Royal Mail hires new CIO from Diageo

Royal Mail has hired the Diageo CIO to replace the outgoing David Burden, who retired this summer.

Robin Dargue has already left his position as CIO and business process director at the drinks giant and will take up his new role at Royal Mail shortly.

Dargue is a relatively young high-flying star of the CIO profession and was recently voted one of the UK's top 50 CIOs in the silicon.com CIO50.

The silicon.com CIO50 2007

♦ CIO50: Who's on the list?
♦ The top 10 CIOs
♦ CIO50 analysis: How to be a top CIO
♦ CIO50: The full report

His early career includes stints at Mars and Logica Financial Systems and he went on to become IS director at UDV, which became part of Guiness and then part of Diageo.

He became Diageo CIO aged just 36 and he has been responsible for implementing a wall-to-wall SAP platform across the company's 180 markets and geographies.

Burden - whose pay packet topped £1m in 2005 - retired from Royal Mail this summer to go travelling after five years as part of the executive management team there.

His achievements include delivering a substantial reduction in IT costs through a major outsourcing deal with CSC Prism Alliance and the creation of a decentralised IT model. He has also led the implementation of large SAP and Siebel-based systems, new internet platforms and a new automated international mail centre near Heathrow.

Royal Mail confirmed Dargue's appointment but Diageo did not respond to request for comment.