Meet some of the tech team

Kate dealt with Morrisons while working for an international shipping company – and liked what she saw. So when a role came up within Wholesale, Kate was quick to apply. Now, she’smoved onto a role as Head of Technology Instore Customer Experience, setting new standards in tech. As the more women enter the field, Kate’s leading the way.

Kate’s job is to make sure we have the technology to best serve customers in store. She sees that the right tech contracts are in place and keeps a close eye on her area’s IT trends.

Although Kate is understandably cautious about introducing change, she’s excited about the direction the business is taking and says digital focus has grown considerably. Kate also believes that Morrisons is showing young people that tech is a place where women are free to thrive. She cites the business’s strong female role models – and is fast becoming one herself.

With so much happening here, it’s perhaps no surprise that Kate says her future definitely lies at Morrisons. A major fan of the brand, Kate is proud of the role that technology plays in manufacturing Morrisons’ food and the business’s overall strategy.  

“As Technology Director here at Morrisons, I spend my time working on the tech that underpins our critical business areas, such as Manufacturing, Logistics and Supply Chain. I also help our Wholesale business to grow too.

The tech I look after is designed to help get our products into our stores in the most efficient way possible. Day to day, that means dealing with service incidents and programme delivery challenges, managing supplier relationships, and working with business stakeholders outside of our tech teams to help shape up how technology can support their plans.

I’ve got a great team around me, which makes it a great place to work. That was especially true during the pandemic when I represented tech on daily calls to coordinate our responses to the unfolding challenges. It was always inspiring to hear how our colleagues across the business were pulling together and continuing to help feed the nation.

My background is in software development, but I also used to work in a Morrisons store back in the 80’s when I was a teenager, so there’s lots of history there. Today, I get a lot of satisfaction and reward out of recruiting and developing future talent for the business. I’ve had fantastic support from my managers and peers over the years, and now I’m proud to be able to do the same for anyone who joins Morrisons.”

I come from a traditional graphic design background, then moved into digital probably about 12 or so years ago. I spent a fair amount of time in the world of contracting and I picked up a contract here at Morrison's and they managed to convince me to stay - that was four years ago now. 

I saw lots of opportunities from a digital and design point of view, where I could really make my mark. In my role it’s all about making technology easier for the end user really. When I was a graphic designer, one of the main things I tried to do was simplify things, to see how many elements I could take away from something and it still be recognizable. That put me in good stead for a career in UX because it’s about simplifying technologies and making them easier and accessible to people, so that stripping away... but it's still a recognizable product – it’s an ethos which I carry on and adopt at Morrisons. 

These are really interesting times for Morrisons, as we venture into new digital areas, certainly new for Morrison's and for supermarkets as a whole. It's really exciting. We’re set up new teams to support the customer experience more fully and UX is at the heart of our drive to innovate.