The Co-op
Infrastructure Delivery Consultant (Interim) – Feb 2022 – Dec 2024
Scope: £30m+ Network Transformation Programme | Multi-business portfolio | Strategic governance & supplier negotiation

Appointed to lead a high-stakes, business-critical network transformation programme spanning Retail, Logistics, Funeral Care, and legacy Data Centre Exit. Acted as executive advisor across commercial, strategic, and delivery functions—governing supplier engagement, shaping technical direction, and securing board-level sign-off for investment plans.

Key Leadership Highlights:

Negotiated a 5-year Cisco Enterprise Agreement achieving £1.88m in combined licensing and hardware savings, including 72% hardware discount—the highest ever secured by the Co-op.
Delivered a 5-year Meraki Enterprise Agreement (£5m) eliminating short-term budget risk and achieving £1m savings, underpinning retail transformation.
Oversaw £12m SD-WAN rollout across 2,300+ stores and logistics locations—critical to PSTN exit strategy—completed ahead of regulatory deadlines.
Authored and secured executive sign-off for the Co-op’s Digital Voice replacement strategy, resulting in a £2.5m investment and £150k/year in recurring OpEx savings.
Directed strategic blueprinting for £15m RDC network redesign to Cisco SDA architecture, delivering scalable design for phased rollout across 11 distribution centres.

UK Home Office
Head of Networks (Interim) – Mar 2021 – Jan 2022

Appointed to lead the Home Office’s Network Operations during a period of strategic transition. Operated at senior civil service level, shaping roadmaps, security alignment, and operational governance across a complex and security-sensitive estate.

Directed operational oversight for nationwide network estate and incident management.
Acted as key liaison between infrastructure delivery teams and enterprise architecture functions to ensure alignment with departmental priorities.
Oversaw initiatives ensuring embedded security and resilience within critical infrastructure programmes.
Developed frameworks for engineering standards and operational practices.

The Co-op
Infrastructure Delivery Consultant (Interim) – May 2018 – Dec 2020

Engaged to provide executive delivery assurance and commercial governance across a portfolio of business-critical infrastructure programmes. Reported directly into senior leadership and procurement teams.

Co-led commercial renegotiation of £70m+ managed services contract, unlocking £5m+ in revenue savings.
Directed WAN transformation for 4,000 retail and funeral branches, enabling future-state SD-WAN strategy.
Designed and led competitive tender for LAN & Firewall refresh, delivering a £6m programme across 3,000 locations in 6 months—one of UK’s largest Meraki deployments.
Oversaw delivery of enhanced enterprise WiFi for 3,000+ users, driving security improvements and service automation.

The Co-op
Head of Networks (Interim) – Feb 2016 – Mar 2018

Held P&L responsibility for Co-op’s Network Services function with operational budget control of £2m and direct change investment of £5m. Managed strategic supplier relationships and contractual compliance for a £30m+ managed services agreement.

Delivered £6.5m WAN refresh across 4,000+ sites in food retail and funeral care.
Oversaw deployment of enterprise-class multi-cloud network connectivity.
Delivered £1.5m data centre network upgrade and £0.25m internet resilience programme.
Implemented on-demand resourcing model (PaaS) for network delivery, improving agility and cost control.
Achieved 99.98% network availability in 2017.

The Co-operative Bank
Programme Manager (Interim) – Oct 2015 – Jan 2016

Led the Bank’s Network and Telephony Separation Programme as part of group divestment. Controlled £9m+ annual run-rate with targeted savings of £1–2m/year.

Directed supplier consolidation strategy reducing 30 vendor relationships.
Led IP Telephony platform re-platform initiative in support of post-divestment autonomy.

Manchester City Council
ICT Network & Security Manager (Interim) – Oct 2014 – Sep 2015

Held senior operational accountability within the ICT Leadership Team, with focus on stabilisation, service improvement, and long-term capability uplift.

Recovered critical infrastructure programmes and implemented new ICT operating model.
Led risk reduction and service transformation efforts across network and security operations.

Unilever
Transcend Programme Manager (Interim) – Apr 2014 – Oct 2014

Led global enterprise computing programme with budget oversight of €5m, building business case for €21m 2015 portfolio.

Co-operative Banking Group
Head of Development Services / Head of Networks – 2008 – 2013

Held dual strategic roles across infrastructure and development services. Reported into CIO with direct control of £10m+ budgets and accountability for change across a £450m portfolio.

Member of IT Development Cabinet providing governance, prioritisation, and spend control.
Directed supplier strategy with Steria for development and commercial delivery.
Delivered IaaS platform enabling £100m+ transformation initiative.
Negotiated 5-year WAN consolidation contract with £7.5m benefit.
Managed £18m telephony stabilisation programme and voice transformation with TalkTalk, yielding £600k/year OpEx savings.

Earlier Career

2006 – 2007 Keytech Managed Services – Technical Services Manager

2003 – 2005 United Cinemas International – Group Infrastructure Manager

2001 – 2003 Thomson Gardiner Caldwell Group – IT Technical Services Manager

1994 – 2001 CPS (UK) Ltd – IT Consultant (Kellogg / Woolworths / Unilever / North West Water / AstraZeneca)

1994 - 1994 InfoService (UK) Ltd, Manchester - Director of Business Systems

1993 - 1994 RAM Mobile Data Ltd (Now trading as BT Transcomm UK Ltd), London - Project Manager

1992 - 1993 Communications Group plc, Birmingham - Business Systems Manager

1991 - 1992 Matthew Brown plc, Chorley, Lancashire - Information Centre Manager

1988 - 1991 Ferranti Creditphone Ltd, Manchester - IT Manager

1983 - 1988 Ferranti Instrumentation Ltd, Manchester - Trainee Computer Engineer