Claire Hamon CIO50 2008

Claire Hamon joined the construction and building maintenance company Rok Group in August 2007, with responsibility for developing an information systems strategy to support the business and rapid, acquisition-driven business growth.

Hamon brings a solid technical background to the CIO role, having studied computing at the London Computer Electronic School and cut her teeth as a programmer. At Lloyds TSB she initiated and ran an 800 man-year groupwide Y2K programme, involving 29 UK and 21 international subsidiaries. She then moved into retail ecommerce at the bank.

At this point in her career, Hamon undertook an MBA at Bath University specialising in change management. Afterwards she put the training into practice when she joined the Crown Prosecution Service as CIO, overseeing a massive IT-led transformation programme.

Despite her technical background, Hamon stresses the importance of speaking the language of business and talking in terms of business outcomes and she considers herself to be sector agnostic.

In a recent interview about her role at Rok, Hamon told silicon.com: "I think me coming here at a time when the business is growing so dramatically is a very, very exciting time. I think it's a good match in terms of the skills I bring and the opportunities they want to see. The focus in the first instance is about getting stability in the core platforms and building from there."

In her spare time Hamon can often be found on the rugby field playing left wing or full back for her local team - a sport she only took up playing a few years ago. She claims she is fast and has good hands but admits to being a "terrible kicker".