The world of the UK CIO is a dynamic one. It’s not unusual to find tech leaders seeking new challenging roles where they can bring their experience and digital transformation vision to fruition, especially in the current climate on the brink of a new year.

Here, we bring you all the relevant announcements from the movers and shakers of the CIO UK community.

If you have any appointment or job news to share, or any other information you feel may be relevant and interesting to the UK CIO community, please contact us here.

November 2022

NHS Digital interim CEO and NHS England CIO Simon Bolton is leaving the organisation. NHS England is expected to advertise for a new CIO shortly, according to a note to staff from transformation director Tim Ferris, with the institution reportedly looking internally and externally for Bolton’s replacement.

“Tough decision to leave,” said Bolton, who said it was primarily for personal reasons. “The team at NHS Digital is amazing in so many ways and have quietly delivered some incredible outcomes. The merger with NHS England creates a fantastic opportunity to put digital at the centre of the NHS.”

NHS Digital will be merged into the NHS England transformation directorate from January 2023, with NHSX having been merged earlier in 2022. NHS Digital has historically provided IT infrastructure, data and digital services to the NHS, with NHSX responsible for developing national technology policy, best practices and standards.

Mark Johnson, CIO of East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, has announced he plans to retire at the end of March 2023, after 42 years in the profession. Dan Hallen, NHS England’s head of digital technology and digital urgent and emergency care, has taken on the new role with immediate effect, although he said on LinkedIn he’ll combine the two roles as he transitions into the full-time position.

“I’m excited about the next steps of improving our digital future as part of both East Lancashire and also the wider Lancashire & South Cumbria Integrated Care System & Board,” said Cullen on LinkedIn.

Douglas Goodridge has become the new CIO at Formula One racing team Williams Racing. Goodridge was appointed as IT Director in July, following Graeme Hackland’s departure, but now takes on a CIO role where he’s responsible for setting IT strategies, developing the technology roadmap, and encouraging innovation.

“I’ve been working with the team so far on an interim basis, but I’m pleased to say I’m now officially here for the long-haul,” he said on social media. “Working within the world of Formula 1 means that it’s an extremely challenging and multi-faceted role, where I’ll be exploring new technologies and constantly driving performance across multiple areas of business and IT.”

In his new role, Goodridge will continue to work closely with teams across the business to strengthen systems, bolster capabilities and drive performance through the assessment and adoption of evolving technology. He’ll also continue to work with the commercial and partnership teams on focus areas within enterprise IT, including infrastructure, data, and security.

Goodridge, who previously worked as a consultant for professional services firm Networkology Ltd, told CIO.com he’ll be part of the management committee and report into team principal Jost Capito. He says his immediate focus in the near term is on the technology roadmap and strategy.

Paul Fleming, strategic director of resources at Blackburn with Darwen Council and a winner of the CIO UK 100 in 2021, is leaving the public sector to become account chief technologist in the advisory and consultancy arm of Softcat.

He starts in January, having spent the last five years at Blackburn with Darwen Council. In 2021, he drew high praise from the CIO 100 judges for a low-code Covid tracing platform that helped track Coronavirus transmissions, and which later used as a national blueprint.

“It’s been a great experience working in tech and digital across the public sector in the NHS and local government,” said Fleming, who had formerly worked for NHS Digital as regional head of digital technology.

“I’ve worked with some amazing people across the country delivering work that made a difference. I’m excited now to be joining a progressive and innovative business in Softcat and a workplace recognised as being one of the best in the industry. I’m looking forward to working with the team to help many organisations realise their ambitions by harnessing technologies.”

Fleming told CIO.com he was proud of what he achieved in Blackburn and Darwen, including introducing new technologies and ways of working, and “putting people at the heart of the services we design”.

“We doubled the sign up and use of digital services and continued to drive new ways to interact with the Council,” he says. “We’ve had to deliver innovation through some of the hardest times in living memory for this borough with Covid, and I’m grateful for our passionate, skilled and dedicated team. We’ve built a talented, new directorate management team and I leave things in the best of hands for the future.”

Jots Sehmbi will join City University in January 2023, as the university’s first CIO. Sehmbi had been Chief Digital and Technology Officer (CDTO) at Essex University, where she had been since joining the institution in November 2019.

A CIO 100 member in 2021 and 2022, and the founding member of Tech London Advocates Asians in Tech Group, Sehmbi’s key achievements at Essex include new digital services to support remote teaching and learning, a 2025 digital strategy designed to help improve student recruitment, and initiatives to improve digital literacy and university diversity, equity and inclusion.

Jo Graham has joined Ghd hair as the new CIO, one month after departing Boohoo (see below). She will be based in Leeds and starts officially started on December 5.

She told CIO.com she’ll report to Jeroen Timmerman, CEO, and own all of IT and digital, with a go-live on a Microsoft Dynamics ERP system first on her to-do list for March.

Andy Callow, the interim CEO at the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire, is leaving the Trust to become CDIO at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.

As a member of the Executive Team and Trust Board at NUH, Callow will be responsible for digital services and performance and informatics teams. He said the opportunity for a new challenge, as well as a shorter commute, were the motivations behind the new role.

“Through the people I’ve talked to at NUH, I have a broad understanding of the challenges ahead, where things are working well and where I can make a contribution, using my experience over the past few years,” he said. “One of the things that attracted me to the role is that NUH also has very close links to the universities in Nottingham, and I’m really excited about the potential to do some impactful research linked into academia, supporting clinical teams using technology to improve diagnosis and prevention.”

Callow joins in January. His CDIO role at Northamptonshire is available online. You can read about his experience as an interim CEO here, including his thoughts on new areas of intellectual stimulation, addressing white privilege and why openness and reflection are part of his leadership style.

James Grove has left Southampton Football Club, with the Premier League side now advertising for a new director of IT.

“I often get asked what it’s like to be a technology leader at a Premier League football club,” he said on LinkedIn. “My response is always it’s a privilege to work in a unique and challenging role with incredible people. Now it’s time for someone else to take this on.”

The new role is being advertised on LinkedIn. Grove will announce his next role in March.

Grove told CIO.com it was a rollercoaster ride in the three years at the club, navigating technology through Covid-19 and stadium closures.

“I’m so proud of how every IT team member stepped up and worked together to deliver solutions during this time,” he said. “Aligning to my personal values of reaching your potential, Saints are one of the most people-focused organisations I’ve ever worked for. I would like to think I leave behind a strong and high performing team, who are brilliant at innovating and implementing meaningful technology change to drive the club forward on and off the pitch.”

Jason Law has been appointed group IT director at Avant Homes. He effectively replaces previous CIO Peter Adams prior to his departure to IM Global Holdings Ltd in June.

Law was previously head of IT at Keepmoat Homes, where he worked in various business and information systems roles for 16 years, and has more than 30 years of IT industry experience overall.

In his new role, Law is responsible for leading a team tasked with further enhancing Avant Homes’ operational capabilities through the implementation of new technology, systems and processes.

“Avant Homes is growing at pace,” he said in a statement. “My approach to IT will see us continually improve the way we integrate people, processes and technologies within the business to deliver optimal outcomes. As a team, we intend to enhance our internal user experience of IT systems and implement new and more efficient ways of working that incorporate best practice. This, in turn, will enable us to continue to scale the company quickly.”

Jo Wickremasinghe has become the CPTO at BPP, where she’s expected to lead digital transformation and reimagine teacher and student experiences.

“I’m excited to share that this week I started a new position as chief product and technology officer at BPP,” she said. “This incredible organisation enables students from the UK and across the world to develop their careers through education, and be active learners through life. It’s the start of a massive digital transformation journey for the organisation and I’m so excited to work with and scale the product and technology organisation to deliver BPP’s ambitious goals for growth in the coming years.”

Wickremasinghe was previously VP of product at Zoopla, product director of consumer experiences at Babylon Health, and director of product at News UK.

James Goss has left the VCA, after two years as the CIO.

“I’m incredibly proud of what everyone has achieved, from completely overhauling all underpinning technology through to building new customer digital services — and with so many more future changes in the transport sector, I have no doubt Team VCA will continue to thrive,” he said on LinkedIn.

Voss told CIO.com he was most proud of the VCA becoming the only agency within the Department for Transport to undertake a complete cloud migration, as well as the introduction of the agency’s first customer-facing digital service.

Goss re-joins the UK Hydrographic Office as a transformation consultant, leading on several digital enablement activities, having previously held a number of senior leadership roles there over a 10-year period.

Steve Homan has taken on the role of CTO at The Instant Group, the professional services firm. Homan will join Instant’s executive team to lead the technology strategy.

Homan was most recently an advisor to Beacon, CTO at Metapack Group and an interim digital transformation director at Collison Group. Most notably, he was formerly CIO at Daily Mail Group-dmg media in the early to mid-2010s, having formerly been the CIO at Fitness First.

“I’m excited to join as CTO at a time when the mega trends are pushing the market to transform,” he says. “Instant is already a very successful business, poised to take a pivotal position in the transformation of the market with a high calibre team and strong positive culture. With so much to learn and do, I can’t wait to get going.”

Nadine Thomson, the group CTO at Mediacom, has become CTO of media for the GroupM group, the media investment group of advertising giant WPP, which owns the GroupM, Mediacom, Mindshare, Essence and Wavemaker media agencies.

Thomson is transitioning into the role now but moves over officially on January 1, 2023.

She told CIO.com she’ll oversee media products across all the GroupM agencies and GroupM specialist businesses, “to bring together and drive innovation of our media product portfolio”. Thomson will report into the WPP technology leadership.

“I’m transitioning from managing media products in one agency to overseeing it across the four agencies and within the group function,” she said. Thomson ranked seventh in last year’s CIO UK 100 after a fruitful year in which she lead Mediacom’s consultancy arm focused on ecommerce growth, launched Mediacom’s strategic platform The System, and restructured a technology team which is now over 50% female.

Fintech start-up Pleo has a new CTO in the UK and Ireland. Meri Williams, formerly of clinical start-up Healx and banking scale-up Monzo, joined the organisation on November 21, and is part of the senior leadership team.

At Monzo, they helped scale the engineering and data team by 500%, and led significant investment in platform resilience and business continuity as Monzo’s customer base grew to over four million. At Healx, meanwhile, Williams was working on AI-driven rare disease treatment plans.

Since February 2021, Pleo has expanded into six new markets in Europe, and in the past year, users on the platform across the continent have doubled, while transaction volumes have tripled. This momentum comes off the back of Pleo reaching unicorn status in 2021 when it raised $350 million in Series C funding. The business is valued at $4.7 billion, making it one of the most valuable FinTech start-ups. 

Commenting on the appointment, Williams said: “Over the last few years I have witnessed Pleo evolve from a prospective disruptor in the business spend management market to becoming an essential platform of choice for thousands of enterprises across Europe. “The technology is at the heart of Pleo’s digitalised approach and with the momentum of growth in the business, this has the makings of an exciting tech journey for myself and their first-class tech team, who I am looking forward to meeting and working with. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to play a part in what Pleo is doing in this space.”

Dan McCormick has joined Keywords Studios Plc as Chief Digital Information Officer (CDIO). McCormick was previously the group digital products and AI director at pest control organisation Rentokil Initial plc, where he spent 17 years, and ranked second in the CIO UK 100 in 2019.

“A studio network with 12,000 wonderfully talented colleagues, strategically located across 23 countries, providing technical and creative services to the top video games companies. I am excited to partner with the business to support further growth and innovations,” he said on LinkedIn.

Farouq Din has been appointed as CIO at County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust (CDDFT). Din had been interim CIO at North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust since January 2022 and has worked in information and data roles within the NHS for some 20 years.

“I am very excited about starting work on the future digital healthcare journey with CDDFT and transforming outcomes for our patients,” he said on Twitter.

October

Jacky Wright will join consultancy McKinsey as its first Chief Technology and Platform Officer next month to lead McKinsey’s overall technology portfolio and strategy.

Wright had been at Microsoft for over a decade, most recently as the US CDO since 2019, and a corporate VP since 2016. She took on the CDIO role at HM Revenue and Customs during a secondment from 2017 to 2019, and had held CIO roles at BP and GE in the past. Earlier this year, she was named as the UK’s most influential Black person by Powerful Media.

She will report to McKinsey’s global managing partner, and will become a senior partner at the consultancy firm later this year.

Speaking to CIO.com, Wright explains what attracted her to the new role, primarily leveraging technology to help clients, the ability for her to “influence at scale,” and the notable pull of McKinsey given its expertise across a variety of sectors.

“As an organisation that is charged with enabling some of some of the world’s best companies in the world, that for me was an attractor,” she said.

Wright continued that she would get her feet under the desk first before committing to priorities for the year ahead, although she suggested she’d commit to improving McKinsey’s go-to market offerings as well as the internal use of technology, much as she did at Microsoft.

Speaking of her time at the Redmond software giant, she said she was proud of helping to shape Microsoft’s own cloud strategy and external cloud platforms and services, as well as its services in data, analytics and artificial intelligence. She also noted her efforts to make Microsoft a “more inclusive culture”, and to improve on sustainability.

“We are delighted to welcome Jacky to our firm,” said global managing partner Bob Sternfels in a prepared statement. “Working with our amazing team, Jacky will strengthen how we use technology both to help clients scale new ideas and tackle challenges, and to transform the way our more than 40,000 people work together across our global firm. She joins a team of leaders who have been focused on accelerating sustainable and inclusive growth in our client work, and setting the standard for our profession in how we manage ourselves as a firm.”

Dean Garvey-North has joined Thames Water as CIO. A member of the CIO 100 in 2021 and 2022, Garvey-North was technology director at Places for People, where he built out multi-disciplinary teams, championed diversity, and delivered cloud transformation.

He started the role at the end of October and will be responsible for what he says are all engineering IT functions and services, reporting into the executive director for digital transformation, Norma Dove-Edwin.

He says there will be a big push forward on “driving digital engineering excellence to improve customer outcomes.”

Prior to becoming technology officer at Places for People in September 2020, Garvey-North worked as group head of technology and infrastructure. He has previously worked as interim internal CTO at GBG Plc, and held infrastructure, service delivery and storage roles earlier in his career.

Andy Callow, the group chief digital information officer (CDIO) at the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire Group, has become the interim CEO. Callow told CIO.com that Dan Howard has become interim Group Chief Digital Information Officer at University Hospitals of Northamptonshire NHS Group, having formerly been director of digital.

Callow is acting as the interim CEO of University Hospitals of Northamptonshire Group after the current group chief executive, Simon Weldon, took leave for personal reasons.

The Northamptonshire group covers both Northampton General Hospital Trust (NGH) and Kettering General Hospital Foundation Trust (KGH). Callow took on responsibility for the digital strategy for both entities in 2021, and has spent the last year creating a single group digital structure across two separate teams. He has also overseen cloud and automation initiatives, and the roll-out of electronic patient records across the two hospitals, as well as the launch of Northamptonshire Care Record.

Callow, who oversaw the release of the NHS app when programme director at NHS Digital, said he takes on the full CEO responsibilities, but suggested the duration of the role remains open-ended at this point. He says his immediate priorities will be doing the ‘best preparation we can for winter’, making sure money is being used effectively to deliver patient care, and making the most of Northamptonshire’s group model to support clinical collaboration.

Jo Graham has left retailer Boohoo after three years as CIO. She said she agreed to voluntary redundancy, based on ongoing cost challenges, but expects to announce her next role early next year.

Before joining Boohoo in 2019, Graham had been technology director at Morrisons and held senior IT roles at Bupa and Capita.

The fashion retailer posted a fall in its half-year profits, reporting a 10% drop in sales to £882.4m in the six months to August 31. It warned that it expected a “similar rate of revenue declines” during the upcoming festive period.

During her three years as CIO, Graham helped consolidate the e-commerce firm’s tech stack during M&A activity and lead the internal ‘Agenda for Change’ programme with Sir Brian Leveson in the wake of allegations of supply chain malpractice in Leicester.

Just days after Graham announced she was leaving Boohoo, technology director Steve Nolan revealed he would step into the new CTO position.

“I’ll be reporting into John Lyttle, our CEO,” he said. “My immediate focus is around our peak trading period and supporting the business in this time, as well as the continuation of our key projects, including the US warehousing project, core platform replacement and digitisation.”

Nolan was also part of the inaugural Next CIO cohort this year.

John Llewellyn has started as Chief Digital Officer at the Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Board.

Llewellyn had been Chief Digital Information Officer at Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, prior to Lorna Allan’s appointment, and has also previously held CIO and director of digital roles in health and social care.

Nominet, the public benefit company that runs the .UK internet infrastructure, has hired the Bank of England’s former Executive Director for Technology Oliver Tweedie as its new Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Tweedie will start his role on November 14.

Prior to this new role, Tweedie was the interim CIO for the Bank of England and has also spent time at Sky as Technology Director, where he built national-scale internet service and analytics systems. He was also responsible for development of Sky Broadband during its growth phase.

As CTO, Tweedie will be responsible for developing Nominet’s technology strategy, ensuring the high standards of the registry and cyber services, and Nominet’s continuous growth to deliver for its stakeholders.

British high-street retail chain Wilko has appointed David Hennessy as IT director. Hennessy was previously Chief Technology Officer at online health and wellbeing group Atida, and has also been CIO at clothing brand Superdry and group IT director at Dixons Carphone.

“David has a wealth of experience in business technology and we’re looking forward to using his skills and knowledge as the brand continues to develop and undergo its transformative, omnichannel journey, of which IT is a cornerstone,” said Wilko CEO Jerome Saint-Marc, in a statement.

Hennessy said: “Joining Wilko at this exciting time is a great opportunity, and I’m delighted to become part of a team that’s shaping the future of the business, while building on over 90 years’ experience on the Great British high street.”

Hennessy effectively replaces Andy Knowles, who left as group IT director for personal reasons in April 2022, after four years in the role.

Crypto exchange Zodia Markets has appointed Giovanni Miano as Chief Technology Officer, according to a report from City AM.

Miano previously worked for Malta-based crypto asset brokerage BeQuant, where he was responsible for building its technology capability from scratch. He’s also the co-founder of Houseprice.AI, a machine-learning valuation model that determines property prices in the UK.

Zodia Markets gained its Financial Conduct Authority crypto asset registration in July 2022.

UK lending platform Funding Circle has appointed Greg McEwan as CTO. McEwan will join the firm’s global leadership team and will report to CEO, Lisa Jacobs.

McEwan was most recently CTO at digital freight platform sender, having previously been CTO at Paddy Power Betfair, where he was responsible for both brands across more than 100 countries.

Dean Pullen has been appointed as Head of Technology at online insurance company eSure group. Pullen was head of software engineering (service) and technical leader, having joined from American Express in November 2020.

Rik Barker, the CIO for UK and Ireland at betting firm Flutter, has revealed he will leave the organisation at the end of the year. Barker said personal circumstances meant it was ‘time for a break, and then a role closer to home.’

Flutter is the Irish bookmaking holding company that was created by the merger of Paddy Power and Betfair in 2015, and the subsequent acquisition of The Stars Group in 2019. In the same year, the firm rebranded from Paddy Power Betfair to Flutter.

Under the Flutter badge, the firm operates numerous brands, including Betfair, Betfair, Full Tilt Poker, Paddy Power, PokerStars and Sky Bet.

Barker had been responsible for the technology strategies and technology teams across the Paddy Power, Betfair UK and Sky Betting & Gaming brands, and was previously the CTO at Sky Betting and Gaming (prior to its separation from Sky).

Paul Maltby, the Chief Digital Officer at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), is joining data science firm Faculty AI.

“It’s been a privilege to establish and lead the digital function in [DLUHC],” he said on Twitter. “An awesome team and such progress.”

In particular, he highlighted how the DLUHC team worked on planning reform, better local digital services as well as Covid-19 shielding and homes for those fleeing Ukraine.

Maltby was previously the Chief Digital Officer (CDO) for the Department for Communities and Local Government and director of data at GDS. For almost 10 years, he held senior open data positions in the Cabinet Office.

Karen McDonagh Reynolds left WTW (Willis Towers Watson) in May and is now working as a consultant, ahead of announcing her ‘next adventure’ early next year.

McDonagh Reynolds was a member of the CIO UK 100 in 2021, while working as global technology director, transformation, strategy, architecture and compliance at WTW. She said she’ll take up a transformation role in a new joint venture in the insurance industry to be launched in January.

“Today marks the end of my time with WTW,” she said on LinkedIn. “I’ve worked with some great colleagues and am very proud of the cloud enablement team, the best cloud team in the business.”

September

Johan Wibergh, CTO at Vodafone, will retire in December 2022 and will be replaced by Scott Petty, who becomes CTO from January 1, 2023, having previously been the CDIO at the telecommunications provider. Alberto Ripepi becomes the Chief Network Officer, with both expected to co-lead the Vodafone Technology group and join the executive committee.

“I agreed the timing around two years ago to enable me to see the creation of a single pan-European technology team through to completion,” said Wibergh on LinkedIn. “Vodafone will be my last operational job. Whilst I’ve had many great experiences in other Group Executive Committee roles and two country CEO positions before that, Vodafone has been my best job ever. It has not been an easy decision. Vodafone is a great company with great people.”

Petty added: “We will miss [Wibergh] and will continue to take forward our Tech 2025 strategy and reap the benefits of bringing together our technology teams into one powerful organisation to serve our customers.”

Chris Howell has become CIO at the privately-owned ground maintenance and construction firm Ground Control, having left Hachette UK earlier in the month.

“I’m accountable for all of the technology at Ground Control,” he told CIO.com. “I report to the managing director. My priority is to get the operating model and technology stack fit to enable the organisation to double in scale over the next three years.”

He continued that, having done his 100-day assessment, he’ll look to improve efficiencies around Microsoft Dynamics 365, data and analytics and the firm’s legacy technology – all while aiming to help the organisation achieve net zero by 2030.

Howell was CIO at Hachette UK for almost five years prior to this departure in September. He has also held senior IT roles at Gatwick Airport, Marks and Spencer, and Dixons Stores Group.

Amy Foster had her last day as Group IT Director/CIO at International Personal Finance after four years in role. Prior to joining the IPF initially as Head of IT Change in November 2018, Foster held head of project management and change programme director positions at Morrisons Supermarkets Plc.

“I am very proud of my team and all we have accomplished from the pandemic response, the dedication of running and securing all our tech stacks to delivering new complex capabilities across Europe and so much more,” she said. “Through turbulent times, we have migrated the majority of our estate to the cloud, delivered next-generation technology and took a giant leap forward in digital transformation. There’s a lot of work remaining but I have confidence in the team to carry on with the change agenda.”

Huw Bamford has been appointed Chief Information Technology Officer (CITO) at flower and vegetable seed business Mr Fothergill’s Group.

Bamford, who previously held CIO and Head of IT roles in the retail, financial services and transport industries, said he’s taken on a newly created board role, reporting to CEO David Carey and is responsible for all technology and security within the privately-owned firm.

“The primary focus is focusing on the direct-to-consumer offering, including re-platforming the current e-commerce platform,” he told CIO.com. “To assist with the continued growth, I will review the Group technology standards building for the planned future.”

Laura Dawson has revealed she’ll leave her role as CIO at the LSE in December after five years at the London university to pursue a portfolio career, and will continue with her work as trustee of the Charity IT Leaders.

Dawson has been a CIO for over 30 years and is ‘looking forward to sharing, supporting and giving back into the not-for-profit sector.’

“Working at LSE has been a pinnacle in my career,” she told CIO.com. “Supporting the university through Covid and transforming the technology function are key highlights. There is still plenty to do for my successor but I leave a strong and capable team and a significant will in the organisation to invest in technology to ensure that the students and academics get the best possible support.”   

Kurt Weideling has joined non-profit Crisis as its Director of Digital and Technology, after 10 months as CTO at the University of Leeds. Prior to his appointment at the University of Leeds in January, Weideling spent 10 months at the Health Research Authority as its Chief Digital Transformation Officer, and four years at Manchester Metropolitan University as CIO and Director of Information Systems and Digital Services.

August 2022

The University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust has appointed its first CDIO. William Monaghan will be responsible to support the further integration of the Trust’s clinical digital systems. Monaghan currently works as Transition Director and Director of Operations at NHS England, and has more than 14 years of experience across NHS England, NHSX and acute Trusts.

Craig Eblett has been appointed chief technology officer for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Eblett had been digital director at DWP since September 2019, and previously held roles as change director and director of digital services.

DWP Digital is also hiring for a new CDIO. Simon McKinnon will step down in March 2023 but remain in the sector, according to an interview with Public Technology.

Abisọla Fátókun has taken on the Chief Product and Technology Officer position at the UK Government Digital Service (GDS).

Fatokun has previously worked in the UK Government Digital Service’s Service Standards team to ensure standards are met, and in the Ministry of Justice Digital and Technology Team. He has also worked at KPMG, Accenture and BSkyB.

Talon Outdoor’s UK Transformation Officer, Josko Grljevic, has been promoted to Group Chief Operations Officer (COO). Grljevic joined the OOH advertiser in 2018, and has since been responsible for the launch of Talon’s three latest technology platforms in Ada, Atlas and Plato, which enable audience targeting, programmatic buying and measurement.

As part of his new role, Grljevic, who was on the CIO 100 list in 2020, will continue to grow the remit of technology and data across the business to drive data-driven organisation and measurement on a global scale reporting directly to group CEO, Barry Cupples. Owning the day-to-day running of the business, he’ll execute the company’s strategic business objectives, and advance Talon’s ad tech solutions.

Aon has appointed a new Chief Digital Officer. James Platt will move into the new role of Chief Digital Officer, overseeing digital client solutions, and will be responsible for accelerating the digital delivery of the firm’s Aon United capabilities to small business and consumer segments.

Platt first joined Aon to lead data and analytics across the firm’s commercial risk business, having previously built the big data consulting practice at Boston Consulting Group, according to an Aon press release. Platt is based in London and will report to Aon President Eric Andersen .

Sainsbury’s Phil Jordan has announced he plans to retire. The group CIO will retire in March 2023 after 35 years in technology roles, most recently as the Group CIO of Sainsbury’s and mobile carrier Telefonica.

“Delighted that I will continue to contribute as a NED and Board Chair alongside enjoying all those things I have wanted to do but haven’t had time,” he said on LinkedIn.

NatWest has appointed Deutsche Bank’s Scott Marcar as its new Group Chief Information Officer (CIO). Marcar starts his role on September 5, will set on the bank’s Executive Committee and report to CEO Alison Rose. The new CIO, who had held the same position at Deutsche Bank, has previously worked at JPMorgan and worked at NatWest between 2007 and 2014 as the CIO of Markets.

Marcar said in a statement: “It’s a tremendous privilege to be joining NatWest Group at such an important time for the bank and its customers. The bank has an ambitious strategy built on one clear purpose; championing potential, helping people, families, and businesses to thrive. And I look forward to focusing on how technology can help.”

Twinings Ovo’s Sandeep Seeripat has been promoted from global CIO to Global Chief Business Transformation and Technology Officer.

“This role reports to the CEO highlighting the importance we see in technology in driving Twinings Ovo business transformation,” said Seeripat on LinkedIn.

Seeripat has previously told CIO.com of his efforts to build a platform business and connected supply chain, and also explained how he renamed his IT department ‘BizPartners’ to change how it engages with the wider business.

Network Rail’sCIO Aidan Hancock has joined Johnson Matthey as its CIO. Previous incumbent Paul Coby, formerly of British Airways and Waitrose, has left the company and will continue with his existing non-executive director and advisor commitments.

“I’m delighted to be joining Johnson Matthey today as CIO – a 200-year-old business at the cutting edge of net zero and a sustainable, better future,” said Hancock on LinkedIn. “We’re focused on accelerating the big transitions needed, using our world-class science and innovation to catalyse the net zero transition. I’ll be steering the course for how digital capability will drive and enable our strategy. It’s great to be part of the sustainability story and a new dynamic team.”

“The plan is to ‘go plural’,” Coby told this writer. “A combination of seeing family members around the world, writing books on Roman History, and some NED roles and advisory work. Trying to keep things in balance. We shall see how that comes together,” said Coby.

Michael Whittaker has left Upfield to become the new CIO at Wella Company. Whittaker has previously held senior technology positions at Unilever and BAE Systems.

Marina Bellini has left British American Tobacco (BAT) after four years. The CIO joined BAT in 2018 and played a key role in integrating Reynolds into BAT after acquisition. Bellini previously worked as a CIO across Europe and the Americas with some consultancy experience at PwC. Previously, she’d been responsible for IT and shared services for companies including AB InBev,Grupo Modelo and PepsiCo.

Alex Bowen has been appointed the Chief Digital Data and Technology Officer for the Police Digital Service (PDS), replacing the retiring Wayne Parkes.

Bowen has supported PDS in various roles since its inception in 2021, and takes up this role after setting up the project delivery practice as the director of delivery services.

“I am delighted to be taking up this post and I look forward to continuing to help PDS support policing in delivery of the National Policing Digital Strategy its funding commitments, and programmes that are having a real impact on the front line,” said Bowen on the PDS website.

“Policing in the UK is already carrying out vital work on innovating and evolving its Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) capabilities and I’m pleased to be working alongside passionate and committed police officers and staff in this area, helping to keep their communities safe”

Simon Sturgeon has become the CDIO at NHS South, Central and West. Sturgeon had been director of informatics at SCW, and previously held the CIO role at Solent NHS Trust. “Exciting times and a big welcome to all in the newly forming digital, data and technology team,” he said on LinkedIn.

July 2022

Graeme Hackland has joined Sony PlayStation as the game console company’s vice president of IT.

“I joined Sony PlayStation as Vice President IT. With a remit to focus on the IT user experience for all Sony PlayStation colleagues globally,” Hackland told CIO.com. “Of course, the role really appealed to me, but most importantly, I thought PlayStation would be a great place to work – I can confirm it is.” Hackland has previously been at Williams F1 for eight years. You can read his exit interview on CIO.com here.

Robert Eriksson, Digital CTO Lloyds Banking Group, has left the financial services firm. On a post on LinkedIn, he said he took the decision to relocate to the south of France for a lifestyle change. Eriksson had previously held senior engineering roles at Lloyds since May 2016.

Mike Potter has been appointed as the chief digital officer of the UK’s Chief Data and Digital Office, replacing Joanna Davinson, who looks set to retire this autumn. Potter has held senior IT roles in both public and private sector over the last 20 years, including as interim chief digital information officer at the HMRC in 2017.

“I am deeply humbled to be returning back to public service during such an important time to take on the role of Government Chief Digital Officer,” he said on LinkedIn. “Over the past 23 years I have dedicated my working life to helping public and private sector organisations take back control of their technology and build capability to create compelling technology careers for everyone.”

Potter’s appointment comes weeks after the announcement of an ambitious new government digital strategy, and sees him leave technology consultancy Tecknuovo.

Mark Jones has become the Chief Information Officer for Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust. Jones was most recently at NHS England as director of national electronic-Referral Service (e-RS), Wayfinder and Digital Diagnostics, and has formerly held acting and permanent CIO roles at Devon Partnership NHS Trust and North Cumbria NHS Integrated Health and Care System respectively.

Emma Stace has become the new CDIO at the Open University, five months after taking up a role as Director of Health and Disability & Benefit Supporting Services at DWP. Stace was previously the CDTO at the Department for Education.

Stace said her role will include defining the digital strategy for the Open University, as well as overseeing data, technology, student experience and information security. Stace reports into the university secretary and sits on the Vice Chancellor Executive Board.

AXA Healthcare CIO Peter Reed has left the organisation after twelve years, to take up a CIO advisory position at consultancy Headforwards.

“I have worked together with the Headforwards team for several years and seen first-hand how their digital, data and software services deliver business value, especially when combined with their expertise and passion in tailored approaches to creating and empowering agile teams,” he posted on social media.

Greg Crow has been announced as the Chief Information Officer of AXA XL, the P&C and speciality risk division of the insurance company. Crow has been the global CTO of the division since June 2019.

David Newey has become the interim CIO at Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, following the departure of Lisa Emery, who starts as the Chief Transformation, Innovation and Digital Officer at NHS Sussex from 15^th August.

Newey had been Deputy Chief Information Officer since 2017, and had previously held project and programme positions at Bupa and NHS England.

Emery has been CIO at Royal Marsden for the last four years. Previously, she was the CIO at West Herts NHS Trust and she remains the chair of the NHS London CIO Council.

As interim CIO, Newey’s responsibilities include software development, support, portfolio management and digital transformation.

“In the next nine months, I will oversee the introduction of a multimillion pound Epic Digital Health record and the opening of a £100 million pound brand new cancer centre at our Sutton Campus,” he told CIO.com.

“I am currently supporting our biomedical research teams on a range of AI projects, which promote the rapid diagnosis of patients and I am a leading industry voice in discussing the ethics of AI in healthcare.”

Steven Corbett has left CloudFM to become the Chief Digital and Information Officer at the Money and Pensions Service.

“I’m excited to be involved in helping transform financial wellbeing in the UK,” Corbett told CIO.com.

“I’m excited about joining MaPS at a time when the cost of living, financial education and helping UK citizens plan for the future is in sharp focus.”

“So many people want and need the benefits that delivering the MaPS vision will bring them. I believe that just as mental health and wellbeing has been brought out into the open the same must be done with financial health and wellbeing for people and society to prosper.”

Corbett said that, as CDIO, he will lead the digital, marketing and IT (DMI) organisation to deliver flagship MoneyHelper digital services and includes the development of the MoneyHelper Pensions Dashboard. He reports to MaPS CEO Caroline Siarkiewicz.

June 2022

Eoin O’Connell has become the CIO of grounds maintenance firm Nurture Landscapes Group. O’Connell had been IT director at The Hurlingham Club.

Kevin Braim has become the Chief Information Officer at Saint Mary’s University in Twickenham. Braim joins from the University of Surrey, where he was director of IT service delivery, and has previously been CIO at PR and communications agency Lewis.

Andy Caddy has been appointed as the Group Chief Information Officer at PureGym, the 24/7 fitness company.

Perhaps best known for his spells as Virgin Active (Group CIO) and Whitbread (Group CTO), Caddy has more recently worked as non-executive director at cloud consultancy Capacitas and Chief Digital Officer at The Collective.

“My role is Group CIO at PureGym encompassing all of IT and Digital within the Puregym group, part of the executive team of the group and reporting through to Humphrey Cobbold, CEO,” he said, adding that the firm has received additional KKR funding to fund expansion into new markets.

“We have exciting growth plans ahead and see IT differentiating our offering whether that is in how we acquire and serve members, select and build our gyms or create our renowned efficiency in the way we help our teams on a day-to-day basis.

“My year ahead is centred around preparing for growth as we will more than double in size over the next four years plus looking at innovation in and out of gyms as we look to better serve our members (and perhaps non-members) with platforms to help them on their wellness journey.”

Charlotte Baldwin has joined Costa Coffee as the firm’s new Global Chief Information Officer, five months after taking up the Chief Information Digital and Transformation Officer role at Bupa Insurance (see below).

“Costa Coffee is the largest and fastest growing coffee shop chain in the UK,” said Baldwin of her role on LinkedIn. “Now part of the Coca-Cola Company, it has over 3,800 stores across 31 countries, with strong growth plans and the ambition to achieve global leadership in coffee.

“As the Global Chief Information Officer, I am responsible for all technology and digital solutions that enable the business.”

Eileen Jennings-Brown has departed Wellcome Trust, to take on the position of CIO at biotech firm Exscientia.

Jennings-Brown said that she will work alongside world leaders in discovery science to achieve the company’s mission, and joining at a time when the business is shifting from start-up to scale-up, she will be responsible for information security, data governance, infrastructure, platforms, operations and service management.

Sudeep Shetty has been promoted from Chief Information Officer to Chief Information and Transformation Officer at Britvic. The move sees Shetty join the executive team with immediate effect.

Sudeep joined Britvic in 2016 as IT Transformation Director, before becoming Chief Technology Officer in 2018 and CIO in 2020. As CIO, Shetty has overseen the creation of Britvic’s technology investment roadmap and the delivery of the company’s commercial, procurement and customer relationship management transformation programmes.

In his expanded role, Sudeep will retain responsibility for IT, data and analytics, while leading cross-business unit transformation programmes vital for the business’s strategic growth. Sudeep will also lead a department focused on the delivery of future technological and digital change.

Premium online running shoes, running clothing and outdoor gear retailer SportsShoes.com has hired a former chief technology officer (CTO) of online fashion retailer In The Style. Jon Cleaver has joined the £92m turnover business as CTO to continually enhance SportsShoes.com’s online customer and athlete experience.

Victoria Higgin has departed National Highways after three years, to take on the CDIO and executive position at CityFibre.

As Chief Digital and Information Officer, Higgin will help CityFibre continue to develop and improve its existing IT strategy, security, delivery, infrastructure and architecture. She will also support the business in its drive to deliver an industry-leading ordering, installation and service management experience for its wholesale customers.

Before joining CityFibre, she led the digital services team within National Highways, who were responsible for the strategy, provision and operation of England’s operational roadside technology and business information technology – including enabling the delivery of the Digital Roads Agenda. You can read her most recent interview on CIO.com here.

Andy Britcliffe, CDO at Purple Bricks, has left the company. In a LinkedIn post, he praised his leadership team and said it was a privilege to lead them, and deliver significant new and improved capabilities that underpin how Purplebricks serves our customers and property partners.

Britcliffe told CIO.com that he will become the Chief Product and Technology Officer at health tech business elder.org at the end of September.

“Very excited as a fantastic purpose-driven business with technology at the heart of it,” he told CIO.com.

Peter Adams has become Group Chief Information Officer at IM Global Holdings Ltd. Adams had held the same role at Avant Homes, where he had been for almost five years.

“I have been fortunate to build and lead an excellent team; modernising both the technical capability and landscape of the business and delivering truly ground-breaking business transformation.

“I am immensely proud not only of what we have delivered but in the way we have achieved it.  Thank you all for your hard work and dedication.  I will miss all those I’m leaving behind, along with those who have left along the way.”

INEOS IT director James Grant has taken up the position of CIO at New European Offshore, an energy business in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).

“I have full IT and digital technology leadership responsibility and accountability to the NEO Board, for the definition and delivery of a business aligned IT and digital strategy and portfolio of business aligned IT projects and products, together with full accountability for the delivery of the full range of IT ‘end-to-end’ service delivery services to the NEO business,” he said on LinkedIn.

Connells Group, the UK’s largest estate agency and property services group, has announced the appointment of our new Chief Technology Officer, Julie Chapman.

Chapman said, in a statement: “I am delighted to join Connells Group and build on the many current successes of the technology team. I look forward to exploring how we can leverage technology to enhance the business and create greater efficiencies to both support our colleagues and the service that we provide to customers.”

Anthony Glasgow, Chief Information Officer, said: “I am delighted to welcome Julie to the Group. She brings a wealth of relevant experience, and a shared appetite to drive continued innovation across our business, as we continue to invest in technology that supports our operations and deliver values for our customers and clients.”

May 2022

Declan Hunt has become the interim CIO at The Ramblers’ Association. Last year, Hunt left Macmillan Cancer Trust, after six years as the non-profit’s CIO, in order to move into the interim CIO market.

Hunt has formerly worked as an IT director at Towergate Insurance, as CIO and head of IT at logistics and outsourcing business G4S Cash Solutions and as a consultant at Capgemini.

Ross Maude has taken on the CDIO at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), leaving his post as Director of Digital, Data and Technology at Companies House.

Mike Hill has become the CDIO at Cabinet Office, replacing Nimisha Patel, who joined Bupa Global and UK as the firm’s CDIO at the start of the year.

Hill had previously been director of police and public protection technology at the UK Home Office.

“I am very excited about my new role; looking forward to leading a great team to provide optimal digital, data and technology products and services to the Cabinet Office,” he said online.

Strictly Education CIO Alex Farr has become the first Group CTO at Christie Group, the professional services firm. Farr has previously held senior IT roles in the transport and logistics sectors.

“Operating at the Group level as the first Group Chief Technology Officer, my role is to support and advise the managing directors and IT teams within the seven subsidiary trading businesses on their use of technology,” Farr told CIO.com.

Farr continued that his main aims in the role are to create a community of IT talent, ensure the organisation shares best practise, knowledge, skills and opportunities, and helps grow the seven individual businesses and the Group through the use of technology. He’s also calling on IT to be ‘the strategic advisor to the managing directors on their technology investments, to enhance cross-selling across the Group and to leverage data to make better business decisions.

Shaw Group’s Alan Webb has joined cloud solution provider Load Spring Solutions as CIO.

“As the CIO for LoadSpring, my primary goals are to ensure customer success and to deliver a legendary experience that customers will never forget,” he said on social media.

AIG has hired Chaucer’s cyber practice head Laura Hunt as the firm’s new UK CIO, according to Insurance Insider. No further details were available at the time of writing.

Luke Stockdale has become the Chief Technology Officer at York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Stockdale had been director of digital transformation and innovation at The Health Informatics Service.

Stephen Slough has joined the new Dorset Integrated Care Board as Chief Digital Information Officer (CDIO). He told this writer that the new job was attractive as it reports into Dorset ICB CEO Patricia Miller, promotes digital and technology professionally at the highest level within the NHS System, as well as being close to his home.

He told CIO.com that his main objectives at this early stage are to implement a digital-first approach across ICS, to achieve the nationally set ‘What Good Looks Like’ framework, and create a Digital, Data and Technology strategy that ‘enables transformation, commissioning, people, clinical and financial strategies for Dorset.’

Boots UK has a new Chief Digital Officer. Paula Bobbett, previously the retailer’s e-commerce director, announced the news on LinkedIn where she described the role as her “dream job”. Bobbett joined Boots in December 2020 and was previously head of online performance at Currys, where she had spent seven years working in various e-commerce roles

April 2022

Matthew Gould, the former CEO of NHSX, left NHS England and Improvement at the end of April.

Before the brand was retired in the recent merger with NHS Digital, Gould was the CEO of NHSX – the transformation unit set up by the former secretary of state Matt Hancock in 2019 to accelerate digital innovation in health and social care.

“The work that our teams have done together the past three years has been the most important in my career,” he said in a statement. “We have changed the trajectory of the NHS and social care, helped both through the pandemic, and touched millions of lives through the changes we have brought.”

Gould, the former director-general of digital and media at the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), said he was particularly proud of a Digital Aspirant programme now in 194 NHS Trusts, the NHS Datastore and Shared Care Record Programme and CIPHA helping NHS use data to manage the COVID-19 pandemic and a new partnership with Microsoft which is said to have saved the NHS over £300 million.

StepChange CIO Lorna Allan will join the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust as its CDIO later this year.

On LinkedIn, she described the move as an opportunity to join “when there is such demand for NHS services, and tremendous opportunities to leverage digital solutions to improve accessibility for communities.”

She will report to CEO of the Northern Care Alliance, Owen Williams. A starting date had not been finalised but was likely to fall in mid-September. Allan leaves StepChange after three years in the role, during which she has looked to transform both front- and back-end IT systems at the charity, the largest debt advice non-profit in the UK. She modernised the charity’s debt management platform Pulse and introduced its COVID-19 Repayment Plan to allow clients to interact with the charity through various channels rather than solely through its call centre. To drive this, Allan looked to low-code platforms as well as RPA to improve how information is shared with creditors and had last year been reviewing the possibility of using electronic signatures to speed up internal processes.

StepChange is now advertising for a new CTIO who will report to the CEO and is expected to become the “go-to person for all technology, change and process matters related to services provisioning, delivery and client satisfaction in an increasingly digital world”.

Matt Ballantine, CIO at RHP Group, has left the organisation after two-and-a-half years and will start as engagement manager at IT consultancy and service provider Equal Experts in June.

“After two-and-a-half fascinating years, in which we have launched a website, a data strategy, a whole transformation programme, and a new core business systems platform, it’s time for me to head to pastures new,” he said on social media.

“The time I’ve been at RHP Group has been great, working to build a wonderful team and change the way in which technology and change are approached in the organisation. Along with all of the wonderful people I’ve worked with internally and externally, we have also built strong technology partnerships with Great State and Esuasive.”

Wayne Parkes, the Chief Digital, Data and Technology Officer at the Police Digital Service, has left the organisation to pursue a career in consultancy.

Parkes had been in the full-time position since April 2021, having had a part-time director role since September 2018. The technology executive has in the past been program director at the National Enabling Programmes initiative, chair of the National Police Technology Council (NPTC) and CIO at Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police.

“The last four years have been epic in so many ways and feel we have delivered so much; the National Enabling Programmes (a programme of the Police Digital Service), the first National Policing Digital Strategy, a re-formed National Police Technology Council, the transformation of PICTco to the Police Digital Service, built (building) a new relationship with Home Office DDaT/PPPT, the National DDaT Standards platform for policing, and most importantly set some great foundations for the future of Policetech and delivery of world-class digital services to make policing more efficient and effective and protect the communities we serve,” he said on LinkedIn.

“I am doing a bit of independent consultancy and continuing with mentoring and just seeing where things go and what comes along.”

Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust CIO Shauna McMahon has taken on the same responsibility for the Hull University Teachings Hospitals NHS Trust.

McMahon has been CIO at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole since October 2020 and had formerly been director of transformation at NHS South, Central and West as well as CIO at the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust.

“I am looking forward to working with fabulously talented colleagues at both locations,” she said on LinkedIn. McMahon told CIO UK she’s enticed by the opportunity to create one Humber Acute Digital Services team that would support the two Trusts, and improve clinical and patient experiences. I want to see digital use in healthcare really be seen as critical as heat & lights. It becomes a necessity for business.”

She reports to the CEO of both Trusts and says her immediate priorities are to bring two teams together, join up and consolidate the digital environment and find ways that digital can help deliver against business objectives. There’s also a focus on joining up to have one EPR for both Trusts, working on clinical pathways for care processes and a move to paperless records and updating older corporate systems.

Chris Reynolds has become the CIO at Tees, Esk, and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV). Reynolds is an experienced healthcare IT professional, having previously been director of informatics at the Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, CIO at Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust and associate director of BI at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Reynolds said the attraction of the role was an interesting position split across two integrated care systems, the hiring of a new CITO, and the opportunity to return to the North East, where he studied for his undergraduate degree. He will report to the executive director of finance estates and information and says he will have three core priorities ahead: cybersecurity, the implementation of the Trust’s digital strategy, and integrated care system alignment.

Kaveh Pourteymour has left Neptune Energy to set up a new management consultancy. The new organisation will support CIOs on challenges as varied as formulating digital strategy and building the right operating model to improving supplier relationships and digital culture.

“I started CIO Global Solutions because I was at a point in my career that I wanted to take the proven techniques and methodologies that I have developed and refined over the last three decades and share these with other CIOs and technology executives, enabling them to create and deliver their own digital transformation strategies,” he told CIO UK. “The purpose of CIO Global Solutions is to empower CIOs to deliver business results in much shorter timeframes and at far lower costs.”

Canada Life UK has appointed Paul Russell as its CIO. Russell joins the insurer from startup Upside Saving, where he was founder and CTO, and has more than 20 years of experience in IT, predominantly working in financial services. In the past, he’s worked for IT service management company Smart 421 and life companies Legal and General and Aviva.

“This is a great time to join a business which is part way through a significant transformation and IT change programme. I look forward to working with the team to help navigate through this complex programme of work to deliver a better adviser and customer experience,” Russell said in a statement.

Paul Neville, director of digital and ICT at the London Borough of Waltham Forest, has left his role after five-and-a-half years. Neville, who has formerly held consultant and digital experience roles across the public and private sectors will become director of digital, data, and technology at UK Export Finance.

“I am really proud of working with colleagues to use digital and tech to help transform the council and borough. We now have modern digital platforms to rival any in local government, and an incredible team delivering automation and great customer experiences. I strongly believe in the local government’s mission to support residents and businesses and that was so important during the pandemic.”

Home improvement company Kingfisher has hired Chris Blatchford as its new chief information officer. Blatchford most recently served as CTO at RELX Elsevier, leading a team of 800 engineers to create digital products and design open data platform architectures. Before that held a variety of technology roles at Thomson Reuters, including head of enterprise technology, and served as head of professional services, Europe, at CPA Global. In his new role, he will lead the development and delivery of Kingfisher’s ambitious technology strategy as part of the retailer’s ongoing digital transformation. 

“I am thrilled to be joining Kingfisher at this exciting stage in their digital transformation journey. I’ve been very impressed by what has been achieved in recent years, particularly in e-commerce, and I look forward to working with the team to make the most of the huge opportunities ahead.”

March 2022

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society announced that it has appointed Avril Chester as its new Chief Technology Officer. In her new role, Avril will have “responsibility for executive leadership of all the technology functions, including technical architecture, software development, operations and product delivery.” Chester will report directly to Chief Executive Paul Bennett and joins the Society’s executive team when she takes on the position in June.

Chester is currently CTO at the Royal Institute of British Architects and is also an author, podcaster and founder of the cancer charity Cancer Central.

“It is a real honour to support our incredible pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists and I am over the moon to have this opportunity to join the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

“Technology has and continues to impact our lives, especially in healthcare and medicine. The RPS already embraces the technology evolution and I look forward to continuing this great work and pushing even more digital boundaries to champion and support the profession.”

UK Parliament CDIO Tracey Jessup told CIO.com that she will take up the Chief Transformation Officer position at DeMonfort University in June.

You can read about her announcement, the new role and her ascent to digital leadership, here.

Mayank Prakash has been announced as president of BCS, the chartered institute for IT. Prakash is currently group COO for financial services firm Tilney Smith & Williamson, and formerly CDIO at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

In a press release, he said: “It is an honour to become president of the professional body for IT as such a critical time when clinical technology advancements have recently helped mankind combat COVID-19 and to continue the inspirational work my predecessor John Higgins has started to influence the promotion of professional standards.

“I am grateful for the support of John and Gillian as we together focus on BCS helping IT professionals grow their careers, recognising the contributions of leading technologists, shaping government policy and promoting professional ethical standards which make all digital, data, and security technologists proud.”

Samuel Massiah has joined as CIO of the University of Northampton, having formerly held the same role at St Mary’s University in Twickenham, London since 2017.

“I’m pleased to announce my appointment as chief information officer for the University of Northampton. I’m really excited to begin contributing to the life of the staff and students of the university, and the people of Northampton through the Digital Northants initiative,” he said on LinkedIn.

Massiah is also on the board of trustees at The Opheus Centre and has previously held senior technology roles at Royal Holloway and UCL.

Louis Brook, CIO at First Direct, has left the company after 18 years to join credit management company Lowell.

“I feel truly privileged to have worked with some amazing people, having had the opportunity to travel and make friends across the globe. I am excited to be pursuing a new opportunity, which I’ll post in due course, but for now I just want to thank everyone across the group for their support, guidance, and friendship over the past 18 or so years – as well as to everyone who has wished me well and given me a great send-off.”

Brook told CIO.com that he will report to the UK CEO and that his focus is on “delivering all the transformative change required to make credit work better for all.”

Brook had held a variety of roles at First Direct since joining back the organisation, including head of incident response, technical services team leader, analyst developer and technical specialist. He spent much of 2021 leading the IT team responsible for HSBC’s four retail banking brands: HSBC UK, first direct, M&S Bank and John Lewis Financial Services.

Norma Dove-Edwin, the CIO at National Grid ESO, has left the company and is expected to take on a new position this May. No further details were available at the time of writing, with National Grid’s press department unaware of her new role.

Dove-Edwin had joined the energy company in November 2020, having previously spent almost three years at Places for People as the housing development firm’s Chief Data and Information Officer (CDIO). Dove-Edwin has also held senior IT and data management positions at British American Tobacco.

Natural History Museum CIO Alison Davis has left to re-join GE Healthcare.

“I’m happy to share that last week I started in my new role as Chief Information Officer at GE Healthcare PDx,” she said on LinkedIn. “As I left just over two years ago, it’s been lovely to meet up with old colleagues, start getting to know new ones and to hear about the digital-enabled opportunities ahead of this fantastic business.”

“It has been such a privilege to have been part of this incredible institution and I will always treasure having had the opportunity. Huge thanks to all the folks involved with IT/Digital from across the Museum, but especially to the Technology Solutions team, who have been fantastic.”

Davis, formerly of the Francis Crick Institute, spent much of 2021 implementing a new ticketing solution, digitising the Natural History Museum’s collection and collaborating for the museum’s ongoing sustainability efforts.

The Natural History Museum had been working with the Harvey Nash Group to find her replacement.

Anthony Battle has joined Jaguar Land Rover as Group CIO, having formerly been Group CIO and CTO at Shell.

“It’s been a period of opportunity, delivery, positive change, and growth. Great friends made, fun times had, character-building experiences around the world in engineering, manufacturing, mobility and retail,” he said on social media.

Of his move to Jaguar Land rover, he added: “I will join a world-leading automobile manufacturer and retailer to lead their technology journey, across two iconic British brands, to help achieve electrification, digitalisation, and sector-leading luxury. So much opportunity to take the energy transition focus into automobile and join things together as we shape the future.”

February 2022

Andy Harper, the CIO at contract catering firm Elior, has become Group CIO at Begbies Traynor Group, the corporate recovery and professional services company.

Harper began his career with Andersen Consulting/Accenture, followed by senior roles in United Utilities PLC, Speedy Hire PLC and most recently as the CIO of Elior UK. 

 “The appointment of a Group CIO reflects the board’s recognition of the importance of our IT capability as we look to position the group for further growth and maximise the benefits which digital technology can deliver,” the company told CIO.com in a statement.

Harper will be responsible for all IT and digital services across the Begbies Traynor Group, including the application of technology to enhance service offerings and support the company’s growth agenda. 

Over the last 12 months at Elior, Harper spent much time re-engineering back-office processing to automate finance activities, introducing greater efficiencies in the procurement processes. Harper’s teams also led the implementation of a new communications system, allowing employees to communicate with each other on their company or personal devices, as well as launch a programme to expedite transactions with suppliers.

Ollie Holden, formerly the CIO at the AA, has taken up the same position at the insurance company RSA.

Holden spent four years at the AA, where he was responsible for defining and implementing the IT strategy for the group, shaping digital transformation and providing robust IT services for customers and employees alike.

“I’m delighted to be starting a new role this week, as CIO for RSA,” said Holden, on LinkedIn. “I’m humbled to now be part of this great company that I’ve admired for many years, and at such an exciting point in its evolution.”

The Royal Air Force has appointed its first Chief Digital Information Officer. Dr Arif Mustafa took up the appointment on 1^st February 2022, joining from a career primarily in oil and gas — having worked for Shell, BP and the Ma’aden mining company. He will be charged with leading efforts to ‘modernise the RAF through the implementation of the RAF Digital Strategy and its ability to transform the way approach our use of data as a critical asset.’

“It’s an honour to be selected as the first RAF CDIO at a time of ever-increasing importance of technology in support of the UK’s Air Defence,” said Mustafa in a statement.

“I am delighted to join the RAF at this pivotal momentum in its evolution. I’ve been very impressed with the RAF vision for the future and its commitment to digital and information. I’m confident that with the talented and committed people within the RAF we can meet and succeed these expectations. Finally, I look forward to getting out to meet those personnel of all grades and ranks who produce, utilise and rely on digital services to do their jobs. Digital services are crucial part of the future RAF and we should not limit our ambition current technology or by legacy structures.”

The Cabinet Office Digital and Data (CDDO) group is looking for a new government CDO (GCDO), with Joanna Davidson set to depart.

The new CDO at the Cabinet Office Digital and Data Office will be responsible for developing and implementing the Government’s digital, data and technology transformation to improve services for UK residents.

A Cabinet Office advert describes the GCDO as the Government’s most senior digital data and tech leader, who will be in charge of strengthening data-driven decision-making throughout government while addressing technology-related risks.

The GCDO will manage a direct team of around 200 professionals and SMEs in the Cabinet Office’s Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), and will report into the civil service’s COO Alex Chisholm. (You can read more about the appointment here.)

Ian Golding, formerly interim CIO at the National History Museum and skills provider SThree Plc, as well as CIO and partner at The ERM Group, has been appointed CIO at the Anthesis Group.  

In this newly-created role, Ian will be responsible for setting the strategic direction and governance of Anthesis’ technology, data and digital capabilities and joins Anthesis’ global leadership team.

Anthesis claims to be the largest group of dedicated sustainability professionals globally and one of the UK’s fastest-growing private companies

“We are at the inflection point where purpose-driven organisations are recognising and reacting to their exponential impact ambitions through the adoption of technology, data and digital,” said Golding in a statement.

“Anthesis is at the helm of driving change, for its clients and society, through an enviable portfolio of solutions. Acting on its goal of eliminating 3 gigatonnes of CO2e emissions by 2030 for its clients, Anthesis’ digital solutions are helping address the scarcity of sustainability skills while solving client problems to secure a sustainable future.”

Golding says that he will report to the CEO.

John Quinn, interim executive director of technology, digital, data and delivery at the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), has become the executive director of IT operations and enterprise services at NHS Digital.

Quinn had previously held CDO/director of transformation and CIO roles at the government agency, as well as head of business solutions roles at the Department for Education (DfE).

On LinkedIn, he says that his new role is “to ensure effective and sustainable operations and transformation of mission-critical services which keep the NHS running.”

“I work to Simon Bolton the CEO of NHSD and (subject to operating model and merger decisions) will report into Simon as CIO for NHSE/I, with similar responsibilities in the new organisation,” he told CIO UK.

Emma Stace, CDTO at the Department for Education, has joined the DWP as the Director of Health and Disability & Benefit Supporting Services, reporting to Simon McKinnon. In her role, she will be ‘developing new and innovative digital services as part of the DWP’s Health Transformation Programme’, said the DWP press office.

At DfE, she was responsible for “leading strategy & policy for digital, data and technology in the sector as well as transformation service design and delivery within the department.”

Derek Mitchelson, director of digital at NHS Scotland, has moved into the private sector, taking on a cybersecurity advisory role at vendor Check Point Software. He is now the field CISO and C-suite advisor.

Mitchelson, part of the 2021 CIO UK 100, spoke at last year’s Official CIO Summit about how he led NHS Scotland’s digital response to the COVID-19 pandemic, from supporting GPs and other medical professionals to work remotely to implementing digital and data services to support effective contact tracing and the country’s vaccination programme.“

Delighted to have joined a truly world-leading cyber security provider, Check Point, as Field CISO and C-Suite advisor for EMEA. The first firewall I implemented was Check Point Firewall-1 and I’m super excited at joining such as innovative cyber leader,” he said on LinkedIn.

“I moved to Check Point as a C-Suite Advisor and CISO so I can give back to the community, share thoughts, learnings and best practices I have gained during my career. I’m keen to continue with my learning and development through conversations and engagements. We all have insight we can share and support we can give.”

Matthew Reynolds is leaving the Maritime and Coastguard (MCA) agency in March and will be returning to the private sector. Further details were not available at the time of writing, but will be on CIO.com from 15 March.

Reynolds had been executive director of information technology at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, having joined in November 2019 from Southampton Football Club, where he was previously IT director.

At the MCA, Reynolds was a member of the board, responsible for information and communications technology, information assurance and delivery of the digital transformation programme.

While at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Reynolds delivered a raft of interesting technology projects while demonstrating quantifiable savings in the process. Among his key achievements last year were the delivery of the Digital UK Ships Register, enabling customers to register, manage, and track their assets through the digital service or by calling the contact centre; a Digital Seafarers ID card and Boat Masters License to simplify waterway access while saving costs; and a new channel navigation system.

Sonia Patel, formerly CIO at the now-disbanded NHSX, following the digital body’s merger with NHS Digital as part of the new NHS England & Improvement, has taken on a new role. She will now be System CIO at the NHS/I, working closely with Tim Ferris and Simon Bolton to “level-up critical digital foundations for local places and systems; improve the digital literacy of our people and for the digital/tech workforce – establish the profession they deserve.”

“This brings the new opportunity to work more closely with NHSE/I and NHSD colleagues as the transformation directorate,” she said on LinkedIn. Together in partnership with the frontline we will continue to embed digital transformation, run and maintain into the heart of NHS and care.”

As CIO at NHSX, the centralised body bringing together teams from the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to improve the digitisation of care, Sonia Patel enjoyed a fruitful year in the crosshairs of strategy and policy. Joining in July 2020, Patel had a national role in which she led the introduction and release of the ‘What Good Looks Like’ digital maturity framework “in essence providing “north star” for digital transformation in the sector.” She has also worked hand-in-hand with UK government in the formation of a new architecture for NHS and social care, led the authoring of key guidance to the NHS to ensure digital and data is embedded into the new system reform agenda, and was a key figure into the levelling-up of digital skills and literacy across the sector.

Paul Westmore, the IT director at Plymouth University, has started a new position as Chief Digital and Information Officer (CDIO) at Swansea University.

“I am sad to leave Plymouth after nine years working with the brilliant team there but I could not be more excited to work with the team at Swansea as we work to make Swansea a leading digital university,” he said on LinkedIn.

“I report to the COO Niamh Lamond. My [immediate] priorities are Digital Strategy, security, wired and wireless network, hybrid teaching and learning post Covid.”

Royal Mail Group has appointed Debra Bailey as its new CIO. The former O2 CIO takes over from Group CIO Christian Herrlich, who announced his decision to leave the company in 2021 after four years.

“I’m delighted to be joining Royal Mail as CIO in March and excited about working with the team to continue the customer focused transformation underway,” said Bailey, who is also a non-executive director (NED) at the NHS Business Services Authority, on LinkedIn.

Andrew Proctor, pro vice chancellor at Staffordshire University, has left the institution to join cloud hypescaler behemoth AWS.

During his tenure at the university, Proctor been driven digital transformation for four years through partnership with vendors like Microsoft, the results of which were in evidence during a challenging year. Proctor spent much of 2020 focusing on how to help the university’s least privileged students, using analytics and a variety of digital channels to target and help them manage their learning through the pandemic, as well as leverage immersive technologies to give students ‘hands on’ experience in various industry sectors.

January 2022

“A fantastic five years, but always good to leave on a high,” Procter said. “From Monday [31^st January 2022], I’ll be an executive advisor at AWS, helping them with their strategy and delivery for the education sector. So, I’ll still be involved with Universities.” 

Jason Oliver, formerly Director of IT and Sussex Projects, has been promoted to Chief Digital Transformation Officer at the university.

“I am continuing to report to the COO but the role is different insomuch that it has a much larger remit in respect of adopting a “digital-first” approach towards our research and pedagogy.

“Alongside continuing to run the IT division, I now formally have strategic leadership for the institution’s portfolio/project/change management functions and I am tasked with aligning our technology, spaces, people and our ways of working in support of a digital future/vision. This means building strong new change capabilities to support our various communities and developing a new culture which elevates the digital competence of our staff.

“I also have responsibility for applying how digital technologies will increasingly transcend physical and geographical boundaries to open national and international opportunities for students’ and staff, and for ensuring digital is a golden thread through all institutional strategies.”

Over the last two years at the university, Oliver switched to remote teaching for 22,000 students and staff, requiring a fast implementation of network tools. Oliver created a multi-factor authentication VPN as the foundation for the new network, a site-wide Zoom license was integrated into the University’s virtual learning environment for live synchronous online teaching and in the first quarter, over 110,000 meetings with one million attendees took place.

To ensure full support of COVID-19 reporting, Oliver used a rapid development platform to create a track and trace system that helped reduce the virus’s spread and he’s also used been involved with the organisation’s sustainability and diversity initiatives.

Thomson Reuters has hired former NHS Digital CEO Sarah Wilkinson as its new chief information officer.

Wilkinson became the CEO of NHS in Digital in 2017 and spent four years in the role before stepping down last summer. Simon Bolton replaced Wilkinson as interim chief executive in April 2021, although he is now transitioning to become CIO of the newly-named NHS England & Improvement.

Wilkinson, formerly a technology executive for Credit Suisse, and is expected to move from London to Zug, Switzerland for the role, Finews reports, and will also be responsible for Thomson Reuters’ research division, TR Labs.

Charlotte Baldwin has joined Bupa Insurance as its chief information, digital and transformation Officer.

Baldwin has held senior IT roles at Pearson, Thomson Reuters and Deloitte, and was #3 CIO in the 2020 CIO 100 in the UK. Her most recent role was chief digital and technology officer at international law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, where she spent four years.

“I am very excited to announce that this week I have joined Bupa Insurance as their Chief Information, Digital and Transformation Officer,” said Baldwin, in a statement on LinkedIn. “Using the power of technology to help people live longer, healthier, happier lives is a mission that I can really get behind.”

Natalie Whittlesey, EMEA technology officer at management consultant firm Korn Ferry, has become the director and head of CIO practice at recruitment company Investigo.

“I want to say a huge thank you to Korn Ferry for a whirlwind two years. Like a whirlwind it was sometimes scary (pandemic followed by extreme volumes of work) but also a wonder to behold due to the fantastic brand, products, clients (genuinely wonderful) and most of all the incredible people I worked alongside,” she said on LinkedIn.

Whittlesey has held CIO positions at manufacturing, charity and utilities organisations, worked as CDIO of a major government department and as a CTO of an international high-growth agricultural tech business.

Whittlesey told CIO UK that she’s reporting to the CRO, and ‘responsible for the evolution of the Investigo Executive business (more news to follow) and heading up the CIO Practice.’

Christine Ashton, long-time CIO, IT director and CIO UK 100 judge, has joined open source software company SUSE as its chief information officer.

“Being open, adaptive and building community is something SUSE has been doing since 1992 to solve technology and business challenges,” said Ashton, on LinkedIn. “I can’t think of a better purpose at this time for the next leg of my journey.”

Ashton has held CIO, CTO, SVP and NED (non-executive director) roles over her career and across sectors including media, retail, telecommunications, oil, energy, manufacturing and the supply chain.

Ilona Simpson, who formerly held senior IT leadership roles at Adidas, Porsche and DHL, has joined security vendor Netskope as its new EMEA CIO.

“From the CIO perspective, I have experienced first-hand the ways that cybersecurity can evolve from being an obstacle to ultimately become an enabler. The most important shift to achieve this is, I believe, changing the relationship between security and performance to remove frictional trade-offs,” said Simpson on LInkedIn.

Prior to joining Netskope, Simpson held IT leadership roles with major automotive, supply chain, utilities and consumer goods companies, including the positions of vice president, CIO and transformation officer at Adidas; the UK CIO of Porsche; and vice president of IT at DHL.

Sean Sadler, the former head of information technology at MWI Animal Health, and VP of IT at research firm MarketCast, has become a cloud advisory consultant at consultancy CGI.

“I’m extremely excited about the opportunity I have been presented, that will involve advising IT leaders such as myself, how to get the very best out of the public cloud services available and in so doing help them deliver on their cloud and IT strategies,” he said on LinkedIn.

Neil Williams, Croydon Council’s first chief digital officer, leaves at the end of January to join the British Film Institute (BFI) as its new executive director of technology and transformation.

Williams, formerly deputy director at the Government Digital Service and head of gov.uk, recently gave an update on Croydon’s digital transformation journey which has continued despite financial and resource constraints.

Kurt Weideling is the new CTO at the University of Leeds. Weideling had most recently spent 10 months at the Health Research Authority as its chief digital transformation officer as well as four years at Manchester Metropolitan University as CIO and director of information systems and digital services.

On LinkedIn, Weideling, who has also had senior IT roles in the research and energy sectors, describes himself as an ‘innovative leader with a talent for translating strategy into operational success through the successful design, implementation and support of business services in complex global environments.’

Sharon Prior has become the new CIO at high street retailer Card Factory.

Prior, who describes herself as a ‘digital business transformation leader and CIO, focused on digital, business growth, and agile delivery’, has previously held senior digital roles at IMI Critical Engineering, Upfield, Post Office, Thomson Reuters, Ann Summers and Avon.

“Card Factory is a successful high street specialist retailer, and is undertaking an ambitious growth strategy. The opportunity to become part of their journey is a compelling one, and I very much look forward to working with the incredibly talented team,” she said in a post on LinkedIn.

“My decision to leave such a meaningful job to pursue something of my own at this stage in my career was not an easy decision. Truthfully, I am slightly nervous, but I am more energised and excited by the prospect of using my skills and knowledge to empower more people with the use of emerging technologies,” said Jain on LinkedIn.