Shop Direct appoints former Sky Betting and Gaming CTO to executive board

Shop Direct, the UK’s largest integrated pureplay digital retailer and credit provider, has appointed former Sky Betting and Gaming chief technology officer (CTO) Andy Burton to its executive board in the role of group CTO. He will join the business in May 2019 and report to the company’s group CEO Henry Birch.

Andy will join Shop Direct from The Stars Group, a global leader in online gaming, where he became a director following the company’s merger with Sky Betting and Gaming in 2018. Over a nine-year period at Sky Betting and Gaming in roles including CTO and director of technology, Andy transformed the technology team, growing headcount 40-fold to 700 and helping the company become the UK’s largest online gaming operator by number of customers. He established the business’ in-house development capabilities and introduced new ways of working, including agile engineering and lean product development. Andy also shaped a team capable of releasing code hundreds of times per week to improve the customer experience. In his new role, Andy will lead Shop Direct’s 275-strong technology team as it continues to transform its technology and platforms.

Continuing its investment in technology leadership, Shop Direct has promoted former head of IT architecture and engineering Karl Wintrell to the position of technology director, responsible for data science and strategy, and tech engineering and architecture. Karl has been with Shop Direct for almost six years, and played a central role in defining the company’s technology plans and delivering IT change to support its ongoing digital transformation. Interim CTO JM Domaingue will also take up the role of technology director, leading technology operations including information security. Karl and JM will report to Andy, and jointly oversee the technology team prior to his arrival.

Henry Birch, group CEO, said: “Technology underpins everything we do at Shop Direct. It helps us deliver the online experience and end-to-end journey that keeps our customers coming back to Very and Littlewoods time and time again. It was always our ambition to appoint a heavy-hitting CTO to our board and Andy certainly fits the bill.

“He has unrivalled experience of improving performance and customer experience through technology and new ways of working. With the support of Karl and JM, who are exceptional leaders, I am confident that Andy will continue to transform our technology capabilities, deliver the platforms we need to support our ongoing growth and be a vital member of our executive board.”

Andy Burton commented: “Shop Direct is hugely ambitious and has a track record in delivering successful transformation through tech. The business has achieved so much in a short time but there’s still a lot of work to do. I’m delighted to have the opportunity to be part of the next chapter. The best technology innovation, culture and talent will play a massive part in that.”

Andy’s appointment to Shop Direct’s executive board follows the recent promotion of Sarah Willett to the position of group people director and the arrival of Tommy Jordan as financial services CEO.

ENDS

CONTACT INFORMATION

Media enquiries

Shop Direct

Dave Lafferty     07552 283266

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Eilis Murphy     0207 404 5959
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Shop Direct

David Fletcher     david.fletcher@shopdirect.com

ABOUT SHOP DIRECT

As the UK’s largest integrated pureplay digital retailer and financial services provider, Shop Direct has annual sales of £1.96 billion. Our brands are Very.co.uk, Littlewoods.com and LittlewoodsIreland.ie. We receive an average of more than 1.4 million website visits every day, with 74% of online sales completed on mobile devices.

We exist to make good things easily accessible to more people. With our multi-category range of famous brands, market-leading technology and data capabilities and unique financial services products offering flexible ways to pay, we’re well placed to deliver on that promise.

We sell more than 1,800 famous brands, including big name labels and our own exclusive brands. We have four million customers and deliver 49 million products every year. Our free click-and-collect service, CollectPlus, delivers to 7,000 stores across the country, increasing ease and convenience for customers.

For more information on Shop Direct, visit www.shopdirect.com or follow us on Twitter at @ShopDirect.