Member Article

Leeds-based CDS strengthens strategic future of data division with key senior hire

CDS has appointed Geoff Barraclough as its data services director to drive intelligent decision-making for private and public-sector clients by harnessing the power of data.

The hire comes in response to the exponential rise in digitisation across the private and public sectors – as organisations struggle to visualise, understand, and harness the wealth of insight available to them.

Geoff brings over 20 years of experience to CDS – a Leeds-headquartered agency which enables strategic change for large and complex organisations, including the NHS, Insight Investments, the Metropolitan Police Service and Yorkshire Water.

“Technology, data, and process ecosystems are increasingly entwined in the drive towards digitalisation across both private and public sectors,” explained Clare Gledhill, operations director at CDS. “Central to this is how organisations both interact with and utilise data.

“The difficulty with having access to increasing amounts of intelligence is the inability to make the best use of it. The appointment of Geoff will ensure CDS is best positioned to respond to this challenge.”

Aiming to maximise the value of customers’ data assets, Geoff’s role will be to refine clients’ tech stacks – building solutions that drive value through streamlined decision-making.

Geoff elaborated on his decision to join CDS: “I want to build and embed a culture within CDS that seeks to define success by measuring real-world data outcomes.

“The goal is to take our customers on a journey to understanding how to implement processes and bolster capabilities – ultimately, making the cultural changes required to ensure data is both secure and being used to its full potential.”

Clare concluded: “I’m delighted to have Geoff on board. His appointment supports CDS’ ambition to demystify and embed data-informed thinking into everything we do.

“Data is an integral part of our strategy. We see it as a crucial enabler to understanding and implementing change across organisations – particularly those that rely on such insight to make business-critical decisions in today’s turbulent environment.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Katie Mallinson .