Making the executive board of a company is always a notable achievement. But Paul Willows deserves more praise than usual for his current role as Dolland & Aitchison’s (D&A’s) IT director.

To get to the top of the corporate ladder as an IT professional, it helps to be tenacious and be prepared to make sacrifices. It also helps to have a clear vision of your goals from an early age.

Willows did not take the most conventional route to his job. For many years, he was a rather reluctant IT professional.

Born in Derby and schooled in Nottingham, he wanted to study philosophy at university but his father had other ideas.

“He suggested that as he would be paying the majority of my grant, he thought that I should study something more vocational so I studied computing and operational research at Leeds University,” he says.

But those years were not quite enough to convince Willows that his future lay in IT: he spent a year after university hanging out in London on the fringes of the music scene.

“I spent my time fetching and carrying things for people who knew people. I didn’t make any money but I did get to go to some good parties. It was a glamorous lifestyle. Well, glamorous to a 21 year old,” he says with a smile. But then financial reality took hold and Willows launched himself into IT.

There then followed a stint in the technology department at Boots in Nottingham and a number of jobs as a programmer with various software companies in the Midlands.

But it was not until he started working for Vision Express in the early 1990s that he really started to enjoy his profession.

“Vision Express had just arrived in the UK and had only 30 to 40 stores. I was the only member of the IT development team when the company was growing rapidly,” says Willows. “It was a very exciting place to work; the management team was very gung-ho.”

For Willows, his enjoyment of his IT role owed more to the people than the technology. “It was managing a team and growing a business that made the job at Vision Express so enjoyable,” he says.

Once the company had established itself in the UK, it started to expand into Europe and open stores around the world. “That involved quite a bit of international work for two to three years, which I also enjoyed,” says Willows.

New challenge

It was when Vision Express was acquired by a French optical retailer that Vision Express moved from an entrepreneurial, expansionary period into a more mature business phase. After a year, Willows decided it was time to look for the next challenge.

“I had not intended to move from one optical retailer to another but the opportunity at D&A was the most exciting one on offer,” he says.

D&A has been around since 1750; the only British retailer that has been around for longer is Fortnum & Mason.

But the end of the last millennium had not been kind to the brand, which had been owned by tobacco company Gallagher and then a group of venture capitalists.
“The company had been losing market share, both by volume and value. The turnaround was a very interesting proposition,” says Willows.

When Willows joined the company as an IT manager, the systems were a shambles and many of the personnel were unmotivated.

There had been a lack investment in the company’s IT infrastructure, so the systems were antiquated with bespoke interfaces that did not work efficiently.
“There was a lot of contradictory and confusing information. Different systems threw up different answers to the same question,” he says.

An overhaul of the company’s IT systems ­ along with a focus on re-establishing D&A as a major high-street brand ­ breathed life back into the company. Rather than compete on price, D&A differentiates itself by offering good customer service and value. And the firm uses technology to ensure it can give customers the best possible service.

“We want to differentiate ourselves from other optical retailers by giving customers a personalised service and we use IT to help us to achieve those aims,” says Willows.

Computer technology helps to overcome one of the classic conundrums facing anyone who needs new glasses: there are plenty of new frames to try but without the right corrective lens, the wearer cannot see in the mirror’s reflection whether the new pair suits them or not.

“Our IT system takes a picture of the customer when they try on different pairs of glasses. The customer can then put their prescription glasses back on and compare different looks on screen to determine which is best,” says Willows.

While D&A has turned the corner since the new management team took over the company over a decade ago, Willows and his team are not resting on their laurels.

“We are currently in the process of a two-year programme of rolling out SAP so that the platform will run every part of our IT system in the company, from helping us to design the layouts of the stores to managing our transactions,” he says.

Having the whole company based on one integral technology platform will give the company a number of benefits.

“It will help our organisation to be much leaner,” says Willows. “Staff will not have to spend so much time inputting data manually and there will be less administration. That means that they will have time to be involved in more intellectually rewarding activities.”

He says the SAP platform will also provide the company with a powerful data mining tool.

“Like other optical retailers, much of our business comes from reminding
customers that it’s time to get their eyes re-tested,” says Willows.

Tailored mailing

“This platform will enable us to embark on far more sophisticated direct-mailing campaigns, so that we can really tailor the offer for each individual customer.”

The platform also enables D&A to continue to expand, with Willows explaining that about 40 per cent of the optical retailer market is still controlled by independent shops.

“But the multiples are growing their market share and if there is a slowdown in the UK economy that trend could accelerate,” he says. “The SAP platform will enable us to integrate any new businesses in a seamless fashion.”

Even though Willows has already been at D&A for 10 years, it seems there are still sufficient challenges to keep him motivated and interested.

It may have taken time for him to be won round by the possibilities of a career in IT, but his excitement for his current role palpable.

Willows, however, does have an unfulfilled ambition that he is determined to address one day. “I will go back to university one day and do that philosophy degree,” he says.