New challenges, new opportunities and a new European adventure!

Today, Microsoft announced that after four (unforgettable) years leading the world-class Microsoft UK team, I will be moving into an exciting new role as Microsoft President for Western Europe. I’m absolutely thrilled to take on this new challenge overseeing an area that spans 14 countries across Europe and I’m grateful for the opportunity to lead and learn from this very talented team of colleagues.

At the same time, this means saying farewell to my Microsoft UK family. I will always look back on these past few years as some of the most special and certainly the most fun years of my professional life. I am so proud of what the Microsoft UK team has achieved during this period. I’ve watched our team grow and transform, building deep and trusted relationships with our customers, partners and government and make an enormous difference in the communities we serve across the UK.

COVID-19 proved to be the ultimate test of our team and they rose to the challenge magnificently by supporting the NHS’ deployment of Microsoft Teams to 1.2m healthcare workers in a matter of days, the Nightingale Hospitals with technical infrastructure, the manufacturing consortium producing ventilators, thousands of pupils, teachers and schools across the UK with distance learning tools and so much more. Words cannot describe how proud I am of the work this team did for our nation’s first responders when they needed us the most.

At the same time, I’m proud of the inclusive culture we’ve continued to foster here at Microsoft. And while that’s a journey that will never be completed, we can proudly say that over the past four years we’ve made significant progress on gender diversity, we’ve continued to invest in our early in career community including our wonderful Microsoft Apprentices, we’ve developed a proactive plan to increase BAME (Black, Asian & minority ethnic) representation within our workforce and we’ve been recognized as thought leaders for our approach to accessibility. The passion and commitment of the Microsoft UK team are what make it possible to create an environment where everyone can come as they are and do what they love.

Even with all the progress we’ve made, I’m confident that the best is yet to come for Microsoft UK. Under the leadership of my successor and new head of Microsoft UK, Clare Barclay, the team will continue to help UK businesses and organisations across all sectors on their digital transformation journeys. We will continue to help meet some of the UK’s most pressing challenges including addressing the digital skills gap and fostering inclusive economic growth in a post-COVID world.

On a final note, I just want to say that leading our UK business has been both a privilege and a joy. I have loved every minute of it. Clare and I start our respective new roles on October 1st and I wish her and the UK team all the best for what lies ahead. I will continue to be UK-based and look forward to staying in touch with all my UK friends and colleagues and equally look forward to building fantastic new relationships with colleagues across Europe. 

Onwards!