SSW Newcastle now open! We are coding by the Sea

We’re officially open!

The SSW Newcastle office had its opening party last week. We had a great time on Friday night with many special guests celebrating with us. I would like to thank everyone who came.

There were local software developers, SSW employees (both past and present), and even our first ever client came along with his family! It was awesome that so many people celebrated with us.

SSW Newcastle is our 4th Aussie office

We’ve have been working on getting this office together for a year now, mostly due to COVID and me changing my mind.

Thankfully the stars aligned and we had 55 days of 0 cases in NSW, which meant it was party time! Planning a party during COVID times is a lot more work than during normal times. We had a COVID safe plan in place, QR codes, a compulsory hand sanitizer entrance and fist bumps only.

It was a fun night, and I did 2 presentations which I’ll tell you about shortly. It great to see everyone enjoying themselves and eating all the food. We enjoyed an amazing spread, organized by my wife and Greek goddess Anastasia, as well as a few cold drinks. The champagne went down a treat, as did the beer. Considering most were non-drinkers – 120 bottles disappeared somewhere! 😲

Why Newcastle?

I really enjoyed meeting people from Newcastle, but many guests were from Sydney and of course the question came up, why did we choose Newcastle when there are so many other great cities in Australia?

I gave a short introduction to the town I knew well, why we chose it, and our plans for the future. My father-in-law made a well timed and very loud entrance in the middle of my presentation, which gave everyone (including myself) a giggle. He’s always an entertainer! #eyeroll

Here are some of the things I talked about on the night where I highlighted the best bits of Newcastle that was used in our decision making. I grew up in the area and it has changed a lot recently, so if you don’t know Newcastle spend a few weekends there. You will be impressed.

⬆ Growing city – 7th largest city in Australia and 2 hours from Sydney

👩‍🎓 Top-ranked university – University of Newcastle is ranked top 200–400 globally, close to the top 1% in the world
🌟 High-performing schools – Strong HSC results, with Merewether Selective and Newcastle Grammar in the top 50 in NSW
🏛 Historic architecture – Australia’s second oldest city with rich heritage buildings
🏙 Balanced lifestyle – City convenience without the busyness
💰 Affordable living – Lower cost of living and property prices
🏄‍♀️ Beach lifestyle – Strong surfing culture and coastal living
🍷 Wine region access – Close to world-renowned Hunter Valley wineries
🎨 Creative community – More artists per capita than any other Australian city
🍴 Food scene – Plenty of cafes and restaurants, including vegan-friendly options
👩‍💻 Tech-forward future – Commitment to becoming a smart and sustainable city by 2030

After that, there was some business amongst all of the fun… I presented a lightning talk, “7 simple steps to building your profile”, which I think was well received. I might add a more polished version to SSW TV in the future to help blossoming developers.

Monkeying around

We ended the night by trying out the new monkey bars that we installed to help the developers to become stronger and fitter (and have some fun). They appeared to be a hit!

Here’s a few more pictures from the night:

We are hiring!

Sold on Newcastle!? We are hiring, check out: https://www.ssw.com.au/ssw/Employment/default.aspx

Or contact Penny on penny@ssw.com.au with your resume!

Update: How SSW Newcastle is going in 2026

We love having an office in Newcastle. Here are a few reasons you should set up an office here too!