Taylor Wessing CIO Stuart Walters joining rivals Olswang

Taylor Wessing UK CIO Stuart Walters leaving the international law firm to join rivals Olswang.

Walters will take on the role of international IT director for the London-based company, reporting to chief operating officer Simon Glynn.

He will replace former CIO Clive Knott, who departed earlier this year, and will focus on supporting its lawyers across a number of countries.

Walters joined Taylor Wessing in 2011 with responsibilities for UK IT operations at the top 20 law firm. He had previously been employed at another multinational legal firm, Eversheds, for seven years, becoming head of business applications in 2006.

During his three years at the company Walters led a number of projects at the project, such as introducing a bring your own device (BYOD) strategy, helping merge international offices, and establishing an IT consultancy service for the firm’s clients.

Walters has spoken out about issues facing CIOs in the past such as shadow IT, urging IT leaders to engage with other business units more directly.

In 2011, Olswang outsourced management of its IT infrastructure and staff to service provider GlassHouse in order to streamline its operations and support its global expansion plans.

The new Olswang Global IT Director is not to be confused with the CIO of Comparethemarket.com owners BGL Group, who is also called Stuart Walters and joined the financial services company in November last year.