Bio

James’ most recent role has been Group CIO at the NEC Group. The NEC Group are a world leader in the events industry, welcoming 11m+ annual visitors to over 750 events across five venues: The NEC, The ICC & VOX Conference centres, Resorts World Arena, and Arena Birmingham. Complimentary service brands include The Ticket Factory (ticketing), Amplify (hospitality), and Amadeus (catering).

James played a pivotal role in taking the Group out of public ownership and through two rounds of Private Equity ownership through Lloyds Development Capital (LDC) and Blacksone.

Prior to joining the NEC Group, James was Retail IT Director at Gate Group PLC and was responsible for all areas of IT and business change within Gate Groups global airline contracts.

He was previously Director of outlet systems & Deputy CIO at Mitchells & Butler. Having started his career at Whitbread Group culminating in the role of Group International Systems Director. He built and implemented the operating processes and support systems to expand Premier Inn into the Gulf States and India and expand Costa Coffee to 28 countries.

Outside of work James has an interest in show jumping – an event in which he competed in as a junior and horse racing