About Colin
I am an experienced CIO and IT Director with a background in leading technology for fast moving, customer focused organisations.

Over the last 25 years I have built and led IT functions for multi site hospitality, retail and healthcare businesses, delivering large scale cloud migrations, new digital platforms and major cost efficiencies.
Typical responsibilities have included:
- Defining and delivering IT and digital strategy aligned with business plans
- Leading teams covering infrastructure, support, data and development
- Owning capital and operating budgets, and presenting to boards
- Managing complex vendor ecosystems and large commercial contracts
- Improving cyber security and governance without blocking innovation
How I think about IT
“I see IT as an enabler of growth, not a cost centre.”
The right technology should:
- ✓Make life easier for your teams and your customers
- ✓Give leadership accurate, timely data for better decisions
- ✓Reduce operational risk and protect the brand
- ✓Pay for itself through efficiency and revenue gains
Good technology leadership is as much about people and communication as it is about systems. I put a lot of emphasis on listening, understanding the reality on the ground and then bringing clarity to what can often feel like a complex landscape.
Background highlights
Industry Expertise
- • CIO / IT Director roles across multi site hospitality, retail, pharmacy and restaurant groups
- • Leadership roles in retail pharmacy, healthcare, luxury retail and cinema operations
Transformation
- • Led migrations to cloud platforms such as Microsoft 365, Azure, Dynamics and modern POS
- • Delivered major digital platforms, CRM and ecommerce initiatives
Team Building
- • Built and reorganised IT teams to support rapid growth and acquisitions
- • Experienced in coaching and developing internal talent
Where I've Driven Success
The Ivy Collection
London Area, United Kingdom
Everyman Media Group PLC
London, England, United Kingdom

Integrated Care 24
London, England, United Kingdom
Ann Summers
South London, England, United Kingdom
Responsible for Strategy, Team Management, Capital & Operating Budget, Development, System Testing and BAU Support for over 100 stores and e-commerce.

Day Lewis Plc
Croydon, United Kingdom
Managed IT for one of the largest independent Retail Pharmacy chains in the UK (270+ stores). Led In-House Development, Offshore Resources, and IT Business Strategy.

ADP Dental Company
Reigate, Surrey
Transformed IT Support function and delivered ambitious IT strategy for 130 sites and 1,500 staff.

Class Technology Solutions
Head of a distributed IT Team of 45+ engineers supporting 30+ education locations and 30,000+ users.
Tiger Beer UK Ltd
Led IT Department through major transformation and ERP migration to JDE Edwards / Hyperion.

Ubevco Distributors
Responsible for IT Support, Strategy, and Infrastructure. Migrated central CRM Sales system to mobile-based solution.
Crawfish Interactive
Pivotal in major office move and managing all aspects of new office Server Room, Data Lines and Infrastructure.
What my colleagues have to say
"Colin was an absolute pleasure to work with. He always had a strong grasp of the bigger picture, while remaining genuinely supportive and engaged with the people delivering the work. He is approachable, thoughtful, and easy to work with, which made collaborating with him both enjoyable and motivating. I worked closely with Colin for over three and a half years delivering BI reporting, data tooling, and internal applications at Everyman. His vision for data-driven decision making across the business was excellent, and he provided clear direction and support while trusting the team to explore solutions and take ownership of the work. Throughout our time working together, I consistently felt supported and encouraged to grow, with the freedom to try new ideas while delivering reliable, business-critical outcomes. Colin is a great leader and someone I would happily work with again."
David McAlle
Data Scientist
"Colin was a joy to work with. He made the digital and IT infrastructure world easy to understand, even to a laggard like me. Always collegiate and team focused, Colin transformed the business improving the customer experience through innovative solutions both online and in the real world. He designed and implemented a secure infrastructure and data centred stack for all areas of the business to build upon. I can’t recommend Colin highly enough."
Gavin Hughes
Managing Director
"Colin is an exceptionally talented and business focussed IT Professional and Manager. We have worked together over a number of years on different engagements and I have found that he has great vision and commercial understanding. I've seen him take businesses with major technical and business issues and revolutionise them by introducing new and relevant technologies whislt often saving money and increasing productivity. He has strategic direction, technical vision and delivers outstanding solutions to the businesses where he has worked."
Paul Boyd
IT Procurement & Optimisation
"Colin quickly mastered a complex series of IT issues involving people, systems and operational factors, providing senior management with a clear and perceptive analysis of underlying causes and presenting solutions in terms of realistic timescales and budgets. Colin built an effective team which transformed IT support with particular attentiveness to the issues which had been bedevilling performance - he achieved high levels of user satisfaction within a matter of months. Suddenly IT became one of the strengths of the company!"
David Hillier
Chair, City & County Healthcare Group
"I had the pleasure of reporting to Colin for a over a year while at Ann Summers Ltd. He is both a knowledgeable I.T professional and a great people person. Colin introduced a number of improvements into the business here under significant financial pressures and also gave me the opportunity personally to advance my career into the management space, which I greatly appreciate. I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Colin for future management roles. A true asset to any company."
Chris Rolfe
IT Operations Lead
"Colin is a tremendously talented IT professional, with great technical knowledge, creativity and an ability to find solutions, strong commercial skills and most importantly the ability to coach and develop his team. Colin has great integrity, credibility and leadership skills and was a pleasure to work with. He is well respected IT Director in the Industry, and I believe everyone who was in our team really admires and respects his technical ability and leadership skills."
Andrej Molotov
Microsoft Cloud Architect
"I have worked with Colin on many different projects and project teams and he always brings a great deal to the table. He is very knowledgeable, solution driven, flexible, reliable, values others opinions, expresses his thoughts and ideas well and is always enthusiastic. He is a valuable member of any team and his people skills make him a joy to work with."
Laura Thurston
Talent Development Manager
"Colin has made an exceptional impact since taking on the role of Head of IT. He has established a clear strategic direction for his department and managed several concurrent projects very effectively. Colin has also developed his team into a professional unit and has communicated extremely well with the Board on the various issues associated with IT, as well as contributing to the long term management of the overall Group, as a member of the Next Generation Board."
Carey Edwards FRAeS
Managing Director, LMQ
"Colin is a highly capable and experienced IT professional. Colin has great ability for identifying business needs and determining solutions to business problems. Fully adept at understanding the needs of the business as a whole, its strategic direction, and identifying initiatives that will allow a business to meet those strategic goals. He is extremely energetic and brings creativity to system solutions. A pleasure to work with and someone I would strongly recommend to get the job done."
Marc Neroni
BT International
"Colin is a natural born leader who commands respect from those around him. His can do attitude to challenging and often changing situations at very short notice is second to none. Colin is the epitome of professionalism and an asset to any senior management structure. Dedicated, resourceful and an all round great guy that I hope to work with for many years to come."
Sabri Marsaoui
Founder & CEO, Blackstar Real Estate
"I have worked with Colin on a couple of projects and I would say Colin is most defiantly a progressive thinker and open minded when it comes to adopting new tech to drive his company forward. He is pragmatic and understands the clear demands IT presents today's users and applies this where needed. He is also personable, clear in his requirements and just a "nice guy" The type you would always want to engage with."
Stuart C.
Google Security Consultant
"It has been a pleasure working with Colin over the past few years. As a supplier he always treated you with respect and welcomed input. When Colin was working on any given project he always communicated the objectives and end goals clearly and concisely which mad my role easier and allowed me to position options more effectively. Colin has developed a great team around him and I am positive he will work restlessly to achieve anything he puts his mind to."
Matthew Smith
Account Director
"Colin came into ADP at a difficult time and turned the IT department around. Nothing was ever too much trouble for him and he always made time to listen and understand your problems. Some of the new IT systems Colin has implemented have saved my department considerable amount of processing time. It is a pleasure to recommend him."
Mark G.
ADP
"Colin is amazing, the IT department had quite a positive change since Colin took over the IT department. Every time I need help is there to assistance, what a superb service. Hope this had happened a long time ago. Really impressive, excellent attitude, service and support. Well done."
Victor M B Magalhaes Cruz
Former Director, Hotel Vila Lusitania
"In his time at Ubevco Distributors and Tiger Beer UK, I found Colin to be both an excellent reactive problem solver of the day to day IT management issues but, importantly for the development of the business, also a proactive individual in strategising the IT needs for the future. One of Colin's particular strengths was identifying the practical application of IT in improving the effectiveness and reach of a variety of disciplines within the business."
Roger Gray
GDC GROUP Ltd
"Colin has proven to be an invaluable resource with his extensive knowledge of IT, ability to create bespoke websites and provide a wealth of technological expertise both as a colleage and since our careers changed, a service provider and creative advisor."
Dan Bewicke
Key Account Manager, Continental
"I was lucky enough to work for Colin as an IT Supplier when he was at Tiger Beer. Colin's experience and knowledge of IT made my job supplying it that much easier, knowing what was needed to be done and how to go about getting it, a great leader, being dynamic to change and open to suggestions as well as being a genuinely nice chap."
Ashley G.
Senior IT Account Manager
"I worked with Colin for over a year at Ann Summers whilst he was Head of IT. He joined immediately after a particularly complex ERP implementation programme moving from Oracle to Microsoft Navision. Colin made a positive impact immediately within the department and guided the team strategically whilst managing to ensure the correct balance between driving projects forward to strict timelines and ensuring staff were motivated/happy. His dynamic leadership style proved vital to the Development & Test teams who felt his management of the department was exactly what was required to successfully stabilise all the systems following a major implementation programme. Colin’s expertise was key in improving the infrastructure & driving positive changes to ways of working within the company & IT department. Ann Summers experienced no major IT systems issues throughout the key peak trade periods under his management and this lead to company wide improvements. He provided exceptional support and managerial guidance to me as well as my fellow senior managers, something that proved invaluable ensuring projects ran smoothly alongside BAU."
Danny White
Projects Director, binary10
"Colin's contribution to the Integration Dept and ADP generally has been invaluable. Colin has completely transformed the IT Dept and the service it's provides. The changes implemented were in a different league. Our Dept cannot thank Colin enough for his professional work ethic and support."
Trudy A.
Operations Manager
"When as Technical Manager for CTS Colin interviewed me for a position of Junior Technician, have noticed straight away he’s somebody with immense, deep hands-on knowledge of technical aspect of IT world but despite difference in knowledge he remained approachable, always offered help and suggested solution for any problem I had regardless if that was technical or personal. When I became Network Manager on company’s client site and was confronted straight away with task of reorganising entire AD structure to merge it with LGFL, he provided me with guidance and best practice advices, which helped me organise very effective structure and procedures."
Robert Tryba
Operational Senior Infrastructure Engineer
"Colin is an excellent Technical Engineer as well as a natural man-manager (such individuals are few and far between). First interviewed by Colin for my present role I immediately gained great confidence in the company CTS and was pleased to accept the roll. Having worked with him now for 18 months, reporting back to him on my in-house team of 7 has been easy. I have been consistently impressed how ready he always is to lend an ear/advice, take everything seriously and act quickly. His ability to consistently treat myself and my team with the utmost respect and always find time (even though he manages 20 other similar teams) has been remarkable and fantastic. He is an excellent IT Professional."
Matthew Rushworth
Group IT Services Manager, CTS
"Colin was an absolute pleasure to work with. He always had a strong grasp of the bigger picture, while remaining genuinely supportive and engaged with the people delivering the work. He is approachable, thoughtful, and easy to work with, which made collaborating with him both enjoyable and motivating. I worked closely with Colin for over three and a half years delivering BI reporting, data tooling, and internal applications at Everyman. His vision for data-driven decision making across the business was excellent, and he provided clear direction and support while trusting the team to explore solutions and take ownership of the work. Throughout our time working together, I consistently felt supported and encouraged to grow, with the freedom to try new ideas while delivering reliable, business-critical outcomes. Colin is a great leader and someone I would happily work with again."
David McAlle
Data Scientist
"Colin was a joy to work with. He made the digital and IT infrastructure world easy to understand, even to a laggard like me. Always collegiate and team focused, Colin transformed the business improving the customer experience through innovative solutions both online and in the real world. He designed and implemented a secure infrastructure and data centred stack for all areas of the business to build upon. I can’t recommend Colin highly enough."
Gavin Hughes
Managing Director
"Colin is an exceptionally talented and business focussed IT Professional and Manager. We have worked together over a number of years on different engagements and I have found that he has great vision and commercial understanding. I've seen him take businesses with major technical and business issues and revolutionise them by introducing new and relevant technologies whislt often saving money and increasing productivity. He has strategic direction, technical vision and delivers outstanding solutions to the businesses where he has worked."
Paul Boyd
IT Procurement & Optimisation
"Colin quickly mastered a complex series of IT issues involving people, systems and operational factors, providing senior management with a clear and perceptive analysis of underlying causes and presenting solutions in terms of realistic timescales and budgets. Colin built an effective team which transformed IT support with particular attentiveness to the issues which had been bedevilling performance - he achieved high levels of user satisfaction within a matter of months. Suddenly IT became one of the strengths of the company!"
David Hillier
Chair, City & County Healthcare Group
"I had the pleasure of reporting to Colin for a over a year while at Ann Summers Ltd. He is both a knowledgeable I.T professional and a great people person. Colin introduced a number of improvements into the business here under significant financial pressures and also gave me the opportunity personally to advance my career into the management space, which I greatly appreciate. I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Colin for future management roles. A true asset to any company."
Chris Rolfe
IT Operations Lead
"Colin is a tremendously talented IT professional, with great technical knowledge, creativity and an ability to find solutions, strong commercial skills and most importantly the ability to coach and develop his team. Colin has great integrity, credibility and leadership skills and was a pleasure to work with. He is well respected IT Director in the Industry, and I believe everyone who was in our team really admires and respects his technical ability and leadership skills."
Andrej Molotov
Microsoft Cloud Architect
"I have worked with Colin on many different projects and project teams and he always brings a great deal to the table. He is very knowledgeable, solution driven, flexible, reliable, values others opinions, expresses his thoughts and ideas well and is always enthusiastic. He is a valuable member of any team and his people skills make him a joy to work with."
Laura Thurston
Talent Development Manager
"Colin has made an exceptional impact since taking on the role of Head of IT. He has established a clear strategic direction for his department and managed several concurrent projects very effectively. Colin has also developed his team into a professional unit and has communicated extremely well with the Board on the various issues associated with IT, as well as contributing to the long term management of the overall Group, as a member of the Next Generation Board."
Carey Edwards FRAeS
Managing Director, LMQ
"Colin is a highly capable and experienced IT professional. Colin has great ability for identifying business needs and determining solutions to business problems. Fully adept at understanding the needs of the business as a whole, its strategic direction, and identifying initiatives that will allow a business to meet those strategic goals. He is extremely energetic and brings creativity to system solutions. A pleasure to work with and someone I would strongly recommend to get the job done."
Marc Neroni
BT International
"Colin is a natural born leader who commands respect from those around him. His can do attitude to challenging and often changing situations at very short notice is second to none. Colin is the epitome of professionalism and an asset to any senior management structure. Dedicated, resourceful and an all round great guy that I hope to work with for many years to come."
Sabri Marsaoui
Founder & CEO, Blackstar Real Estate
"I have worked with Colin on a couple of projects and I would say Colin is most defiantly a progressive thinker and open minded when it comes to adopting new tech to drive his company forward. He is pragmatic and understands the clear demands IT presents today's users and applies this where needed. He is also personable, clear in his requirements and just a "nice guy" The type you would always want to engage with."
Stuart C.
Google Security Consultant
"It has been a pleasure working with Colin over the past few years. As a supplier he always treated you with respect and welcomed input. When Colin was working on any given project he always communicated the objectives and end goals clearly and concisely which mad my role easier and allowed me to position options more effectively. Colin has developed a great team around him and I am positive he will work restlessly to achieve anything he puts his mind to."
Matthew Smith
Account Director
"Colin came into ADP at a difficult time and turned the IT department around. Nothing was ever too much trouble for him and he always made time to listen and understand your problems. Some of the new IT systems Colin has implemented have saved my department considerable amount of processing time. It is a pleasure to recommend him."
Mark G.
ADP
"Colin is amazing, the IT department had quite a positive change since Colin took over the IT department. Every time I need help is there to assistance, what a superb service. Hope this had happened a long time ago. Really impressive, excellent attitude, service and support. Well done."
Victor M B Magalhaes Cruz
Former Director, Hotel Vila Lusitania
"In his time at Ubevco Distributors and Tiger Beer UK, I found Colin to be both an excellent reactive problem solver of the day to day IT management issues but, importantly for the development of the business, also a proactive individual in strategising the IT needs for the future. One of Colin's particular strengths was identifying the practical application of IT in improving the effectiveness and reach of a variety of disciplines within the business."
Roger Gray
GDC GROUP Ltd
"Colin has proven to be an invaluable resource with his extensive knowledge of IT, ability to create bespoke websites and provide a wealth of technological expertise both as a colleage and since our careers changed, a service provider and creative advisor."
Dan Bewicke
Key Account Manager, Continental
"I was lucky enough to work for Colin as an IT Supplier when he was at Tiger Beer. Colin's experience and knowledge of IT made my job supplying it that much easier, knowing what was needed to be done and how to go about getting it, a great leader, being dynamic to change and open to suggestions as well as being a genuinely nice chap."
Ashley G.
Senior IT Account Manager
"I worked with Colin for over a year at Ann Summers whilst he was Head of IT. He joined immediately after a particularly complex ERP implementation programme moving from Oracle to Microsoft Navision. Colin made a positive impact immediately within the department and guided the team strategically whilst managing to ensure the correct balance between driving projects forward to strict timelines and ensuring staff were motivated/happy. His dynamic leadership style proved vital to the Development & Test teams who felt his management of the department was exactly what was required to successfully stabilise all the systems following a major implementation programme. Colin’s expertise was key in improving the infrastructure & driving positive changes to ways of working within the company & IT department. Ann Summers experienced no major IT systems issues throughout the key peak trade periods under his management and this lead to company wide improvements. He provided exceptional support and managerial guidance to me as well as my fellow senior managers, something that proved invaluable ensuring projects ran smoothly alongside BAU."
Danny White
Projects Director, binary10
"Colin's contribution to the Integration Dept and ADP generally has been invaluable. Colin has completely transformed the IT Dept and the service it's provides. The changes implemented were in a different league. Our Dept cannot thank Colin enough for his professional work ethic and support."
Trudy A.
Operations Manager
"When as Technical Manager for CTS Colin interviewed me for a position of Junior Technician, have noticed straight away he’s somebody with immense, deep hands-on knowledge of technical aspect of IT world but despite difference in knowledge he remained approachable, always offered help and suggested solution for any problem I had regardless if that was technical or personal. When I became Network Manager on company’s client site and was confronted straight away with task of reorganising entire AD structure to merge it with LGFL, he provided me with guidance and best practice advices, which helped me organise very effective structure and procedures."
Robert Tryba
Operational Senior Infrastructure Engineer
"Colin is an excellent Technical Engineer as well as a natural man-manager (such individuals are few and far between). First interviewed by Colin for my present role I immediately gained great confidence in the company CTS and was pleased to accept the roll. Having worked with him now for 18 months, reporting back to him on my in-house team of 7 has been easy. I have been consistently impressed how ready he always is to lend an ear/advice, take everything seriously and act quickly. His ability to consistently treat myself and my team with the utmost respect and always find time (even though he manages 20 other similar teams) has been remarkable and fantastic. He is an excellent IT Professional."
Matthew Rushworth
Group IT Services Manager, CTS
