Our Associates

Andrew
Technology Strategy and Operations Associate

Andrew has 30 years' experience in senior technology roles and has spent the last 15 years driving change and delivering strategies at some of the largest and best-known names in the not-for-profit sector including Comic Relief, British Red Cross, and Cancer Research UK. As CTO at Comic Relief, he unified the Digital, Data & Technology teams, delivering technology to support diversification of income streams and measurement of social change. At Cancer Research UK he led a radical shift to innovative infrastructure to support the rapid growth of scientific systems and tools. At British Red Cross he transformed the management of a huge end-user computing estate to deliver a simplified, integrated post-pandemic work environment. Prior to his work in the charity sector, Andrew spent 12 years in the pharmaceuticals sector as European IT Director for Novartis Biopharmaceuticals and as Director of Global Finance systems at GSK. He played a leading role in the integration of GSK’s Head Office systems during the merger of GlaxoWellcome and SmithKline Beecham. An excellent lateral thinker, Andrew uses a collaborative approach to find innovative solutions and to deliver change via close working partnerships with business leaders, partner organisations, and staff. His focus is on building trust and confidence for senior management teams that their technology strategies and solutions are supporting delivery their vision. A keen golfer, Andrew also enjoys spending time watching cricket and attending live music concerts of artists ranging from Bach to Boy Genius. Andrew is also, pro-bono, a director and CTO of Trickle, a start-up which will use open banking to deliver an effortless charitable-giving platform.

Bertie
Digital Fundraising Associate

Bertie helps organisations of all sizes develop their online presence, transform their digital culture, raise money online, improve engagement with their audiences, select the right technology, and pilot projects. He has over 20 years experience in digital (and an indelible French accent). Bertie started his career in the charity sector at British Heart Foundation where he established the first online team and wrote BHF initial online fundraising strategy. He then joined Breast Cancer Care, where he implemented a range of online tools to support beneficiaries. Bertie started working as an independent consultant in 2012. He has worked with over 100 NGOs including the UN World Food Programme, Tearfund, Mind, Pancreatic Cancer UK, Trussell Trust… He works with CharityComms on the Digital Benchmark, a collaborative tool used by more than 70 UK charities who share their digital data in order to compare and evaluate their online performance. Recently, Bertie helped the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement with the procurement of a global donation platform and the associated process to help small countries fundraising online. He has been working on the digital transformation programme of Handicap International / Humanity & Inclusion since 2015 and he's now helping the French, Belgium, and Swiss associations change their internal processes and mindset to increase engagement with external audiences.

Hamish
Programmes and Business Solutions Associate

"After a long career working in the ‘big 4’ consultancies I want to use my experience to help organisations whose goals and ethos align with my own. That is why I want to focus on the not-for-profit sector."

Hamish is an IT professional with over 30 years’ experience. He specialises in IT enabled business transformation with a focus on ensuring clients get the best business value from their IT investments. He has extensive knowledge of ERP, CRM and HR systems and was a founding member of the Deloitte Enterprise Architecture group which focussed on the selection, implementation and strategic use of Commercial of the shelf (COTS) software. Hamish has helped over 100 organisations find, implement and embed the best solution for their needs. These include housing associations, membership organisations, local authorities, government agencies and many other not for-profit and commercial organisations Hamish’s NFP clients include the Royal Society of Medicine, the Labour Party, UCAS, Cancer Research UK, Orbit Housing Association, William Sutton Trust, Bourneville Village Trust and many local authorities. Hamish’s first degree (BA Hons) was in Religious Studies at Lancaster University, and after graduating he embarked on a career in IT. He is PRINCE2, MSP and TOGAF qualified and completed CIMA part 1.

“Hamish is especially adept at aligning project outcomes and system architecture with organisational objectives, ensuring that all projects meet both functional and strategic goals. He is highly collaborative and works seamlessly with colleagues at all levels across the organisation.”

Jo
Data Strategy Associate

Jo has worked with data in the not-for-profit sector for over 25 years and has been an independent consultant supporting organisations with data strategy, data governance and data quality since 2018. Jo is passionate about helping organisations of all sizes and causes overcome their frustrations with poor quality data so they can deliver their mission efficiently, with reliable information, and with confidence that they are GDPR compliant. Jo started off in supporter care and subsequently database fundraising for Christian Aid. She then ran the individual giving programme and managed the Raiser 's Edge database at Notting Hill Housing Trust. A long stint at the Advertising Standards Authority gave Jo extensive exposure to Microsoft Dynamics CRM through her work as a business analyst and project manager to deliver process, system and data improvements. Jo was also a school governor for 5 years, supporting the governing body and leadership team in particular with data literacy. Specialisms include: • Data governance frameworks and implementation • Root cause analysis of data quality issues and their resolution • Scoping and requirements for data migrations and integrations • Designing and implementing business process improvements • Landscape analysis including data lifecycles and conceptual data models • Creating business data glossaries • Data fluency Jo 's work is underpinned by her interest and enthusiasm for making improvements, helping people understand the reliance on data to deliver their vision, and then guiding them on that journey. Jo is comfortable working with people at all levels and in both technical and non-technical roles. Jo can advise on strategic aspects of data as well as getting involved in day-to-day detail. Jo is a Certified Data Management Professional (DAMA) and has formal qualifications from the BCS in Requirements Engineering, Business Process Modelling, Business Analysis Practice and Commercial Awareness. She also holds the Foundation certificate for PRINCE2 and the Open University's Certificate in Winning Resources and Support. Jo has also undertaken training in the Ten Steps™ process, an internationally-recognised framework for improving Data Quality in organisations.

Libby
Associate Principal Consultant

"I chose a career in the sector because of its focus and ethos. As a consultant, I'm fascinated by the range of charities I work with and the opportunities to help organisations and people be more successful in what they do."

Libby specialises in helping organisations with project governance and programmes of change. She has a post-graduate diploma in voluntary sector management from Cass Business School, is a PRINCE2 project management practitioner, an MSP (managing successful programmes) practitioner and an Agile Project Management practitioner. She develops strategies and business cases, leads on project governance, coaches and mentors project managers and teams, and provides quality assurance and project reviews. Libby helps organisations achieve successful IT projects with activities such as business processes analysis, requirements identification, software selection and implementation. She works with organisations to achieve efficiencies and improvements in operational areas. A former senior manager with Sayer Vincent, Libby has extensive experience of the not-for-profit sector. She has worked with a wide range of clients including British Horse Society, Christian Aid, Crisis, Enham Trust, the Football Foundation, I CAN, RNLI, Sue Ryder Care, the Vegan Society, WAGGGS, Womankind and World Animal Protection. Before joining Sayer Vincent, Libby held several senior roles within charities, primarily international aid and development organisations. Libby is a member of the British Computer Society, The Chartered Institute for IT, and formerly was an advisor to the third sector project management forum. She has previously been a volunteer and trustee of a small charity that carried out holidays and other activities with disabled and socially disadvantaged children.

"Libby Hare was the consultant that we worked with on our IT change project. We achieved the change needed and our goals were met in an appropriate timescale."

Liz
AI Safety and Data Protection Associate

Liz Curry began her career working in theatre publicity, spending 10 years at the National Theatre in various marketing roles. She worked briefly with the UN on the first Mozambican General Election and travelled through East Africa before joining Comic Relief, where she was involved in a variety of projects. Liz became Comic Relief’s first CRM Manager in 2002 where she was responsible for the development of the role, including process analysis, design and implementation of all fulfilment processes for the Red Nose Day and Sport Relief campaigns: streamlining the process to efficiently delivery hundreds and thousands of pieces of print materials. She also redesigned the way gift aid was processed, winning Information Age’s Most Effective Use of IT in a Charitable Organisation 2007, in recognition of claiming £7.5m worth of Gift Aid from Red Nose Day donors and won the Grand Prix: Most Effective IT Project 2007. She mapped out a better way of income reporting during campaign, identified bottlenecks, redundancies and inefficiencies and engaged stakeholders to understand areas for improvement, then instituted a system of daily income reporting to SRT. She was later appointed Business Planning and Processes Manager with specific responsibility for designing new business processes around the introduction of GDPR. The programme won the Best GDPR Programme and Grand Prix winner in DataIQ’s Talent Awards in 2017. Liz is now an independent consultant and associate consultant with Adapta. Her current clients include Wood Green, The Animals Charity, The Hugs Foundation and Livewire Consultancy (as Data Protection Officer); The Mercury Theatre, Colchester (working with the Marketing team to redesign processes and hit their targets) and Be the Business. Past clients include: Barnardo’s, Marie Curie, Versus Arthritis, The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, and We Are Family, the adoption charity. Other awards include: Marketing Week’s Data Strategy Award for 2013; Data IQ’s Real Mail Marketer of the Year in 2013; and the 2013 IoF Insight in Fundraising Award for Innovation; and the IoF Insight in Fundraising Award for Driving Strategy in 2012. She was also named in the DataIQ Big Data 100 list for three years running. Liz became a member of the IDM/DMA’s Data Council in 2014 and is a member of both the DMA’s Governance Committee and Fundraising Forum (and occasional chair of webinars).

Louis
User Insight and Innovation Associate

Louis is an Innovation Strategist with a passion for navigating complexity and driving tangible outcomes He brings over a decade of experience in the non-profit sector, working at organisations such as Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity, Samaritans, British Heart Foundation, and Prostate Cancer UK. Throughout his 11-year journey, Louis has honed his expertise in insight-led innovation and thrives on identifying opportunities which unlock growth. One of the skills he’s developed along the way is designing and delivering impactful workshops which empower teams to solve problems and make informed decisions. Louis is renowned for his ability to translate intricate challenges into actionable strategies, guiding teams toward sustainable solutions. Leveraging his deep understanding of the non-profit landscape, he has spearheaded numerous initiatives that have made a huge impact. A big advocate for collaborative working, Louis prioritises harnessing the knowledge of individuals within the organisation and utilises a wide-range of tools from Design Thinking, Agile and Service Design to improve collaboration. His commitment to delivering exceptional results has been evidenced by his track record of success in innovating fundraising products.

Matt
Infrastructure and Digital Platforms Associate

Matt has over 20 years experience working with information technology, initially within university administration and then for a range of clients providing IT solutions in the small business and not-for-profit sectors. Matt's skills are wide-ranging, including: network design and installation; management of cloud services; management of IT infrastructure and assets; IT strategy; policy review, development and documentation; security analysis; IT support services and resourcing; system administration; and web application development. He has extensive project management experience having worked with clients on various projects including cloud migrations, finance system migrations, web application development and system integrations as well as providing day-to-day support services for clients IT infrastructure and users. He has long been an advocate and supporter of open source solutions and was recruited by the Linux Foundation to participate in a committee to define required knowledge and skills for Linux professionals. Matt especially enjoys working closely with organisations, analysing their requirements and objectives with the end goal of providing IT solutions that are the 'best fit' for that organisation: be they bespoke, open source or proprietary. Away from work Matt is a keen walker, plays bass guitar, and, despite the frustrations, still plays golf. He has a BA Hons in History and MSc in Computer Science and continues to develop his technology skills.

Paul
Analytics and Technology Operations Associate

With an IT career spanning thirty years, including five years managing a network for the MoD, and more than twenty years as Technical Director of an award-winning Managed Service Provider (MSP), Paul has particular experience in Business Intelligence, process automation and supporting organisations through Managed Service Provider selection. Through his experience in the MSP sector, Paul has a deep understanding of how MSPs work and what excellent service looks like behind the scenes. As such, he is able to ‘cut through’ the sales pitch and ask challenging questions to ensure the right fit for our clients. Paul has spent the last five years developing business intelligence solutions with PowerBI, and automating business processes with Power Automate. His business intelligence projects have helped organisations automate manual reporting by bringing together data from disparate sources, reducing workload and errors, as well as uncovering new, transformational insights. His business process work has resulted in significant cost savings by automating time consuming manual processes, allowing teams to focus on more interesting work that delivers greater value to the business. Paul is a certified Microsoft Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate and a Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst Associate.

Philip
Associate Principal Consultant

Philip is a senior IT professional, experienced in leadership positions such as IT Director / Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO). He has a particular focus on technology strategy, architecture and consultancy. Adapta clients have included Asthma UK, Cranstoun, Earthwatch, Enham Trust, the Labour Party, Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation, Lymphoma Action, the Mental Health Foundation, NSPCC, PCS Union, Pony Club UK, SignHealth, the Royal Society, the Trussell Trust and the Woodland Trust. Commercial experience included senior management roles at Sopra Steria and its public-private joint venture Shared Services Connected Ltd (SSCL), 2012-2016. Before that (2003-2012), Philip provided IT leadership as a senior civil servant in the Ministry of Justice (CTO) and the National Offender Management Service (CIO). Earlier, as Technical Director, Philip led the European professional services team for Software.com (later known as Openwave), specialising in email software, following a similar role with HP Consulting. He has travelled widely and worked overseas in the Americas, Europe and Asia, including having lived for three years in India as a British Council officer. Philip has significant experience at board level in both commercial and voluntary organisations, as non-executive director, charity trustee and chairman. Philip was previously Chair of Trustees at Eduserv, a not-for-profit IT services business. Philip has held numerous voluntary roles within the Church of England and the United Reformed Church, from local to national levels. He has advised both the Alzheimers' Society and the Church of England on IT strategy, information security, programme delivery and organisational design, on a voluntary basis. He has also been a school governor in both the UK and in India, and served as the chair of trustees for Hands of Compassion, supporting primary education in Zambia. Philip read Natural Sciences and Mathematics (MA MMath) at the University of Cambridge. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors, a Fellow of the British Computer Society and a Member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (FIoD FBCS MIET).

Sian
Digital Marketing Associate

With a passion for driving business growth and fostering strategic success, Sian is a seasoned professional renowned for strategic planning and digital marketing strategy, and has a particular passion for data, systems and numbers. Over 15 years, Sian has collaborated with a diverse range of businesses, from start-ups to established organisations, delivering transformative strategies and actionable plans that drive business development and growth. Sian has a proven track record of implementing business growth strategies, launching successful marketing projects and orchestrating performance turnarounds in a multitude of industries including not-for-profit, finance, healthcare, trades and automotive. Sian possesses an acute ability to engage stakeholders and apply her experience and knowledge to craft tailored strategies that capitalise on opportunities and mitigate risks for digital technologies and marketing. With a particular talent for developing strong client relationships, and bringing experience with building high-performing teams and innovative problem-solving, Sian combines an analytical approach with a keen eye for detail, consistently delivering results that exceed expectations. Among her notable achievements, in last year alone Sian has spearheaded 9 start-up strategies, complying with Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) requirements that have garnered more than £1.5M in external investment to help small businesses start their growth and development journey. Translating complex visions into actionable plans, navigating challenges, and steering businesses toward sustainable success, Sian has an unwavering commitment to excellence and a collaborative approach. Alongside consulting and coaching, Sian is a mentor on the UK Government’s ‘Help to Grow’ programme, whilst being an associated member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Association of Business Mentors.

Suzy
Change Delivery Associate

Suzy is a supportive, reliable, innovative and versatile project management and change management professional with strategic and operational experience in both private and not-for-profit sectors. She has worked with not-for-profit organisations for 15 years and in project management for over 20 years. Suzy’s specialties include project and change management, mentoring and coaching, business analysis, workshop facilitation, influencing and stakeholder management, system implementation, team management, communication, risk management, strategic planning, agile development, lean thinking, training, material development, and translating IT terminology into accessible language. Suzy started her career in the charity sector with the British Red Cross International Division to successfully manage a complex change programme to provide an efficient, accessible and effective way to manage the division’s information and support the project cycle methodology. This led to working for a Swedish IT consulting company to expand on what we’d developed, and deliver a streamlined efficient programme and information management system to many not-for-profit organisations facing similar challenges. Suzy has extensive experience of International not-for-profit organisations, having worked with a wide range of clients to provide robust, accessible and intuitive solutions. These included organisations such as UK based World Vision UK and ActionAid International; North American based Heifer International, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and Canadian Red Cross; Swiss based Solidar Suisse and Swiss Red Cross, and Australia based Australian Red Cross and Oxfam Australia. Suzy continues to leverage her skills and experience to make a positive impact in the not-for-profit sector. She remains committed to helping organisations thrive through coaching and mentoring, driving innovation and fostering a culture of collaboration and supported improvement.

Angelina
IT Service Management Associate

Angelina is passionate about the third sector and has actively supported and volunteered for charities such as Marie Curie, DogsTrust, HARP Southend, I CAN, Alzheimer's Society and Pancreatic Cancer UK. As a leader within the IT sector, having worked in the industry for approx. 20 years, Angelina has gained skills and experience with digital technology derived from designing new services, leading change projects, and delivering managed services. She has supported business growth, fostered client relationships and driven engagement with third-party service providers. Angelina has provided advisory services to C-level stakeholders to develop strategies and enabled clients to deliver services for transformation programmes. With a background in outsourcing and consulting, Angelina has been responsible for teams delivering managed services. She is also an I.T Service Management (ITSM) SME with delivery, transformation and design experience for FTSE 100 and global clients, specialising in UK Public Sector accounts. Angelina has provided advisory services to senior client stakeholders with the Public Sector to help develop their service strategies and delivery support for transformation programmes/projects. Angelina has undertaken roles in service architecture to design and transition new services into early capability SIAM (Service Integration and Management) models and fulfilled capability gaps to integrate new service providers for business-critical IT services. She has been responsible for developing service and technical strategy, defining interim and future state operating models incorporating COTS, SaaS and Cloud-based solutions. Angelina is particularly experienced in the following areas: • Team management and project delivery • Developing service roadmaps and strategies • Reviewing live services and identifying recommendations for service improvement initiatives • Defining process and tool requirements • Developing conceptual/logical architecture for services • Developing service offerings & performance schedules (SLAs/KPIs).

Anthony
Data Specialist Associate

Anthony, a seasoned expert with nearly 20 years in the charity sector, began his journey as a dynamic database marketing manager at an international development charity. There, he spearheaded the transformation of their Raiser’s Edge database into a powerful fundraising and marketing tool, driving significant improvements in business processes, user training, and data analysis. Anthony's expertise extends into data integration, training, software development, analytics, and direct mail. This diverse skill set ensures a comprehensive approach to data-driven decision-making and supporter engagement. Anthony now specialises in analytics, empowering fundraisers to unlock the full potential of their data. His innovative strategies and insights help organisations understand their data better, enabling more effective fundraising and supporter engagement. Anthony's passion for data and commitment to the charity sector come together to deliver unparalleled value and transformative results.

Duncan
Fundraising Databases Associate

Duncan has been helping not-for-profits to make the most from their investment in database systems, since he first started working as an independent consultant in 2012. Originally specialising in The Raiser’s Edge, he has also worked with many other CRM products including ThankQ, Salesforce and Beacon. His database career started in 2003, when he unwittingly took over the managing of a Raiser’s Edge installation almost before he’d ever heard of it. That was an early and steep learning curve, but he’s never been one to shy away from a challenge. Along the way, he has become increasingly involved in related areas, such as advising on fundraising campaigns and strategies and mentoring up and coming database managers. His key focus has always been on keeping things as simple as possible and ensuring that the database works for the team and not the other way around. Additionally, he often employs creative, cost-effective methods to help organisations that find themselves in a situation where their database really isn’t working for the team and where they might be considering a migration to a new system. In such situations, he has a variety of tools and approaches that can help you get the best out of the database in a slightly different way. Outside of his database consultancy work, Duncan also runs a specialist creative production company, helping his clients to engage their customers with storytelling in the form of video.

Emily
Records Management, Data Protection & Information Security Associate

With over 20 years of experience across the full records lifecycle, I am passionate about helping organisations understand the real value of their records and information. Too often, records are overlooked—but when managed properly, they can transform compliance, efficiency, and resilience. Known in the industry as the Records Management Girl, I now work as an independent associate, supporting organisations of all sizes with practical, no-nonsense advice. Living with multiple chronic health conditions has reshaped the way I work, but it hasn’t diminished my drive to make information management accessible, effective, and impactful. Specialisms include: • Information Asset Registers • Offsite Storage Contracts & Content Audits • BS10008:2014 & Scanning Standards • Global Retention Schedules & Policies • GDPR, Data Protection & DUAA • EDRMS & Systems Implementation • Contract & Risk Management • Information Audits & Gap Analysis Most recently, I’ve been pioneering Fractional Data Protection services—a flexible model for organisations that don’t require or can’t resource a full-time specialist, but still need expert guidance and assurance.

James
Fractional CIO and IT Strategy Associate

James is a senior IT executive focusing on the development and implementation of innovative IT strategies in support of organisational growth and change. He spent 20 years in large corporates such as the Warner Music Group, where he led the International team responsible for the business process re-engineering, systems design and application build supporting the transition of The Warner Music Group from a physical product production and sales organisation to being able to successfully function in the emerging digital music market. As the IT Director for Bunzl UK and Ireland he led the adoption of digital technology in support of logistical operations and business analytics, the selection, design and implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and the transition to cloud-based infrastructure and applications. In 2016 he set up his own consultancy providing guidance to ambitious small to medium businesses on the optimal use of digital technology in support of their business strategies. In 2019 he moved into the INGO sector to lead a global, technology driven transformation programme at Plan International (a global children’s charity), where he drove the design, development and implementation of standardised reporting and project management applications for field-based teams and the design and development of an organisation wide implementation of the Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP system. Following this he took responsibility for the enterprise architecture of the organisation to ensure the fit for purpose and value of all IT solutions. James is an innovative technologist able to develop IT strategies in support of complex business needs. Beyond strategic development he is able to lead the identification and development of appropriate solutions and drive their successful implementation. His areas of functional expertise lie in financial/grants management, outcome reporting, project management, enterprise resource planning, logistics and business analytics.

Jenny
Finance and HR Specialist Associate

Jenny is an accomplished consultant and interim leader with a career spanning over three decades in finance, project management, HR/payroll transformation, and systems implementation. A Chartered Management Accountant (FCMA, CGMA) and Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute, Jenny brings a unique blend of strategic vision and hands-on operational delivery to organisations navigating change. Specialising in complex transformation programmes, Jenny has led projects across a diverse range of sectors including local government, housing, healthcare, higher education, technology start-ups, and the charity sector. Her expertise lies in delivering integrated solutions that align business processes with modern finance, HR, and payroll systems—empowering organisations to achieve sustainable operational improvements. Her project portfolio includes end-to-end ERP implementations, shared service integrations, and functional leadership roles supporting HR and finance transformations. Jenny is highly experienced in managing cross-functional teams, facilitating stakeholder engagement, and driving continuous improvement using PRINCE2 and Agile methodologies. Recent highlights include: • Leading the full cycle HR, Payroll, and Finance system implementation for Everyturn Mental Health, overseeing system selection, procurement, project governance, and change delivery. • Providing fractional Finance Director services to multiple social enterprises. Jenny’s adaptable, empathetic style enables her to mentor teams through change, build confidence in systems adoption, and deliver results under pressure. Her reputation for integrity, clarity, and capability has resulted in multiple re-engagements with both public and private sector clients. Outside of consulting, Jenny is an active volunteer and trustee, committed to giving back through mentoring, governance roles, and community involvement. Her blend of technical knowledge, strategic insight, and compassionate leadership makes her a valuable partner for organisations seeking impactful transformation in finance, HR, and operations.

John
Enterprise Architecture Associate

Chartered IT Professional and TOGAF 9.1 Certified Enterprise Architect with an MBA in Technology Management, BSc (Hons) in Computer Science and over 20 years’ experience of providing the “glue” that combines people, process and technology to deliver business value. Extensive experience of technical, solution, enterprise and product architecture. John is used to operating in a global environment, where technology often plays a mission critical role. A key strength is his ability to rapidly assimilate, filter, digest and extract insight from large amounts of new information. This has enabled him to work successfully across a range of industries including telco, ISP, system integrator, media, oil and gas exploration, finance and payments industries – from start-ups to large corporates. Further John is Zachman trained and certified in COBIT 5, ITIL v3 and PRINCE2; a specialist in setting up and operating architecture and governance processes and deploying tools/repositories. He has a substantial track record of aligning business and IT strategy, architecting complex and innovative technology transformations and providing appropriate governance. He is used to leading projects using both in-house personnel and out-sourced consultancy teams with a track record of building positive and productive collaborative relationships with diverse stakeholders at all levels. John is also a graduate of the Cranfield IT Leadership Programme.

Jon
Fractional CIO Associate

Jon is a dynamic technology leader with over 15 years of experience in scaling operations and delivering large-scale, complex digital transformation projects. Combining deep technical expertise with strategic commercial insight, Jon excels in aligning technology solutions with business goals to drive growth and operational excellence. He has successfully led IT infrastructure transformation projects, cloud migrations, and strategic product development initiatives. His work includes establishing robust ICT governance frameworks, optimizing IT service delivery, and steering cloud transitions to Azure, enhancing scalability and security. Previously, Jon founded and led Octopus Travel Matrix, a global SaaS company in the tour and events industry, guiding it from startup to a profitable exit. His entrepreneurial leadership encompassed product development, DevOps, and global business operations. As CIO of Aerartis, Jon ensured compliance with rigorous industry standards (ISO, IATA, FCA) and played a pivotal role in securing venture capital funding, leading investor presentations, and scaling service operations to support rapid growth. Jon is also the CEO and Owner of Octopus Computers, where he transformed a regional IT support provider into a leading Managed Service Provider (MSP). Under his leadership, the company secured key partnerships with Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Dell, and HP, delivering over 400 successful infrastructure and migration projects and supporting clients in achieving critical compliance certifications. Jon's early career includes significant operational achievements in the automotive sector as Operations Manager at Auto-Kit International, where he streamlined production efficiency and secured major contracts with industry leaders like Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin. Jon is recognized for his ability to bridge the gap between technical execution and business strategy, making him an invaluable asset to organizations seeking transformative growth through technology.

Jon
IT Service Management & Delivery Associate

Jon is a passionate ITIL qualified service management leader with over 35 years of experience across private and government sectors. He specialises in IT Service Management (ITSM), combining strategic leadership with practical expertise to deliver solutions that meet business needs. Jon is experienced in Service Strategy, Design, Transitions, and Service Transformations – taking a full lifecycle approach across multiple technology stacks, including cloud, applications and infrastructure. He is also a ‘Community of Practice’ leader for Service Level and Performance Management, Supplier and Vendor relationship management. Jon’s areas of expertise include: • Service Management and Delivery. • Process design and implementation. • IT Service Management lifecycles. • Transitions, internal resourcing, managed service providers and technology partners. • RFP and supplier selections. • Service level and performance management. Jon spent 5 years in WPP, the largest creative agency in the world developing and growing the D2D capability. Prior to this, circa 20 years in consulting and contracting, working in service delivery and transition roles at Vodafone, MM02, and within Central Government and Defence. He has deep experience in digital transformation and SAFE Agile environments. Jon’s recent not-for-profit sector clients include the Pilgrims’ Friend Society, offering service management leadership and helping their managed services partner to deliver a Cyber Essentials project; the British Medical Association, supporting a comprehensive procurement governance review; and Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation, providing coaching and strategic-level support to the IT function.

Katharine
Digital Projects and CRM Associate

Katharine is a highly experienced digital strategist with nearly two decades of experience leading digital, marketing, and supporter engagement programmes across the charity, utility, and cultural sectors. Passionate about helping non-profits maximise the impact of their digital channels and systems, she blends deep technical understanding with strategic vision to deliver tangible outcomes. Katharine began her career as digital technologies were gaining traction, giving her a strong foundation in adapting to – and capitalising on – evolving platforms, systems, and supporter behaviours. She excels at bridging the gap between technical specialists and business stakeholders, ensuring that digital transformation is not only effective but also inclusive and sustainable. Her ability to navigate complex organisational contexts, build strong teams, and champion a culture of data-led decision-making has made her a trusted advisor to charities and membership organisations. Katharine’s track record includes leading CRM strategy and implementation projects, managing high-value procurement exercises, and overseeing website rebuilds, app launches, and marketing automation initiatives. She has held senior leadership roles, including at Practical Action, where she led a 16-person team across digital, data and supporter experience functions, helping the organisation process over £10m in donations annually and deliver audience-led campaigns informed by data insights. As a consultant, Katharine continues to support charities such as SpecialEffect and Riders for the Disabled Association. Her recent work includes managing a full Microsoft Dynamics CRM implementation, supporting digital infrastructure reviews, and facilitating strategic planning with fundraising and communications teams. Her skillset spans business requirements gathering, digital channel optimisation, stakeholder engagement, user journey design, and compliance – including data protection and fundraising standards. She also brings hands-on capabilities in tools such as Power BI, SQL, and analytics platforms, and she is qualified in PRINCE2 project management and digital marketing through the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Manoj
Cyber Security Associate

Manoj is focussed on helping all companies of all sizes in being more cyber security prepared. Recognising that cyber security costs can spiral, Manoj specialises to supporting companies understand where to better spend their money, yet protecting them from the ever increasing cyber security threats. Manoj has more than 20 years’ experience in the cyber security industry. In 2021, he was named as one of the top performing cyber security leaders due to his wide range of engagements and services to the cyber security community and businesses. Manoj has been a judge for the CSO30 awards for the past three years and regularly speaks at cyber security conferences advising some of the top cyber security leaders on which cyber security investments they should consider for their businesses. Manoj’s broad experience in establishing cyber security functions across Telstra in EMEA and Sopra Steria in the UK means Manoj has a wide range of experience across a variety of cyber security domains. Manoj specialises in providing cyber security assessments and strategies to businesses so they can make the most out of their cyber security investments while addressing the risks and threats that affect them.

Marcus
Service Transformation and Innovation Associate

Marcus is an experienced transformation and service design leader with over 25 years of driving successful outcomes in low and high-maturity environments. A specialist in establishing new processes and teams at both project and portfolio levels, Marcus is known for blending strategic foresight, research, emerging tech, and human-centred design to solve complex challenges and drive measurable impact. Marcus has a particularly high level of expertise in new technologies, journey management and platforms and their deployments to enable, or with service design processes in order to improve, business value and outcomes. With a proven track record across sectors – corporate, start up and public sector – Marcus has worked with major clients such as HSBC, BP, Astra Zeneca, Nationwide, Nissan, NHS, WPP and many others. He is also a trusted facilitator, transformation advisor and author/speaker on organisations change and innovation.

Mark
Data Protection and Information Security Associate

Mark began his career in stage and theatre management, working in commercial and subsidised theatre. He held a number of roles in the arts funding sector including Head of National Touring and then Director of Business Process for Arts Council England. Following the Arts Council, Mark spent nearly seven years at Comic Relief, firstly as Head of Grants Operations, then Head of Business Planning and Process and for a short period as Director of Operations. At Comic Relief Mark was the Designated Safeguarding Lead and the Data Protection Officer. The GDPR compliance programme (co-designed with colleague Liz Curry) won the Best GDPR Programme and Grand Prix winner in DataIQ’s Talent Awards in 2017. After leaving Comic Relief, Mark clients have included Barnardo’s, Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, Be the Business, Hyphen8, Wellcome Trust and Marie Curie. Mark has been a school governor and has held directorships and trusteeships in a number of not-for profit arts organisations and is currently the Chair of trustees of We Are Family, a peer-to-peer adoption support charity, Chair of The Blue Tangerine Charity that supports a federation of SEND schools and Vice Chair of Trustees of the Mercury Theatre Colchester. Mark has more than 20 years strategic leadership and management experience in the charity sector. He has extensive experience and practical knowledge of charity regulation and governance, and of leading strategic business planning; efficiency and transformation projects; team leadership; policy and process development and implementation; grant-making; data protection; and IT system implementation.

Matt
CRM and Programmes Associate

Matt is a project and programme delivery consultant with extensive experience in digital transformation, Dynamics 365 and change management. Over 10+ years, he has delivered and recovered major CRM, ERP and membership-system programmes across not-for-profit, professional services and commercial sectors. He specialises in stabilising complex or failing projects by resetting governance, managing vendors, leading data migration and testing, and ensuring business readiness for go-live. Recent engagements include the recovery of a £1M+ D365 programme for a membership organisation and delivery of a multi-system platform supporting thousands of training providers and members. Matt’s clients value his calm, structured approach and ability to translate technical issues into clear business decisions. He brings both strategic perspective and hands-on delivery expertise to ensure digital programmes achieve their intended outcomes. Working with Adapta, Matt supports organisations in shaping practical digital strategies, strengthening programme delivery and embedding lasting improvements in technology, process and capability.

Nicole
Data Governance Associate

Nicole has worked in data governance for over 10 years and more recently she has been working independently as an associate. She has extensive experience of implementing data governance frameworks (defining policies, processes and roles/responsibilities) and also working with data owners to define requirements for master data management systems (namely SAP MDG and S4 HANA) to support data governance processes. Nicole also has experience and a keen interest in all aspects of data quality and helping organisations to identify their pain points and turn these around to achieve value from their data - so much so that she was a technical reviewer for a Data Quality book recently. Nicole started out her career as a Business Analyst in various industries (pharma, health and fitness and telecoms), helping to drive business process improvements and acting as an intermediary between business and IT teams. She subsequently transitioned into the field of data governance where she worked on a large business transformation programme and she played a key role in implementing data governance on a global level. This was a long-term programme of work where the data governance elements evolved over time, guided by business changes and technical advances. Nicole recognises the importance of developing a strong data culture in order for data governance initiatives to be successful and her business analysis background has helped provide the people skills needed to liaise with stakeholders at all levels and to be able to work with both business and technical resources. One of Nicole’s key strengths is being able to act as an advisor to people who may or may not be data focussed and helping to them to identify their data vision and guide them on how they can apply data governance to achieve value from their data.

Norm
IT Service Delivery Associate

Norm is a delivery and outcome-based specialist with the successes and scars of a long career in Change, Digital and Transformation management, strategy development and delivery, and building high performing teams across dispersed geographies. Norm’s career covers a variety of sectors and both technology and non-technology leading programmes through outsourcing and consulting for WPP, Capita, Virgin Media as well as engagements with Local and Central Government Agencies. Having worked at Global, European and National levels, across sectors such as Media, Telecoms, Utilities, Civil Service, Healthcare and the Environment, Norm's skill set is broad and highly transferable, enabling him to maximise early and ongoing value generation during change initiatives in any industry. Norm is laser-focused and customer-centric with strong partner engagement and genuine operational awareness. To guarantee in-time, on-target delivery, he puts in place best-practice processes alongside robust risk management protocol and controls. His experience and intuitive skills enable him to rapidly respond to difficulties and keep even the most problematic programme on track. With an engaging management style, Norm is equally as comfortable in the boardroom as well as down in the detail.

Ruth
Microsoft 365 and Knowledge Management Associate

Ruth is an experienced Microsoft Certified Trainer and a Teamwork specialist who has been working on implementing collaboration technologies to help clients with adoption and roll out of new technologies. An Information Technology industry professional with 25 years of experience in both commercial and not-for-profit sectors. Ruth's areas of expertise include training and consulting on Microsoft 365 cloud products, business analysis, migration to cloud platforms and helping clients make the most of their IT investments. Having worked on a broad range of projects and with many different organisations, Ruth would like to bring her skills and experience from commercial sector to help not-for-profit organisations to achieve their mission and objectives. She is passionate about delivering value to organisations that have direct impact on people's lives and well-being. Ruth has worked with a number of charities and not-for-profit organisations including Housing associations, disabled and mental health organisations, as well councils over the past 10-15 years and has recently been working on an Office 365 based implementing for a local mental health charity. In her own time Ruth is a chair and trustee of a local charity and is very active in her local community.

Steve
IT Security, Risk & Compliance Associate

Steve began his interest in IT when he gate-crashed a school computer class, where he found it interesting so he signed up to an O-level course learning to program using punched paper-tape! After repeating the course, with some extra items, he obtained his A level and degree in Computer Studies and went on to work for ICL, being part of the ICL Health team developing applications for the NHS. Ten years at ICL and he decided to set up his own business and went freelance, working on projects for local and central government, and many utility companies, including being part of the architecture team for BT's five 1,000 seat call centres handing the "Friends and Family" project in the mid 90's; and being part of the start-up business that became 118118 in the early 2000's. More recently Steve has concentrated on the Information Security aspects of the organisations, finding his 40 years of IT experience a great benefit when dealing with today's IT environments. Since 2014 Steve has been involved in Information Security and the ISO27001 standard, having achieved over 20 successful certifications in that time. The approach he uses is to keep it simple so that staff understand the requirements and what they need to do, without the jargon and waffle. Steve also has considerable experience of Business Continuity Planning, having recently assisted organisations such as the Aquaculture Stewardship Council with ensuring the resilience of their operations and infrastructure. Steve has been a full member of the British Computer Society (BCS) since 1987, a Chartered Engineer (C.Eng) since 1995, Chartered Information Technology Professional (CITP) since 2004, a member of the Chartered Institute of Information Security (CIISec) since 2015 and a Core member of Cyber Wales since 2015. In his spare time he is involved with the local branches of Cancer Research, Talking Newspapers, Rotary and is a founder member of Electric Vehicle Association of Wales.