We talk to Senior Consultant, Jo Ingham

Absolutely, I'd be happy to share. I've spent the last several years deeply involved in the IT sector within the construction industry. My journey started with a five-year tenure at George Wimpey, a national housebuilder, where I served as the Group IT Director. During my time there, I developed and implemented a new IT strategy that not only enhanced our major outsourcing contracts but also significantly reduced IT-related costs while improving service levels. I played a pivotal role in mergers and acquisitions, notably leading efforts during the merger with Taylor Woodrow, which was a major project under my leadership.
Following that, I moved to Travis Perkins, where I took on the role of Interim IT Operations Director for two years. My focus there was transformative—reorganizing and introducing best practices across all IT services for over 22,000 users across 1,900 locations throughout the UK. I spearheaded the overhaul of IT service delivery standards, introduced business process-based reporting, and developed a strategy for delivering multichannel services through an integrated IT platform. My team and I also launched several projects to update service and systems management tools
Most recently, I spent four years as the CIO of The Grafton Group. This was a strategic role aimed at providing technology leadership and steering digital transformation across the entire group. I formulated and executed IT and digital strategies that built upon the strengths of our diverse companies, located in different territories but operating in allied markets. This role involved developing a business change program that not only delivered these strategies but also introduced new digital capabilities, enhanced security, and updated our core infrastructure, setting a solid foundation for future growth and revenue enhancement. Furthermore, I built a professional shared service model to support these new capabilities, utilizing a balanced mix of internal and external resources.
Additionally, at Monks & Crane, I reviewed and restructured IT services following a recent ERP deployment, which included improving sourcing arrangements, reducing costs, and enhancing service delivery

As these initiatives move forward, I anticipate that we'll see an increasing alignment of IT strategies with the overall business objectives at The Client. The governance structures we've put in place should facilitate more effective decision-making and project execution. As the organization begins to embrace these changes, I expect we'll see marked improvements in efficiency and competitiveness, driven by a more responsive and strategically aligned IT function.

These roles have equipped me with a robust understanding of both the strategic and operational aspects of IT in the construction sector. They’ve honed my ability to manage large-scale projects and transformations effectively. I believe this background aligns well with the challenges and opportunities here, especially in leveraging technology to drive business growth and operational excellence.

I've had the opportunity to lead several impactful projects with Leading Resolutions. One standout assignment was with Avis Budget Group, where I led a major IT infrastructure change program. This project required extensive stakeholder engagement across their European and Asia Pacific regions. We had to re-plan and restart their initiative to move messaging and productivity platforms to the cloud, while also consolidating their domains and support organization. The complexity and scope of this project made it especially memorable.

Another significant assignment brought me back to Travis Perkins, this time as the Interim Technology Services Director. During a period of considerable change within their IT services, we took control of all IT operations. We successfully stabilised some key services, restructured the team, resolved quality and process challenges, and delivered considerable cost savings.

I also led a major project for an online pharmacy company, which was creating a new pan-European B2C online pharmacy venture. My role involved providing strategic advice and leadership, helping to build a new team, establishing an innovative e-commerce platform, and enhancing customer experience. We completed target operating models for both the organisation and IT and sourced nearshore development resources, which was crucial for their rapid growth.

Additionally, I’ve handled shorter assignments that were equally enriching. These included reviewing IT services at City Plumbing post their demerger from Travis Perkins, conducting several due diligence reviews for companies before further investments, performing an IT value and prioritisation review for a large real estate business, overseeing a major programme review for a housing association, and building a change programme for Micheldever Tyre Services, which included the procurement of a strategic solutions partner.

The initial engagement with the client involved stepping into a part-time advisory role to assist their newly formed Group IT function. The main focus was to identify quick wins and provide comprehensive advice and guidance. This included reviewing the current operations of IT within the business, mentoring and supporting the Head of IT, and evaluating their existing IT plans, which notably involved further rollouts of Great Plains.

One of my key roles was to provide Board-level thought leadership, particularly to the CFO. I offered insights and advice on the future organisational structure needed and made recommendations on the changes required to further support the business through technology. A major achievement from this phase was gaining the trust of the Board, which is crucial for any substantial change initiative.

Following the success of this initial advisory role, we were tasked by the Board, in conjunction with the senior Finance and IT team, to develop a proposed solutions strategy suitable for the Group. This strategy was then moved forward into a validation phase.
The building materials supply industry, while fundamentally simple, has often been complicated over time by poor processes and underinvestment in IT solutions. This has led to complacency within organisations, making them less willing to embrace necessary changes to stay productive and competitive. Our experience with project deliveries, both good and bad, and numerous project reviews, has shown us that the implementation process is as critical as the solutions themselves.

For The Client, which had no significant history of IT or process change, the challenge was particularly about balancing the right solution choice with necessary process changes. This was as much a cultural challenge as it was a process change challenge.

To validate the functional requirements at The Client, we leveraged our intellectual property to accelerate the requirements gathering process, drawing on recent experiences at companies like Micheldever, Monks & Crane, and Travis Perkins. Using our deep understanding of the industry and our extensive experience in managing major project deployments and project reviews, our recommendations were carefully tailored to address the specific change management challenges faced by The Client. We proposed a solution that would be simpler to deploy and suggested a project structure and supporting governance that allowed more control to the individual companies and divisions within the group.

As these initiatives move forward, I anticipate that we'll see an increasing alignment of IT strategies with the overall business objectives at The Client. The governance structures we've put in place should facilitate more effective decision-making and project execution. As the organization begins to embrace these changes, I expect we'll see marked improvements in efficiency and competitiveness, driven by a more responsive and strategically aligned IT function.