use of energy and design. He qualified as an Architect in 1993 and worked on the design and construction of several bank and building society HQ's. However his passion for games meant a career change after working in the evenings on his own games projects. He initially joined Microprose as a 3D artist and made a move to Sony's newly acquired Psygnosis to set up and run a new console development studio. Simon joined Climax in 2003 as a studio head and was appointed CEO in 2008.