Pets at Home appoints William Hewish as CIO

William Hewishhas been appointed as CIO of Pets at Home, the UK’s largest pet supplies retailer. The role has been newly created to help the company deliver strategic IT needs of the whole group.

The CIO 100 high-flyer joins Pets at Home after six years as CIO of United Utilities, the UK’s largest listed water company, during which delivered a range of digital solutions for customers and staff, including a robotic process automation (RPA) programme that has automated well over 20,000 manual hours of work

Hewitt has also served as CTO at Severn Trent Water, and as CIO at DeVere Group as well as at London Scottish Bank.

“Pets at Home is a brand I have admired and one which commands a unique position in the UK pet care market,” said Hewish. “Having delivered major digital transformation programmes previously, I’m excited by the prospect of leading strategic change across the business with the aim of helping our colleagues and partners better serve our customers and clients.”

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Hewish will begin the role in early 2019, reporting to Chief Executive Peter Pritchard.

“I am delighted to have recruited someone of William’s calibre to take on our new role of chief information officer, an appointment which now completes our group executive team,” said Pritchard.

“William’s knowledge will play a key role in supporting the strategic IT needs of our business as we move towards a more integrated, digitally-led approach. William has the experience and know-how to help integrate our digital platforms, build systems that are fit for the future and in turn help us better serve the needs of pet owners.”