Lesley Hume CIO50 2008

As group IS director of Atkins Lesley Hume has made a name for herself for both developing the engineering group's worldwide IS strategy, service delivery and customer liaison within the Atkins internal-facing IT group.

Born in Zimbabwe, Hume leads a team of 300 and encourages part-time and flexible working in the IT department at Atkins. At the company's headquarters subsidised treatments from a therapist and a weekly Pilates class are also available to staff.

Hume moved to the UK from Zimbabwe in 1991 and joined engineering and construction company Brown & Root in various IT project management roles before working for parent company Halliburton. There she led a technology refresh across Africa, where she had significant involvement with the group's global IT leadership team.

Hume has a private pilot's licence and enjoys Royal Academy ballet, modern tap and Spanish dancing, in which she also has a teaching qualification.