New Travis Perkins CIO as JJ Van Oosten leaves to become CDO

Travis Perkinshas confirmed that Norman Bell has taken over from CIO JJ van Oosten, who left the company at the end of last year.

Van Oosten, profiled in June 2013, announced at the CIO Summit in September he would be leaving the building materials wholesaler and retailer to work for online German tourism and retail co-operative REWE Group.

The Belgian former Tesco CIO, who helped the supermarket chain introduce their mobile platform in 2009, has now started his role in Cologne as the company’s chief digital officer. It is the first executive move we have covered where a chief information officer has moved exclusively into a CDO role.

Bell was previously a category management director at Travis Perkins, and now takes on the IT estate as the organisation’s group strategy and IT director.

When Van Oosten spoke to CIO UK, he said that as well as moving Travis Perkins away from Microsoft to Google – who “understand mobile inside out” – he was also behind bring your own device (BYOD) and driving opportunities for multi-channel selling right through the business.

And at our September Summit, he said: “I want to see more and more CIOs running the digital part of other big businesses.”

Van Oosten has also been CIO for the Kingfisher organisation, owners of the B&Q and Screwfix building and DIY materials retailers.