At Boots, our purpose is to champion everyone’s right to feel good, driven by our values of trust, care, inclusion, innovation, partnership and dedication. That’s why we were the first retailer to launch a personalised health CRM programme, using symptom data women and their partners, friends and families told us about to provide support about their unique menopause experience.
We believe a diverse workforce is critical to understanding the needs of our customers, and drives deeper insight and innovation. We are passionate allies to our diverse colleague and customer base.
We want to ensure women can be what they can see, which is why we are proud to partner with Women in Data.
Data collection is in boom! We recognise we have the opportunity, through the breadth of health and beauty services Boots offers, to make fundamental change in the way people look and feel, through the data they are happy to share.
Data is more accessible than ever to populations who wouldn’t see themselves as data literate previously, and we see the technology and techniques continuing to move at pace, allowing for data to be served faster and wider than ever before, creating data driven solutions and discussions throughout whole organisations, not just where the data teams are directly in the room.
As a trusted brand, we want to support our customers to find the right products for them, at the right time, for their ever-changing needs, to use our data to provide innovative solutions and to help the nation to create better health outcomes for them and their families.
At Boots, we have been serving the nation for generations, providing innovations in health and beauty, like the invention of Ibuprofen in our labs to the launch of No7 Future renew, a world first technology or No7 Menopause skincare; co-created with over 7,000 of our customers.
85% of the population are within 10 minutes of one of our 2,000 stores, where we employ 51,000 colleagues, and have over 20,000 healthcare professionals available, including our Macmillian Information Pharmacists.
50% of our data roles are filled by women, making us unusual in the industry, so much so, Data IQ wrote an article recognising the gender balance within our analytics community.
We are on a mission to use data to truly understand our customers and serve them for life, and seek to understand and grow through our Business Resource Groups, providing voices and support communities to our diverse colleague base.
I have a wealth of experience leading analytical and project teams across the retail and property industries.
I feel lucky to have found the career I have, and I’m keen to help improve the opportunities for the next generation of women. I graduated from Loughborough with a first in Psychology, but prior to that I attended a poorly funded, underperforming, state school. Career advice and support wasn’t a focus and I left school having no idea that analytics jobs existed, let alone what experience I would need to get one. I’ve benefited from some amazing mentors throughout my career, and I’m looking forward to being able to support others through Women In Data.
I’ve always tried to be open minded about job roles. I left university during recession, and struggled to find a job, in the end I took a Junior Analyst role at Pragma, a leading consultancy firm which specialised in consumer research. I loved it, and once I’d decided I was serious about working with customer data; Boots, with its unrivalled advantage card data, felt like an obvious choice. I currently head up a team of 6 analysts focussed on optimising campaign results for our third party suppliers. The combination of technical and commercial elements makes it a role I really enjoy.
In addition to my “day job” I’m also have an active role in the Boots’ Working Parents & Caregivers Business Resource Group, and am a key point of contact for training across the Data Science and Analytics team.
Outside of work, I can usually be found entertaining my young daughter and our crazy dog, sneaking the odd evening out with my husband or playing soft ball cricket.
Having worked in both marketing and the skin and beauty category for just over 20 years, hopefully I’m a bit of a skincare consumer expert!. First I worked in brand management before moving into the world of insight in 2007. I have worked for large consumer packaged goods companies and most recently as Global Insight Manager for No7 Beauty Company. I am passionate about championing the consumer and gaining an in-depth understanding of their behaviours and attitudes to ensure business decisions are grounded in consumer data, and my stakeholders call upon me daily to give a clear unbiased consumer grounding. I’ve experience in multiple types of qualitative and quantitative research – from focus groups, online panels, consumer closeness sessions, U&A studies, segmentation, product, pricing and communications testing, claims testing to panel data, brand health tracking and customer satisfaction.
It is really important to me to drive results for my stakeholders and the business overall, so I’m keen to take the lead and identify opportunities for new projects where insight can add value or putting forward sound strategic recommendations. Often I receive feedback thanking me for my integrity, challenge and honesty in conveying the truth, even if sometimes it’s hard for people to hear – it’s the voice of the consumer that matters!
I have worked in a multi-country regional, local and global structure during my career which no doubt has inspired my love of travel and languages, speaking French (albeit rusty now) and a bit of German and Dutch, after having lived in Amsterdam for 3 years – my favourite city in the world. I have a young daughter, a passion for cooking (especially baking) and a love of interior design having completed a huge renovation on our home a few years ago, but now I prefer to spend as much time as possible exploring new places and collecting interior objects as souvenirs of my travels – most recently squeezing several large bowls and a blanket in my suitcase on after a trip to Morocco!
I (perhaps surprisingly and controversially) don’t have a degree! I left school with A-levels in Geography, Psychology and Media Studies (and the usual STEM GCSEs), and started my career a long way from data, pursuing my love of Sharks to work at The London Aquarium! After that, I took what I thought was a stop-gap role to train as a Healthcare Assistant on the Pharmacy counter at a local Boots store. I followed the pharmacy career path to Accuracy Checking Pharmacy Technician, before moving to a UAT test role in the Nottingham support office, going on to work in testing and business analysis.
My career pivoted into the Data Science team, using all the curious and logical skillsets acquired in other roles, progressing from analyst to Data Science Manager (being promoted just 2 weeks before going on maternity leave). I now get to use my Pharmacy and store experience as the Head of Clinical Analytics, responsible for the data and analytics for 1:1 communication for the Boots Opticians and Pharmacy business units, with the aims of creating the right message, for the right patient, at the right time, and driving actionable insights from campaign results.
I co-created a lunch and learn initiative which focused on understanding diversity through self-development, which has more recently been turned into a Podcast! And founded the ‘Fertility Support Network’ for colleagues through the Women of WBA Business Resource Group, creating a safe space for colleagues and managers to seek support and advice.
There is no such thing as a ‘typical day’ as our markets and patients are ever changing, and I love seeing how my team’s recommendations turn into tangible changes and improve our customers wellbeing. I’m proud of being able to use my values to make a difference, to develop team members to go onto bigger things, and to (hopefully) be a role model for women in technical and STEM careers!
Outside of the day job, I am co-host of ‘The Whole Quokka’ Podcast, ‘Mama’, a Lego fan and a keen crafter.
I had an interest in ‘tech’ and ‘music’ from an early age, spending my teenage years coding on my Spectrum ZX+ and playing piano. My A levels were in Maths, Computing & Music, resulting in a choice between following a music degree or IT. So I have the ZX Spectrum to blame for not becoming the next Jamie Cullen or Jools Holland.
Throughout my career I’ve always had a passion for the human side of data – how to use it to be more personalised, relevant, valuable. My early career was focussed on customer focussed solutions around CRM, contact centres, business process transformation and programme delivery. I have thoroughly enjoyed roles in business & enterprise architecture and most recently specialising in data & analytics and cloud technologies. I often refer to myself as a ‘realist visionary’ – curious, with a solution mindset, able to see the bigger picture but realisitic about what is achievable, deliverable and will deliver value for stakeholders and customers.
I embarked on my career accepting it was a male-dominated industry recognising I would have to battle the gender bias and push against the status quo. Looking back, I have been lucky to have male allies who believed in me, challenged me and elevated my confidence to support me to become a strong female leader.
I am passionate about building a diverse team and very proud of the diversity across the teams I lead. I have been a supportive coach and mentor to many women in my network and team, helping to sculpt their careers with praise, curiosity and encouragement. I believe it is incredibly important for women to be authentic, to uplift each other, focus on delivering value rather than fitting in and constantly pushing the status quo.
My current role is Data Platform Director responsible for cloud enablement of data for International divisions, including Boots UK & Ireland and No7 Beauty Company and International Retail businesses. As a pharmacy, optician, retailer and brand business, Walgreens Boots Alliance has a complex set of data siloed across teams and geographies. I am proud of the role I play to turn a treasure-trove of data into a joined-up experience with the customer at its centre to improve their wellbeing, for life.
I am extremely proud of the recognition myself and my team have recently received: Top 20 women in Data & Tech 2023, 2022 ‘IT Team of the Year’ at the UK IT Industry Awards (British Computer Society), 2022 Winner of British Data Awards.
Outside of work, I’m a co-parenting mum, love getting to the coast and walking in the mountains and long distance paddleboarding and live by the motto ‘Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all’.
I fell in love with analytics as a logical and inquisitive thinker. I’m 5 years into my career and Boots has given me an abundance of opportunity to learn, get the experience and understanding to do what I really love and build a career in the data space. What excites me is that the answers are out there in data, we just have to find them, and they can lead to the very best outcomes for everyone involved.
My background is Business and Finance; not hugely ‘techy’, with my degree from De Montfort University. I’ve worked across marketing, operations, ecommerce and pharmacy, starting off my working life at Pfizer. One thing that always stopped me from jumping straight into a purely analytical role was doubt in my technical abilities/background, but Boots hugely encouraged me when I expressed interest in data and have supported me throughout my development. I’ve spent several months in the Digital Analytics team developing my technical skills and utilising my soft skills to step up and support the team through a period of change. It was great that I got to take the opportunity to lead, and I now manage a team of analysts.
From my own experience, I desire to encourage those who look at a job description and think they don’t hit every requirement, to go for it anyway. There’s lots you can bring to a role, the first step is to put your hat in the ring. The thing I have found most rewarding is always volunteering when opportunities arise. I have mentored and have several mentors, and get a great deal from both and would encourage everyone to reach out to both be a mentee and a mentor.
Outside of work, early this year you would have found me running (a bit too much) for the London Marathon. Now you’ll find me spending my time with friends, family, travelling to new places and hitting my next challenge: a data analytics apprenticeship with Boots to get more technical skills under my belt.
My career has been dominated by the fact that ‘Data powers everything we do!’
I have worked in various different industries including retail, finance, education and in most of them it was at the time (years ago) when the companies were on their journey of adopting their mindset to data centric strategies and driving towards data first approach.
Having worked in multiple different roles from data analyst, BI consultant to Platform Lead , I dealt with a variety of data challenges and its ever changing landscape and toolsets to deliver business value and shape & present data that tells a story helping make data centric decisions.
Currently, I’m working as a DevOPs Platform Manager leading the team of Devops and platform engineers looking after the data platform ensuring the data flows through in a controlled and secured manner.
I am very analytical & logical thinker which I apply at work and in my leadership style hence career in data was naturally more interesting for me. I was fortunate to have great mentors during my career and I plan to continue helping others on their journey and be a role model at workplace and hopefully to my daughter
I strongly believe in the women’s potential and how we at every opportunity excel in what we do and make it better for future generations. I am passionate about diversity and believe this is what makes world and work a better place.
Outside work, I am a STEM ambassador and as a member of code club and Code first Girls I have conducted multiple session in different schools introducing the world of computer science and coding and encouraging girls to join tech careers.
I love hiking & trekking and love going for walks with my dog. Also when I get a chance I go for women Tennis socials.
Before joining Boots I’ve worked with CapitalOne , University of Nottingham, Money Super Market, Dominos and Dunelm.
