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By Andy McCue, 7 December 2007 11:22

NEWS

British Energy has hired a new CIO to help the organisation drive greater efficiencies and cost savings out of its IT infrastructure.

Derek Wilde joined British Energy as CIO from drinks-maker Allied Domecq this week and will be based at the company's Barnwood headquarters in Gloucester.

Wilde replaces outgoing CIO Ian Campbell who is leaving British Energy after completing an 18-month change programme to overhaul what was a fragmented and isolated IT department when he joined in 2005.

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Campbell, who was voted one of the UK's top 50 CIOs this year, told silicon.com: "I turned it into a professional IT organisation, raised the performance bar and introduced good standards such as Itil, Prince2 and Cobit. The next bit is more about driving out efficiencies and savings. That's for others to do."

Campbell was offered the opportunity to pursue a career in the nuclear energy side of the business via the generation route instead of IT, which he turned down.

British Energy's core business is energy generation - its one coal-fired power station and eight nuclear power stations provide one-fifth of the UK's energy requirements and alongside the generation business is energy trading in the wholesale electricity market.

Campbell said: "I see myself as an IT professional. I am more commercial IT than engineering so I said no."

There are just over 300 staff in the core in-house IT department at British Energy, plus another 200 in satellite IT teams at the power stations. They are supported by a number of outsourcing contracts - with the likes of Capgemini, Fujitsu and Logica.

Campbell has been serving one-year's notice while the search for his successor went on and the transition to Wilde will take place over the next month, with Campbell formally stepping down from the role from January.

In the meantime Campbell will continue his role as chairman of the blue-chip user group the Corporate IT Forum while he considers his next career move.

He said: "I have had one or two offers but I am going to take my time and not jump too quickly."

Wilde's background includes senior IT roles at Allied Domecq, British American Tobacco, Volvo and a spell as an independent consultant working for BP and SAB Miller.