Experience

Rexel UK Ltd

• United Kingdom
• Wholesale
• 700 & Above Employee

• Chief Information Officer - UK and Ireland

  • Jan 2021 - Present



Dogs Trust

• United Kingdom
• Non-profit Organizations
• 700 & Above Employee

• Interim Programme Lead - Digital Transformation

  • May 2020 - Dec 2020



soak.com

• United Kingdom
• Retail
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Chief Information Officer

  • 2016 - 2020

  soak.com is a pure play bathroom retailer and was part of Ferguson plc, until an MBO led by the CEO in March 2019. Under Ferguson, sales grew from £44m to £70m with EBITDA growth from £-0.3m to £2.0m. My remit was to remove the technology blockers to business growth domestically & internationally and to speed up the pace of change. I reported to the CEO and sat on the exec board with responsibility for technology, customer experience and digital across the UK, Netherlands and Ireland… Show more soak.com is a pure play bathroom retailer and was part of Ferguson plc, until an MBO led by the CEO in March 2019. Under Ferguson, sales grew from £44m to £70m with EBITDA growth from £-0.3m to £2.0m. My remit was to remove the technology blockers to business growth domestically & internationally and to speed up the pace of change. I reported to the CEO and sat on the exec board with responsibility for technology, customer experience and digital across the UK, Netherlands and Ireland. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 ◆ I was responsible for the international launch of France, Germany, Spain and Italy on Amazon, and Ireland and the Netherlands on soak.com, driving multi million pound revenue streams. The Netherlands facility included country office, warehousing and contact centre enabling a Brexit strategy for international growth in Western Europe. ◆ With responsibility for customer experience I completed a wholesale replacement of legacy eCommerce systems. This increased mobile conversion rate by 20% through this channel. Live Chat improved average order value by 15% and had a conversion rate of 25% within one month of launch. The technology change removed the barrier for domestic growth and enabled a 48% year on year increase on Black Friday 2018. ◆ I advocated data driven development based on multivariate testing tools, enabling a fail fast approach. This supported improvements in conversion rate, average order value and operating costs. The checkout was redesigned using these tools and conversion rate increased by 2% driving over £1m of additional revenue and reduced post sales calls to the contact centre by 15% ◆ My team provided the technology to open a Showroom driving £1.2m of additional sales in the first full financial year through iPads, self-service touch screens and order capture systems. This enabled customers to see the entire range and checkout independently or at home. Show less soak.com is a pure play bathroom retailer and was part of Ferguson plc, until an MBO led by the CEO in March 2019. Under Ferguson, sales grew from £44m to £70m with EBITDA growth from £-0.3m to £2.0m. My remit was to remove the technology blockers to business growth domestically & internationally and to speed up the pace of change. I reported to the CEO and sat on the exec board with responsibility for technology, customer experience and digital across the UK, Netherlands and Ireland… Show more soak.com is a pure play bathroom retailer and was part of Ferguson plc, until an MBO led by the CEO in March 2019. Under Ferguson, sales grew from £44m to £70m with EBITDA growth from £-0.3m to £2.0m. My remit was to remove the technology blockers to business growth domestically & internationally and to speed up the pace of change. I reported to the CEO and sat on the exec board with responsibility for technology, customer experience and digital across the UK, Netherlands and Ireland. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 ◆ I was responsible for the international launch of France, Germany, Spain and Italy on Amazon, and Ireland and the Netherlands on soak.com, driving multi million pound revenue streams. The Netherlands facility included country office, warehousing and contact centre enabling a Brexit strategy for international growth in Western Europe. ◆ With responsibility for customer experience I completed a wholesale replacement of legacy eCommerce systems. This increased mobile conversion rate by 20% through this channel. Live Chat improved average order value by 15% and had a conversion rate of 25% within one month of launch. The technology change removed the barrier for domestic growth and enabled a 48% year on year increase on Black Friday 2018. ◆ I advocated data driven development based on multivariate testing tools, enabling a fail fast approach. This supported improvements in conversion rate, average order value and operating costs. The checkout was redesigned using these tools and conversion rate increased by 2% driving over £1m of additional revenue and reduced post sales calls to the contact centre by 15% ◆ My team provided the technology to open a Showroom driving £1.2m of additional sales in the first full financial year through iPads, self-service touch screens and order capture systems. This enabled customers to see the entire range and checkout independently or at home. Show less



House of Fraser

• United Kingdom
• Retail
• 700 & Above Employee

• Interim Head of Digital Programme Delivery

  • Feb 2016 - Jun 2016

  House of Fraser is a multi channel department store group with a turnover of £850m [£175m online]. I reported to the director of digital in the customer team. As part of a short-term assignment, I provided leadership support to the digital team as they scaled up the eCommerce platform replacement programme. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 ◆ I facilitated the launch of the first international site (Australia). This served as a pilot in a smaller market, enabling the customer team… Show more House of Fraser is a multi channel department store group with a turnover of £850m [£175m online]. I reported to the director of digital in the customer team. As part of a short-term assignment, I provided leadership support to the digital team as they scaled up the eCommerce platform replacement programme. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 ◆ I facilitated the launch of the first international site (Australia). This served as a pilot in a smaller market, enabling the customer team to learn about market localisation and the new tools. ◆ I created a programme structure, effectively managed the transition of my team, enabling the UK platform replacement programme to become their main focus. ◆ I proposed ways of working for the digital and IT teams to take advantage of agile development and product management. ◆ My team managed multiple releases on the mobile app and I improved ways of working with the third party. ◆ I managed the front-end development team working onshore, with Infosys core development offshore. Show less House of Fraser is a multi channel department store group with a turnover of £850m [£175m online]. I reported to the director of digital in the customer team. As part of a short-term assignment, I provided leadership support to the digital team as they scaled up the eCommerce platform replacement programme. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 ◆ I facilitated the launch of the first international site (Australia). This served as a pilot in a smaller market, enabling the customer team… Show more House of Fraser is a multi channel department store group with a turnover of £850m [£175m online]. I reported to the director of digital in the customer team. As part of a short-term assignment, I provided leadership support to the digital team as they scaled up the eCommerce platform replacement programme. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 ◆ I facilitated the launch of the first international site (Australia). This served as a pilot in a smaller market, enabling the customer team to learn about market localisation and the new tools. ◆ I created a programme structure, effectively managed the transition of my team, enabling the UK platform replacement programme to become their main focus. ◆ I proposed ways of working for the digital and IT teams to take advantage of agile development and product management. ◆ My team managed multiple releases on the mobile app and I improved ways of working with the third party. ◆ I managed the front-end development team working onshore, with Infosys core development offshore. Show less



Nisa Retail

• United Kingdom
• Wholesale
• 700 & Above Employee

• Interim Chief Information Officer

  • 2015 - 2016

  Nisa is a £1.3bn turnover convenience retailer and wholesaler with over 2500 sites across the UK. It operates as a member owned mutual company. I reported to the CEO and sat on the executive board. I was recruited in a period of turnaround taking a £2.9m loss to a £7.3m profit, the biggest annual swing in profits in the 39-year history of the business. On arrival I carried out a complete review of the IT function and presented recommendations to the CEO to support the required… Show more Nisa is a £1.3bn turnover convenience retailer and wholesaler with over 2500 sites across the UK. It operates as a member owned mutual company. I reported to the CEO and sat on the executive board. I was recruited in a period of turnaround taking a £2.9m loss to a £7.3m profit, the biggest annual swing in profits in the 39-year history of the business. On arrival I carried out a complete review of the IT function and presented recommendations to the CEO to support the required improvements. I was retained to implement the recommendations. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 ◆ To support the turnaround of the business, I saved 15% on the IT operational costs to improve EBITDA. I also reduced annual capital investment by 50% to improve cash flow. ◆ I was given additional executive responsibility to transition a £1bn 5-year contract into operations. This involved agreeing the range, developing the technology and stocking 120 stores overnight and then ongoing deliveries. The project went live in under 10 weeks. It immediately brought in an additional £4m of revenue per week to enable the turnaround. ◆ The B2B order management system for retailers was functional but had a poor user experience. This was fully refreshed to support mobile and tablet ordering and also the layout so that promotions were clearly visible throughout the user journey. This was launched in time for Black Friday so that members could purchase wholesale items on flash deals bringing in £1m of revenue. ◆ I overhauled a multi-million pound in house EPoS programme which was off track. A clear pay back was established from members buying the system and the EPoS sales data being sold to a third party. Show less Nisa is a £1.3bn turnover convenience retailer and wholesaler with over 2500 sites across the UK. It operates as a member owned mutual company. I reported to the CEO and sat on the executive board. I was recruited in a period of turnaround taking a £2.9m loss to a £7.3m profit, the biggest annual swing in profits in the 39-year history of the business. On arrival I carried out a complete review of the IT function and presented recommendations to the CEO to support the required… Show more Nisa is a £1.3bn turnover convenience retailer and wholesaler with over 2500 sites across the UK. It operates as a member owned mutual company. I reported to the CEO and sat on the executive board. I was recruited in a period of turnaround taking a £2.9m loss to a £7.3m profit, the biggest annual swing in profits in the 39-year history of the business. On arrival I carried out a complete review of the IT function and presented recommendations to the CEO to support the required improvements. I was retained to implement the recommendations. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 ◆ To support the turnaround of the business, I saved 15% on the IT operational costs to improve EBITDA. I also reduced annual capital investment by 50% to improve cash flow. ◆ I was given additional executive responsibility to transition a £1bn 5-year contract into operations. This involved agreeing the range, developing the technology and stocking 120 stores overnight and then ongoing deliveries. The project went live in under 10 weeks. It immediately brought in an additional £4m of revenue per week to enable the turnaround. ◆ The B2B order management system for retailers was functional but had a poor user experience. This was fully refreshed to support mobile and tablet ordering and also the layout so that promotions were clearly visible throughout the user journey. This was launched in time for Black Friday so that members could purchase wholesale items on flash deals bringing in £1m of revenue. ◆ I overhauled a multi-million pound in house EPoS programme which was off track. A clear pay back was established from members buying the system and the EPoS sales data being sold to a third party. Show less



Javelin Group

• United Kingdom
• Business Consulting and Services
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Consulting Manager

  • 2014 - 2015

  Javelin Group is a strategy consultancy, supporting digital transformation. I developed IT and digital strategies, in line with overall business objectives, for CIOs and company boards. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀: ◆ I completed a strategic review and IT roadmap for a 200-store franchise operation. This established best systems fit to improve margins and drive sales. The work saved the business from investing over £20m over two years as the expected benefits could not be… Show more Javelin Group is a strategy consultancy, supporting digital transformation. I developed IT and digital strategies, in line with overall business objectives, for CIOs and company boards. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀: ◆ I completed a strategic review and IT roadmap for a 200-store franchise operation. This established best systems fit to improve margins and drive sales. The work saved the business from investing over £20m over two years as the expected benefits could not be realised. ◆ I was brought in to reorganise the IT team for a 900,000 sq ft eCommerce fulfilment centre. I created a project lifecycle to improve the end to end process and an IT service management structure so that the site could process up to 2 million items per week without any IT disruptions. ◆ I was responsible for programme assurance for a £1.2B B2B electronics business eCommerce re-platform. Covering 29 localised sites worldwide, the company wished to provide a B2C experience. I advised on programme start-up, structure, governance and eCommerce subject matter expertise. ◆ I worked with the largest multi brand office supply company with turnover of £400m to establish the brand and group requirements for a new B2B eCommerce platform to support the future of the business as it moved to move more sales to a digital platform. Show less Javelin Group is a strategy consultancy, supporting digital transformation. I developed IT and digital strategies, in line with overall business objectives, for CIOs and company boards. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀: ◆ I completed a strategic review and IT roadmap for a 200-store franchise operation. This established best systems fit to improve margins and drive sales. The work saved the business from investing over £20m over two years as the expected benefits could not be… Show more Javelin Group is a strategy consultancy, supporting digital transformation. I developed IT and digital strategies, in line with overall business objectives, for CIOs and company boards. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀: ◆ I completed a strategic review and IT roadmap for a 200-store franchise operation. This established best systems fit to improve margins and drive sales. The work saved the business from investing over £20m over two years as the expected benefits could not be realised. ◆ I was brought in to reorganise the IT team for a 900,000 sq ft eCommerce fulfilment centre. I created a project lifecycle to improve the end to end process and an IT service management structure so that the site could process up to 2 million items per week without any IT disruptions. ◆ I was responsible for programme assurance for a £1.2B B2B electronics business eCommerce re-platform. Covering 29 localised sites worldwide, the company wished to provide a B2C experience. I advised on programme start-up, structure, governance and eCommerce subject matter expertise. ◆ I worked with the largest multi brand office supply company with turnover of £400m to establish the brand and group requirements for a new B2B eCommerce platform to support the future of the business as it moved to move more sales to a digital platform. Show less



Marks and Spencer

• United Kingdom
• Retail
• 700 & Above Employee

• Digital Programme Manager

  • 2011 - 2014

  I was a senior member of the IT Digital Leadership team. I led Marks and Spencer into mobile, digital stores and international multichannel eCommerce, achieving online sales growth from £543m to £800m. Mobile sales reached over £1m per week and grew at greater than 100%. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 ◆ I was responsible for the development and launch of websites in nine countries in Western Europe and China over 18 months, providing over £15m of sales per annum in the first… Show more I was a senior member of the IT Digital Leadership team. I led Marks and Spencer into mobile, digital stores and international multichannel eCommerce, achieving online sales growth from £543m to £800m. Mobile sales reached over £1m per week and grew at greater than 100%. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 ◆ I was responsible for the development and launch of websites in nine countries in Western Europe and China over 18 months, providing over £15m of sales per annum in the first year. ◆ I led the mobile team that launched the first Android shopping app, delivering over £1m in sales in the first year with no cannibalisation of mobile web and zero marketing. My team also launched an iPhone app to enable targeted offers redeemable online and in store as part of a strategy to use the mobile device to join up the online and in store journey. ◆ I was responsible for the end-to-end development and launch of the first M&S digital concept store in Amsterdam to “Test and Learn” about the digital customer including a world first digital clothes rail, engineered with an agile team using the cloud for fast development times and scalability. Show less I was a senior member of the IT Digital Leadership team. I led Marks and Spencer into mobile, digital stores and international multichannel eCommerce, achieving online sales growth from £543m to £800m. Mobile sales reached over £1m per week and grew at greater than 100%. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 ◆ I was responsible for the development and launch of websites in nine countries in Western Europe and China over 18 months, providing over £15m of sales per annum in the first… Show more I was a senior member of the IT Digital Leadership team. I led Marks and Spencer into mobile, digital stores and international multichannel eCommerce, achieving online sales growth from £543m to £800m. Mobile sales reached over £1m per week and grew at greater than 100%. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 ◆ I was responsible for the development and launch of websites in nine countries in Western Europe and China over 18 months, providing over £15m of sales per annum in the first year. ◆ I led the mobile team that launched the first Android shopping app, delivering over £1m in sales in the first year with no cannibalisation of mobile web and zero marketing. My team also launched an iPhone app to enable targeted offers redeemable online and in store as part of a strategy to use the mobile device to join up the online and in store journey. ◆ I was responsible for the end-to-end development and launch of the first M&S digital concept store in Amsterdam to “Test and Learn” about the digital customer including a world first digital clothes rail, engineered with an agile team using the cloud for fast development times and scalability. Show less



ASOS.com

• United Kingdom
• Retail Apparel and Fashion
• 700 & Above Employee

• Head of Business Systems

  • 2008 - 2010

  asos.com is a pure play fashion retailer. During my term, sales grew from £80M to £250M turnover with EBITDA growing from £7M to £22M. Reporting to the CIO, I built a high-capacity senior IT team from the ground up, recruiting and developed over 40 professionals in engineering, testing, business analysis, product management and business intelligence. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 ◆ I architected a strategy for internationalisation, enabling growth of the first £200M of… Show more asos.com is a pure play fashion retailer. During my term, sales grew from £80M to £250M turnover with EBITDA growing from £7M to £22M. Reporting to the CIO, I built a high-capacity senior IT team from the ground up, recruiting and developed over 40 professionals in engineering, testing, business analysis, product management and business intelligence. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 ◆ I architected a strategy for internationalisation, enabling growth of the first £200M of international sales. International sales grew from 10% - 35% of total sales. ◆ My team implemented a warehouse management system to facilitate company growth and new delivery options in support for the mission to provide the best online delivery and returns in the sector. ◆ To support customer segmentation of marketing emails, my team delivered the first company CRM in alignment with the business strategy of personalisation to increase revenue per customer. Show less asos.com is a pure play fashion retailer. During my term, sales grew from £80M to £250M turnover with EBITDA growing from £7M to £22M. Reporting to the CIO, I built a high-capacity senior IT team from the ground up, recruiting and developed over 40 professionals in engineering, testing, business analysis, product management and business intelligence. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 ◆ I architected a strategy for internationalisation, enabling growth of the first £200M of… Show more asos.com is a pure play fashion retailer. During my term, sales grew from £80M to £250M turnover with EBITDA growing from £7M to £22M. Reporting to the CIO, I built a high-capacity senior IT team from the ground up, recruiting and developed over 40 professionals in engineering, testing, business analysis, product management and business intelligence. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 ◆ I architected a strategy for internationalisation, enabling growth of the first £200M of international sales. International sales grew from 10% - 35% of total sales. ◆ My team implemented a warehouse management system to facilitate company growth and new delivery options in support for the mission to provide the best online delivery and returns in the sector. ◆ To support customer segmentation of marketing emails, my team delivered the first company CRM in alignment with the business strategy of personalisation to increase revenue per customer. Show less