I’ve been with Fluid for almost five years, progressing through several roles and I’m now Head of Project Delivery. In this position, I help to ensure the projects are set up with the right resources and skill sets, and oversee the delivery of projects so that the desired benefit and outcomes are achieved for our clients. It is important that we don’t lose sight of these outcomes and remain within scope and budgets. I’m still working hands-on with program management and my responsibility to oversee our Project Managers, and every project that we take on, to ensure consistent, high-quality delivery. 

We work with small to medium-sized businesses and we’re solution agnostic, meaning we will only recommend the solutions that we believe will make an impact and deliver the right outcome. There’s no hidden agenda to push a particular solution, we don’t take referral fees from any of these partners, in fact, if offered, we have a policy to donate these fees to charity. We are also industry agnostic, so that means I’m exposed to a wide mix of sectors and I’m learning every day how different organisations run. I rely on my experience, but there’s still plenty to learn, which I think is a real positive. 

I began my career at Halifax Bank of Scotland in Leeds. I spent ten years there, which gave me a lot of experience in how highly governed large corporate organisations operate, it gave me a good upbringing in terms of what good looks like in projects. I quickly moved into a project capacity. We were bringing in a new system and my responsibility was to help with the adoption of the new system. Since then, I have been working on various projects in ‘new system’ related roles. A lot of my work has focused on the business side of change, but over time I’ve taken on increasingly technical responsibilities, including more hands-on IT roles. Altogether, I’ve been doing this for about 20 years. I was at Lloyds Banking Group for about 10 years, then joined Hermes (now Evri) for four years before taking a leap to become self-employed, where I took on some contract work with Morrisons supermarket, which was a great experience.

Do you have any key qualifications? 

For me, learning comes more from the day-to-day work than from textbooks, although I earned a degree in Business Studies and Marketing from Sheffield Hallam University. I’ve gained the core practitioner qualifications that support project management, including Lean Six Sigma. I’ve also completed a range of leadership and business courses over the years, but I think what matters more is having a genuine growth mindset and a willingness to keep learning.  

One of the most memorable projects for me was working on the Halifax migration during the move into Lloyds Banking Group. At the time, it was the largest banking migration in Europe. I was still early in my career, so being part of something on that scale had a significant impact on my professional development. Having that experience on my CV opened doors for me and helped me move into new roles. 

Another big moment was deciding to move from a permanent role into contracting. It felt like a risk at the time, but securing my contract with Morrisons proved it was the right move as it gave me a huge insight into delivering technical projects within a highly governed environment. 

At a senior leadership level, the challenges can be the perceived cost versus the value to implement. IT can be expensive, particularly if not adopted well, so it’s really getting leadership teams to understand that, in order to get the best outcomes, you need to dedicate time and money to it and if you set yourself up with the right approach, then anything is possible, no matter how complex the change is. It also really depends on people’s appetite for change. Some are open to it, while others prefer their current way of working. It’s about being clear on ‘what’s in it for them’, if someone can see that a change will help them to do their job better, free up their time or allow them to be more efficient and more creative, they’re usually more willing to get on board. 

For me, it’s all about ensuring that people understand the change that is happening and can see the benefits from the start. The challenge is that some people, based on their past experience or lack of education around the topic, may be sceptical of, or reluctant to, change. Others may have used a system in the past and had a poor experience, which can come down to it not being implemented properly rather than the system itself. 

A couple of years ago, when some of the former directors left and our CEO, Gareth, made the decision to rebuild Fluid into what it is today, we were at a crossroads. Gareth, and a small group of us decided to take that journey as we believed in the vision for Fluid. I am so proud of what we have achieved through passion, hard-work and grit. We all believed in what Fluid could be and it’s fantastic to be living that now.  

Since then, we’ve grown our revenue and we’re in a strong position to support more clients coming on board.  

It’s a great achievement, but we’re not going to stop there. We’re hungry, passionate and ambitious about continuing Fluid’s growth. 

What is the best piece of business advice you’ve ever been given? 

‘Don’t be defined by your role title’ as sometimes, particularly in small businesses like ours, we need people to be flexible and adaptable to provide clients with the best service possible and that may mean going outside of your comfort zone slightly in order to achieve this. Recruitment is key because our people are our product and making sure we get the right people in is key. As a result, we are really picky on that process. Don’t employ good, employ great. We don’t stop until we find a great individual. To drive your business forward, the help of the right people is invaluable. 

I simply love doing what I do. I’m passionate about it and I enjoy the people side of it. They motivate me, they’re like a charger. If I need to up my energy levels, people tend to do that. Fluid is a genuinely great place to work with great people supporting each and every one of us, so it does feel like a family business most of the time and we don’t want to dilute that feeling as we grow. 

What do you like to do outside of work? 

I play a variety of sports – tennis, paddle tennis, cricket and football, which I also coach. Outside of sports, I love music, I used to do a bit of DJing, and I still have my vinyl and turntables. 

If you could eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be? 

For my starter, I would pick Peking aromatic duck pancakes, I love that. For my main course, I would go for Chateaubriand or a fillet steak and a glass of beer or red wine. My pudding would have to be chocolate based. Something like a chocolate fudge cake!  

To meet more of the team members who ensure your project is a success, explore here.