The world doesn’t stop for your digital transformation. A lot of the rhetoric surrounding these kinds of projects likes to omit that fact. But the reality is that the majority of IT investment involves shoring up legacy technology, building a solid foundation without derailing everyday operation, and finding the quick wins where you can – all while business continues as usual. Pulling off a major digital transformation is a complex and challenging prospect. Doing it without disrupting the day–to-day is what separates a successful business transformation team from a struggling one.
Digital Transformation at Midcounties-Co-operative
“When I joined The Midcounties Co-operative, one of the things they wanted was to improve their approach to long term investment in technology, particularly when it comes to data and analytics,” explains Jacob Isherwood, Midcounties’ Chief Information Officer (CIO). Isherwood has led the Midcounties business transformation team since 2022, heading up an ongoing technology evolution that started almost a decade ago. “A lot of my work has been focused on building a strong digital foundation for Midcounties before moving on to the more advanced phases of the digital transformation.”
We sat down with Isherwood to find out more about establishing a strong IT foundation across the Midcounties’ multiple business units, building on that foundation with new digital solutions like data analytics and IoT, and doing it all while maintaining both day-to-day operations and the Midcounties Co-operative’s commitment to drive social good for its members and community.
Operation & Transformation
Founded in 1844, The Midcounties Co-operative is a family of member-owned businesses working together to deliver services more responsibly and ethically. The Midcounties Co-operative has grown over the 180 years since its founding to comprise businesses operating in the food, utilities, travel, and childcare sectors. Today, The Midcounties Co-operative is home to over 645,000 members, and employs more than 6,200 people across multiple brands and locations, including over 230 food retail stores in the UK, largely across the West Midlands, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.
In essence, Isherwood explains, a “highly operational” organisation like The Midcounties Co-Operative, “with orders coming in and colleagues managing stock, and so on,” means that “you can’t just pull off a massive transformation in one go; it’d be too disruptive.” Instead, the business transformation team has been spreading out the project in order to minimise disruption. However, in the meantime, Isherwood adds that they’re “also front-ending as much value as possible,” electing to implement the solutions that solve the most pressing problems for colleagues and customers as quickly as possible.
