How did you get into your role?

I joined the company in 2014 and it was my first job after university. I was looking for a software developer position, having studied computer science at Bangor University.

When I started, I was covering a number of different areas – software development, IT support and system administration. It was a role that gave me an awful lot of room for growth and was a great foundation for my current remit.

Seven years ago, in 2018, I became Head of IT and in October 2024, I was invited to join the Board.

What does a typical workday look like for you and your team?

For me a typical day will include working on business or operational strategy and implementation. I'm looking to provide solutions and get them in place to support the business. I'm very hands on with both software and system architecture.

I get involved with everything that my team works on. This includes IT Support, who handle the phone calls, emails and tickets. Requests can be about any of the services we provide internally, including endpoints, infrastructure, technology or software.

I also manage the software development team, which includes developing mobile and desktop apps, as well as web projects.

As a business, we made a decision a long time ago to not outsource our development work. I think this makes us unique, because having this technical expertise, combined with enforcement industry knowledge, gives us a commercial advantage. It means we can create high quality products and systems architecture with a very strong quality control.

The developers spend most of their time either creating new features to benefit the business, our clients and their customers, or working on processes, either reengineering or making efficiency improvements. It’s a great career to be in.

Some of our app projects include our mobile debtor app, our enforcement agent app, “Remote Bailiff” and our new AI virtual assistant, which was built using Microsoft Copilot.

As a team we recently worked on the NatWest Pay It integration with our websites and are now looking at the next stage, which will be a unified payment solution.

We are also building a web-based version of our case management software and developing new integrations within that.

What are your key responsibilities?

I wear a few hats - including responsibilities common to Chief Technology Officers, Chief Information Officers, and IT Managers. In a nutshell I'm helping drive the company forward by keeping everything operational and pushing forward with improvements and innovations.

One of my key responsibilities is information and cyber security. I manage our information security management system and am the administrator for ISO 27001 standard, which we have just upgraded to the 2022 version. I also maintain our Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation and oversee penetration testing.

I ensure policies and procedures are all in place and that we follow OWASP guidelines (OWASP is a volunteer run organisation which looks to improve software security through Open Source initiatives and community education).

I also get involved in the tenders, implementation and onboarding of new clients. This includes hosting implementation meetings with clients at our Colwyn Bay office with our Operations team, to get everything in place, ensure that data is securely flowing back and forth as it needs to and provide business insights and information tools.

I'm always looking for improvements within the business, for example, introducing RCS messages (rich communication services) via one of our technology partners, Telsolutions, to improve debtor communications to encourage prompt payments.

What part of your job do you enjoy the most?

The parts I enjoy have changed over the years. Originally it was software development - creating a product and seeing the impact that it had on the business.

Now, I can have a larger positive impact by helping others achieve, and I enjoy seeing them develop high quality solutions. I'm actively involved in everything I oversee and provide advice and guidance when needed. I feel I have a great balance between strategy, management, and implementation.

AI is my favourite topic; it's a new world and we will end up tying it into our core systems. We're using elements at the moment, but the priority is we make sure that everything we do is safe and compliant.

And what do you find most challenging?

Nothing in particular jumps out. We are a lean organisation and there's always plenty of work to do, so I make sure that we prioritise according to the business’ requirements. We're good at balancing priorities and are very productive.

Do you have any advice for someone wanting to work in enforcement?

Enforcement is an industry that people often fall into. It's really about providing a solution to our clients. We are a very compliant organisation and meet very high standards, not just in IT and cyber security, but also with meeting the needs of debtors and identifying and supporting those who are vulnerable.

In terms of a role in IT in enforcement, a key advantage we provide our team is the opportunity to work in more depth and see a project through from start to finish, instead of just being a small cog in a big organisation. Our team members get to create software from start to end and incorporate their ideas, which is very fulfilling – and fun!