The Customer Experience Podcast | How WHSmith Led Digitalisation in the Retail Industry

Jason Byrne is a business leader renowned for his expertise in driving dynamic transformations and translating strategic visions into tangible successes. With an exceptional background in people-centric leadership, he champions empowerment, collaboration, and a focus on the customer, to bring clarity amidst complexity.

Jason’s extensive experience spans significant business growth, strategic refinement, innovation, and leading transformative initiatives. His leadership capability encompasses people-centric transitions, integration efforts, capital projects, and digital transformations, geared towards optimising customer experiences, sustainability, and commercial outcomes.

Jason brings an outstanding reputation built at Deloitte and then Moorhouse, taking the latter from start-up to c.330+ people. He has shaped and led the growth of all aspects of professional services firms, from sales and delivery through to people performance, strategy and change. He brings board level credibility and relationships from across FTSE organisations and government from over 20 years of proven execution of strategy into action.

Jason Byrne is committed to nurturing inclusive spaces where high ambition combines with values-driven collaboration that enables individuals to exceed expectations and achieve more together.

Pat Lynes is an award-winning entrepreneur and Founder of Sullivan & Stanley (S&S), a Change & Delivery Partner that helps organisations bridge the gap between investment and value realisation.

Before founding S&S, Pat worked in the IT and change knowledge worker recruitment game for over 15 years, being recognised as Global Interim Recruiter of the Year in 2015.

He has successfully delivered over 100 transformation teams for the likes of Three Mobile, Shell Energy, Burberry and WH Smith.

Pat is a pioneer of the executive gig economy prior to the great resignation, and he shares his experience and expertise in this book that will help anyone wanting to work in a dramatically different way, as a disrupted executive.

He is married with two boys, Sullivan and Stanley, whom the company is named after, loves fishing for big sharks in Cornwall and is an avid Arsenal fan.

Giles Lindsay is an S&S associate – a technology executive, business agility coach, and CEO of Agile Delta Consulting Limited. Soon to be President of the Business Agility Institute, UK Chapter, he is passionate about empowering organisations to achieve their full potential through strategic planning, operational excellence, and continuous improvement. His soon-to-be-published book: “Clearly Agile: A Leadership Guide to Business Agility”, is a comprehensive guide to embracing Agile principles and transforming organisations. An advocate for continuous improvement and innovation, Giles is dedicated to creating a business world that prioritises value, inclusivity, and societal good.

Kevin’s role as Chief Operating Officer is to complement Jason in his Chief Executive position driving the S&S vision, whilst building, implementing and operating a scalable and sustainable business, that supports the needs of our customers today and in the future.

Outside of work, when Kev is not spending time with his wife Helen and their three kids, you’ll find him playing a round of golf or fishing on a quiet lake. Kev also enjoys mountain biking, motorsports such as F1, baseball, rugby and is a big fan of Sci-Fi.

Kris is a global senior executive and board director with over 30 years of experience and a proven track record of successful business launches, rapid growth, and operational transformation at speed and scale across 73 countries and multiple industries.

As a purpose-driven leader, Kris embeds ESG strategies into operations by pioneering pragmatic solutions that accelerate profitability. He has been featured at the World Economic Forum and appointed as a non-executive director at the Colombo Stock Exchange listed Gestetner of Ceylon PLC.

With his blend of investigative, entrepreneurial and investor relations talents, Kris is an effective spokesperson and Board level representative. He serves as a pro-bono advisor to the British Army’s Centre for Army Leadership. Now based in Dubai, he is an executive Mentor at leading incubators and accelerators focused on fintech, biotech and healthtech.

Adrian is a Transformation expert and Executive Coach. His career has always been focused on delivery – projects, programmes, transformations, agility, omnichannel and change management. He has worked across most departments of most industries (Life Sciences, Retail, Telco, Broadcast/Media and Financial Services). He therefore has a unique breadth of experience across business and IT that is hard to replicate, and valued highly by Executives.

Outside of work, Adrian has a passion for photography, clay pigeon shooting and motorbikes (3 hobbies not easily combined) – and raising 2 little people to be fully rounded global citizens.

Jacqueline Shakespeare specialises in helping clients develop expert leaders and effectively navigate complex organisational change. With a career spanning multiple industries, including telecommunications, financial services, retail, and consultancy, Jacqueline has established a reputation for working closely with senior executives and teams to help them achieve their strategic ambitions.

Jacqueline is an expert in the people side of change and organisational culture, leveraging her deep knowledge and experience to help clients successfully navigate complex human dynamics and unlock the potential of their people. She is also a highly regarded coach, working one-on-one with executives and leaders to help them enhance their skills, deepen their self-awareness, and achieve their full potential.

In 2023, Jacqueline won a Silver Stevie® Award in the Female Executive of the Year, Business Services. She is also a best-selling author. Her book “In this Moment – The working mother’s guide to a calm and fulfilling life,” showcases her dedication to empowering individuals beyond her professional endeavours. And within S&S, she plays a key role in the Women in Transformation community uniting senior female leaders and reinforcing a culture of enduring change.

Leila has over fifteen years’ experience in managing large scale transformation, including proven experience in customer-centric operating model, strategic alignment, organisational design, service design and cultural change.

Leila has helped organisations to create the vision, strategy, operating model, organisational design, technology platforms and partnerships that put customers at heart of what they do and address challenges faced by ever-changing customer demands.

Outside of work, Leila loves playing and watching sport, particularly netball, which she plays at a competitive club level. She also enjoys keeping fit and has undertaken numerous challenges, including swimming around Slovenia, the Tough Mudder, and multiple half marathons.

Vindy is an experienced business transformation practitioner and leader. Starting his career during the dawn of the Dot com era, he has worked with many large and complex organisations, across all industries, to adapt to the rapid evolution of information, technology, customer expectations, and employee needs.

As the world pivots to a digitally enabled future of work, Vindy leads our Business Agility practice and provides an invisible hand to leaders and their teams in helping them develop their culture and organisational muscle to be more resilient and responsive to change. He is passionate about unlocking value within customer organisations, and also growing our community of practitioners and thought leaders in this space by connecting ideas and people.In his time away from work, Vindy is helping Paulette prepare three awesome humans to make a positive contribution to society.

As a child of the 80’s that grew up on the A-Team and MacGyver, he has been known to enjoy his time off playing with nail guns and lengths of timber, constructing everything from garden rooms to potting benches.

Peter is an experienced Change Manager with a proven track record whilst working within a FTSE 100 operational environment. He’s got demonstrated success on global, multi-divisional and local projects, developing strategy and scope, seeing through to BAU. Peter is highly capable at translating business requirements into technical specification and viable options, then executing implementation through planning and delivery.

Harry is an experienced interim Change and Transformation Lead, who derives enjoyment from cultivating trusted relationships across various industries and instilling confidence in teams to effectively execute significant changes rapidly. He is a driven and outcome-oriented coach with extensive cross-functional delivery experience. He specialises in delivering world-class products and customer experiences by fostering a culture of continuous improvement. As

Harry’s journey began at Shell Energy while working on the client side of an award-winning transformational change initiative in collaboration with S&S. He was impacted by S&S’s passion and commitment to shaping the future of work. Recognising an opportunity to expand his sphere of influence, he eagerly embraced the chance to join S&S as a client-turned-consultant.

At S&S, Harry remains dedicated to propelling transformation and change through the mission-based teams approach, with an unwavering focus on achieving rapid value. His expertise lies in change management, business transformation, and delivering exceptional customer experiences. Harry’s distinctive background, which seamlessly blends client experience, unwavering customer-centricity, hands-on delivery proficiency in cross-functional leadership, and coaching, positions him as a valuable asset capable of delivering genuine value at S&S.

At S&S Ross takes on the role of Senior Client Success Manager – MEA. He is responsible for supporting the growth of our regional hub through research and client engagement. Ross has previously worked in Saudi Arabia and shows particular interest in the growth of the S&S MENA hub.

Outside of work Ross can be found on the golf course and enjoying live sport. He is a strong supporter of Everton, which has recently become a bit of a sensitive topic for Ross, getting the better of him on match day. Up the Toffees!

As EA to our CEO and COO, Louise ensures the smooth running of Jason and Kevin’s day to day lives, enabling them to concentrate on their mission, whilst also supporting the management of the office more broadly. She has thirteen years of experience in back-office operations, inclusive of Human Resources, within the media, oil and property industry.

Outside of the office, Louise loves to ski and spend time down by the coast where she grew up. A keen traveller, she has spent extended periods of time in Central America as well as Canada and is always looking for the next adventure.

Matt has worked with several successful organisations throughout his time in S&S. He has helped clients transform their business to be more customer-centric, digital and to increase speed of delivery. Matt has helped them improve the way work is delivered and increase quality of products and services.

During his spare time Matt can be found on the golf course, at a wedding in Ireland or dabbling in politics over an ale.

Mike takes up the position of Managing Director of our MENA hub, driving the growth of the business in the Middle East North Africa region. Mike is passionate about people development and building diverse teams. He has experience delivering engagements across citizen engagement & enablement, citizen services, digital transformation, smart cities, IoT, blockchain, cognitive & AI, cloud, data & analytics, cyber, finance management, government efficiency and reform.

Away from work, when he’s not jet-setting overseas, Jacob can be found sampling foreign lagers and attending sporting events.

Robin has over twenty years of experience in the technology sector working with IBM, Nokia, Ciena and CapGemini clients to ensure they realised maximum business value from their technology investments. His experience spans business development, client engagement and leading growth teams. Most recently Robin drove significant growth at a global mid-tier management consulting firm before joining Sullivan & Stanley as our Client Solutions & Growth Director.

Away from work Robin tries to keep fit by playing football and running, but in reality spends most of his time being a taxi driver for his two children. He is trying to do his bit for the environment by riding an electric moped to work and a little know fact about him (although he tells everybody) is that he was a snowboard instructor!

Lorena is a key contributor to Sullivan & Stanley’s (S&S) growth and presence in the Middle East. As the Senior Client Success Manager for the UAE, Lorena focuses on business development, client engagement, and account management, ensuring tailored solutions that align with S&S’s mission to drive impactful transformation.

Lorena also leads S&S’s three flagship communities in the UAE:

• SWiTCH (Senior Women in Transformation and Change): Empowering senior women leaders across industries.
• CXO Society: A collaborative network for top UAE executives driving leadership and innovation.
• LiT (Leaders in Transformation): Connecting transformation experts to share insights and best practices.

Through these communities, the MEA creates opportunities for collaboration, engagement, and growth, supporting S&S’s vision to build vibrant ecosystems for industry leadership.

Lorena’s expertise in business development and strategic partnerships is complemented by certifications in digital marketing, Six Sigma, and functional medicine. With a people-first approach, she is committed to delivering value for clients while supporting the UAE’s broader goals for innovation and growth.

As Client Engagement & Services Manager at Sullivan & Stanley, Mathilda’s role is pivotal in fostering growth, ensuring exceptional project delivery, and maintaining a client-focused approach within our London Hub. She also leads our Women in Transformation community, a group of senior female leaders across industries and sectors who meet up bi-monthly to discuss current leadership and transformational challenges. Her passions include collaborating with people and teams, contributing to high-functioning and inclusive environments

Mathilda’s professional background lies in business and organisational development, blending my passions for psychology, innovation, and human behaviour. In October 2023, she started a Sustainability Change Leadership Programme at Hyper Island. This course will develop her skills in driving sustainable change across individuals, businesses, and broader systems, reinforcing my commitment to creating a more sustainable future.

Leading Sullivan & Stanley’s marketing function, Ricky is responsible for devising and implementing the global marketing strategy, building executive attention and advocacy in innovative ways to accelerate business growth. Essentially, his role is to make Sullivan & Stanley and its team a little bit famous!

Outside of work, Ricky can be found mostly eating food with family and friends – if he’s not dancing to Beyonce or doing a cheeky 10k run on his lunch break!

As S&S Events Manager and EA to the Founder, Emma has a range of responsibilities from providing executive, administrative, and development support to our Founder, as well as ensuring a high level of organisation throughout the business. Emma brings unparalleled organisational prowess and creative flair to her role, turning ideas into unforgettable events. Crafting seamless plans, Emma ensures every detail shines, leaving guests wowed and S&S in the spotlight.

Outside of work, Emma cherishes moments with her family and her lively 2-year-old son, George. She is a huge support to her local cat charity and has recently fostered SIX kittens! When Emma isn’t running around after her toddler or kittens, she enjoys a night out with her friends and colleagues or jetting off on a well deserved holiday.

Becca is a Marketing Executive at Sullivan & Stanley, where she brings a blend of creativity and strategy to campaigns that make real connections in our community. Passionate about storytelling and data-driven insights, she’s here to help the brand’s voice stand out.

Outside of work, Becca is an avid reader, a curious cook, and lives by Letterboxd lists. She’s also a social media fan, always on the lookout for new trends and inspiration.

Taisiia specialises in video content and photography, combining her education in Cinematography and Marketing with hands-on experience in both B2B environments and film sets. This blend of creativity and strategic insight enables her to craft projects that deliver meaningful and impactful results. At S&S, her goal is to visually represent the company’s values, mission, and culture.

Outside of work, Taisiia is an avid traveller, having explored 100 countries. She enjoys learning new skills and painting, often with her cat by her side.

Steve is our talent expert here at S&S, working closely with everyone to help attract and develop brilliant people who are passionate about what we do and the value they can add.

Steve helps people learn and develop, become self-aware and enhance the skills and behaviours they need to achieve their goals sustainabily.

Kieran take son the role of Community Engagement Manager for the North at Sullivan & Stanley. With a keen eye for talent and a passion for fostering connections, he plays a vital role in expanding the capabilities of The Change Society in the North. His responsibilities encompass the selection and vetting of a diverse range of roles, ensuring that our team is equipped to drive meaningful change. Beyond his work in community engagement, Kieran lends his expertise to our internal Talent Acquisition efforts. ensuring that S&S grows with precision and with the right individuals in place.

Outside of work, Kieran is an avid fan of Liverpool FC, spending most of his weekends supporting the Reds.

Mat is the vital connection between S&S and its clients, ensuring effective client engagement to identify and assure deliverables and outcomes. Building on S&S’ foundations of delivering continuous value, Mat ensures ongoing team orchestration with a laser focus on client value and outcomes. Mat brings over 20 years of experience in Professional Services, Consultancy and Delivery focussed on technology and business transformation.

Mat is married to Jen and has two young boys, Ollie and Jacob. They love to spend time being active outdoors; especially paddleboarding and rugby in Chelmsford, Essex where he is a coach from Chelmsford RFC minis. He is also a passionate music fan, playing the guitar and catching live music wherever possible.

Codie is an expert in Transformational Change, having spent well over a decade leading large complex transformations in Industry and Consultancy across the public and private sectors.

She is known for turning complexity into simplicity by co-creating operational solutions with her clients. She prides herself on leaving organisations more capable and equipped than ever before.

At Sullivan & Stanley, she is accountable for all aspects of Delivery in the North of England and ensures we exceed our client’s expectations.

Outside work, Codie enjoys the outdoors with her husband and two little girls and gets tremendous energy from coaching young professionals who want to achieve the unthinkable.

At S&S Oliver takes on the role of Associate Relationship Manager. He is responsible for creating and driving value across The Change Society in the North of England, by bringing together the top 5% of interim talent to share and co-create thought leadership and value.

Oliver’s role also involves collaborating with existing and future clients to service their needs with our Alumni of Change professionals.

Larissa takes up the role of Client Engagement Lead here at S&S. Her responsibilities include building long-term relationships with associates, guiding and providing them with full support throughout the entire vetting process and supporting them during their gigs with us.

A graduate of the Loughborough University, Larissa obtained a degree in Business Psychology. She is passionate about building strong relationships, creating high performing teams and seeing people grow into their best selves.

Responsible for the resourcing and vetting of a wide variety of roles to grow the technical and non-technical capabilities of the associate network through organic searches and internal referrals.

With a key focus on customer experience, she also supports the relationship with the associates in the community from the onboarding through till the end of the engagement.

As Client Engagement Executive, Ashleigh’s role is to grow The Change Society in the North of England and the regions, through adding value and building strong relationships with associates. Ashleigh loves networking and going to events, whether that’s a football match or a festival, she enjoys sociable environments that allow her to form or build on existing relationships, something she loves bringing to her role at S&S.

As the Compliance Manager, Sonia ensures that there is accuracy and compliance in everything that we do. She has seven years of experience in back office operations within the recruitment industry and is well equipped to answer the day-to-day contracts and compliance queries from our Associates.

Outside of the office, Sonia can be found exploring London looking for the best brunch spots and discovering new restaurants. She also loves to travel and is often planning her next adventure abroad.

It is Amy’s role to provide operational support across all areas of the business. She ensures ongoing development of strategy through building processes, implementing business structure and supporting programmes of work.

Outside of the office when she is not immersing herself in a gripping series, Amy is usually out and about trying new food and taking in all that London has to offer.

It is Dan’s role to provide the clear and concise financial information required to drive great decisions in a fast-paced environment. He is implementing the strategy to ensure the company’s financial processes are fit for a rapidly growing and constantly developing organisation.

Outside of the office, Dan is an enthusiastic (but not very good) 5-a-side footballer, a fair-weather cyclist and an amateur gardener. When he gets the chance, he does love watching a spot of cabaret.