Yes: CIOs have moved into COO roles in UK organisations, sometimes taking on broad business operations while retaining technology leadership. A CIO UK feature published on 13 August 2020 documented examples—but it is a historical roster, not a current directory, and it does not show how common the move is.
What the CIO-to-COO move can look like
The title “COO” does not describe one fixed job. The examples in CIO UK’s 2020 feature range from leaders who took on wider operations while keeping technology in their remit to executives appointed jointly as COO and CIO or CTO. Some profiles describe related technology-and-operations routes rather than a direct CIO-to-COO promotion.
That distinction matters: becoming COO may mean taking responsibility for functions such as customer service, procurement, supply chain, sales and marketing, or physical operations. In other organisations, technology remains a substantial part of the combined role. The feature illustrates possibilities, not a standard career path or proof that CIO experience alone prepares someone for every COO remit.
Direct moves from CIO into COO responsibilities
The following examples are reported by CIO UK’s feature, published 13 August 2020. They describe appointments at the time and should not be read as statements of current employment.
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- Rosie Slater-Carr: After more than five years as CIO at the British Red Cross, she became COO for the Church of England national institutions in August 2020. She described CIO skills in leading innovation and understanding the organisational value of data and technology as increasingly relevant to a COO’s broader remit. CIO UK’s feature quotes her as saying that a COO has “a broader canvas.”
- Kelly Olsen: Before becoming SThree chief operations officer in April 2020, she was group CIO at RPS Group. The feature says her new responsibilities included global technology and operations.
- Alison FitzGerald: She joined London City Airport as CIO in January 2014 and became COO in October 2016. Her remit covered terminal and airfield operations as well as technology.
- Patrick Eltridge: After CIO roles at Telstra and RBS Group, he became Nationwide COO in February 2019.
- Richard Warner: He was LV= CIO from January 2011 and became COO in February 2017.
- Dan Fiehn: Markerstudy made its CIO COO in July 2018. The feature describes his earlier work establishing a group technology function, but its reported growth figures lack enough context in the available account to use as a meaningful measure.
- Claudette Jones: She moved from CIO at the City of Edinburgh Council to interim COO at National Records of Scotland in October 2018.
- Andy Haywood: After joining N Brown as CIO and head of business change in 2014, he became COO in February 2016. The feature says his remit included customer service and creative functions, as well as technology and business change.
- Chris Taylor: The Telegraph Media Group CIO, previously CIO at News UK, took on COO responsibilities in July 2013 while continuing to lead IT operations.
Combined roles and broader technology-and-operations routes
Other profiles show why it is useful to look beyond a simple “CIO, then COO” sequence. In these cases, the executive held a joint remit, came from a related technology leadership role, or had operations experience at another point in their career.
- Rob Harding: He became Capital One CIO in July 2010 and chief operations and technology officer in August 2017.
- Albert Hitchcock: The feature says he moved from Vodafone CIO to Pearson CIO in February 2014, then became COO and CTO in January 2016. His responsibilities spanned technology, digital product development, supply chain, procurement, customer service, and real estate.
- John Saffrett: Before becoming COO at ALD Automotive in May 2017, he had CIO responsibilities as global chief administration officer. His subsequent remit included sales, marketing, product development, innovation, and technology.
- Andrew Dowsett: PA Group appointed its CTO COO in May 2014; he retained responsibility for technology and data operations.
- Kim Hammonds: The former Deutsche Bank CIO moved to COO in November 2015 and became co-head of group technology and operations. CIO UK reported that she left the role in May 2018.
- Chris Corrado: London Stock Exchange Group appointed him COO and CIO in November 2015. The feature later reported his move to Sitehands as CEO in July 2020.
- Matt Quinn: TIBCO’s CTO and executive vice president of products and technology became COO in January 2018.
- Jackson Hull: GoCompare’s chief operating and technology officer took on COO responsibilities in November 2017. The feature says he later became CIO and CTO at OakNorth Platform.
- Jacqueline King: The feature described her as DLA Piper COO from October 2017, after earlier operations and technology leadership at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and GE–NBC Universal. It presents a broader technology-and-operations background, not an explicitly stated CIO-to-COO switch.
- Fraser Ingram: His experience included COO and CTO roles at Kleinwort Benson and RBS, plus an innovation and change director role at CYBG. This is a mixed operations, technology, and change path rather than a straightforward CIO-to-COO promotion.
- Sarah Wilkinson: Virgin Money’s official announcement named her incoming COO, moving from Thomson Reuters, where she was CIO and Head of TR Labs. It also cited CIO roles at Credit Suisse, UBS, Deutsche Bank, and Lehman Brothers. The announcement is an additional appointment example, separate from CIO UK’s 2020 roster; its publication date is not stated here. Virgin Money’s appointment announcement.
Examples that show a different sequence
Several profiles in the 2020 feature are relevant to technology and operations leadership but do not establish a direct CIO-to-COO move at the organisation named.
- Morteza Mahjour: He had COO experience as chief information and operations officer at Royal Bank of Canada, then served as Lloyds Banking Group CIO from August 2014 to November 2017. That is a reverse or combined-career example, not a move from CIO to COO at Lloyds.
- Kevin Murray: The feature identifies him as AXA UK Group COO and CIO from October 2011, a combined-role example.
- Mike Young: Centrica CIO Mike Young had earlier been COO at the UK Post Office from 2008, illustrating a COO-to-CIO sequence.
What the examples tell a reader considering the transition
The profiles suggest that technology leadership can be part of a COO’s background, but the job change is fundamentally about the scope of responsibility. FitzGerald’s airport remit, for example, included terminal and airfield operations; Hitchcock’s Pearson role covered functions from supply chain to customer service; and Olsen’s SThree role combined global operations and technology. Other executives kept technology and data operations alongside a broader title.
For someone assessing a possible move, the useful question is not whether “CIO to COO” is a logical promotion in general, but what the specific organisation expects its COO to run. The 2020 feature offers no market-wide transition rate, and its collection of profiles cannot establish how often CIOs become COOs or whether the route is typical.
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- Author: Bungay Stanier, Michael.
- Publisher: Page Two
- Pages: 244
- Publication Date: 2016-02-29
- Edition: 1
How current is the list?
CIO UK published its feature on 13 August 2020. It is useful as a dated record of appointments and career sequences, but it cannot establish where the people listed work today. Check current company biographies or official announcements before relying on any individual’s present title.
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