European Tour hires former Jamie Oliver Group head of technology as its CIO

Patricio Colombo spent nearly nine years at Jamie Oliver Group

The European Tour, established by the Professional Golfers' Association (PGA), has hired the former head of technology at The Jamie Oliver Group, Patricio Colombo, as its CIO.

Colombo joined the organisation last week, after nearly nine years at the catering, media and hospitality business owned by British chef Jamie Oliver.

He spent eight years and seven months at The Jamie Oliver Group in London, leaving the organisation in January this year. Prior to this, he was IT manager at Hello magazine.

In a statement from the European Tour, the organisation confirmed that Colombo had joined the organisation on May 2^nd as CIO. He will oversee the portfolio of technology investments at the European Tour, helping to deliver what the organisation said were "desired business outcomes in a consistent manner".

In his role at Jamie Oliver Group, Colombo successfully delivered a programme of technology investments during a period of rapid expansion and diversification of the business into media, events and retail, the European Tour's statement said.

On his LinkedIn page, Colombo said that as part of his Jamie Oliver stint, among other achievements, he setup and managed a multi-company IT service desk team, led a cross functional team in a CRM implementation project, and designed and managed the implementation of the Jamie Oliver membership card, pay at table and e-Vouchers, increasing voucher sales for fifteen restaurants by 60 per cent year-on-year.

He also managed the group's IT budget, designed and implemented the technical IT rollout plan for Jamie's Italian restaurants and outsourced the restaurant division's IT operations after the initial restaurant roll-out.

Jo Fletcher, the organisation's chief financial officer said: "We are delighted to welcome Patricio to the European Tour. He will bring a wealth of experience to enhance our technology operation, working alongside our existing team, as our business continues to grow in this important area".