Cathy Kirby - Coffin Mew - Top 250 UK IT Leaders

Cathy Kirby - Technology Director, Coffin Mew LLP

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What's your proudest work-related achievement of the last 12 months?

Delivering a consistently good IT service as well as new product and innovations are the day job but the key to their success is in how you manage change. In a refresh of our technology strategy in 2018, bearing in mind some large-scale changes planned for this year and next, I emphasised the need for engagement across all levels of the business. We now have a Technology Committee comprising all the key stakeholders in the business, technology testing teams within all departments and a level of technology awareness and interest that has exceeded my expectations.

What's the number one skill today's IT leaders need?

The ability to clearly communicate the ‘vision'. This means demonstrating how IT can support the ultimate objective of better client service through tackling inefficiencies and creating a space for bespoke collaboration and innovation. Change is easier to manage where all those involved understand and appreciate the outcomes.

How many people work in IT in your organisation?

We have a core internal team of three and over the course of a number of years we have forged excellent outsourced partnerships that allow us to manage our infrastructure and services in a very efficient manner.

What's your top priority for the next 12 months?

Delivery of a series of software changes both large and small. This project targets objectives across the four key areas of the firm's strategy - clients and markets, people, operations and finance, and commercial. My role is to take responsibility for implementing these technology-led solutions, delivering them with as little disruption as possible, to allow the business to get on with other operational activities.

What's your annual IT budget?

Confidential.