Guthrie unveils internet spreadsheet

ONE of the technical brains behind the launch of pioneering online bank Intelligent Finance has launched new software that brings spreadsheets on to the internet.

Gordon Guthrie, who was also credited with helping the SNP to win the 2007 Holyrood election by overhauling the party's campaign system, is looking for customers to further develop his Hypernumbers software.

While current applications, such as online file-sharing service Google Docs, allow more than one user to edit a spreadsheet, Hypernumbers offers a more user-friendly interface by separating out three functions, Guthrie said.

He explained that his software gave users a different view of the spreadsheet depending on whether they were inputting data, reading the results of the spreadsheet's calculations or creating the original spreadsheet.

Guthrie said: "Microsoft's Excel spreadsheet is one of the most successful pieces of software of all time.

"We aim to take spreadsheets online in a way that's easy to use and understand."

Guthrie explained that Hypernumbers could also be used to create websites, allowing videos, photographs or even Twitter feeds to be displayed within individual cells on a spreadsheet.

He added: "We spent about 60 million developing Intelligent Finance. But the way the web has moved on means we've only had to spend a fraction of 1 per cent of that on Hypernumbers."

Guthrie made a very public switch from the Labour party to the SNP in 2002 in protest over then Prime Minister Tony Blair's policies on Iraq and the economy.

He had fought Aberdeenshire West and Kincardine for Labour in the 1999 Holyrood elections and developed the party's election software.

At the 2005 Westminster the election, Guthrie was the SNP's candidate for Linlithgow and East Falkirk.

Intelligent Finance was launched by Jim Spowart in 2000 as part of the Halifax building society. Guthrie served as chief technical architect in 2000 and 2001.