A career spanning IT, finance, floristry and chocolate!

Since October 2020, Soumya Dinesh has been Managing Director and Co-Founder of Atula Technologies – a Buckinghamshire based business specialising in bespoke software solutions for SMEs. Soumya grew up in the cantonment city of Bengaluru, India and excelled academically. She originally wanted to become a pilot but did not pursue this, instead opting to go to Pondicherry University where she got a master’s degree in finance. This enabled Soumya to go on to work with one of the biggest accounting firms in the world. Despite an enjoyable and enriching stint there, she learnt it was not what she wanted to do, surprising many by taking the reins of an at-home flower delivery company based around her parent’s flower shop when she was in her early 20s. It was here that Soumya got her first taste of e-commerce, which would later become the foundations of Atula Technologies.   “It led to tremendous growth for the florist shop, which was once a single unit on one high street. We were the most well-known florist in India for several years after that because we could deliver across the country with our branding.”  The florist business was later sold, Soumya married Dinesh and moved to the UK. She then retrained in IT and worked for Lloyd’s TSB and SONY Corporation. At the same time, Soumya decided to start creating her own chocolates, which gradually spiralled into her own business. Her company Cherish Chocolates earned several Great Taste awards and was sold up and down the country but was eventually wound down after 10 years when she decided to focus on family. Several years later, Soumya launched Atula Technologies with Dinesh, bringing their IT knowledge and experience together. Now in its fourth year, Soumya says it is “onward and upward” with plans for growth and success for herself and her clients. “I have a lot to offer and so much to give back.”  https://www.linkedin.com/in/soumyadinesh/ www.atulatech.com