Mr. Sleep graduated in Mechanical Engineering from Bristol University, UK. He worked for ICI in the UK and the Netherlands as a plant engineer on polyethylene and perspex plants. He spent twelve years with BP Chemicals Ltd in a variety of roles, initially in production as a mechanical engineer working on steam crackers at Baglan Bay and Grangemouth and subsequently in commercial roles including five years as Propylene Product Manager. Prior to joining ChemSystems in 1994 (subsequently acquired by Nexant) he had been an olefins and aromatics trader with Metallgesellschaft Petrochemicals Corp.