Gareth Powell, group data officer, Irwin Mitchell

At the time of compiling the list, Gareth Powell was director of data, Studio Retail Group.

What has been your path to power?

I have 20 years of experience in the world of data and analytics, with a particular focus on retail, financial services and telecommunications and joined Irwin Mitchell as group data officer in June. The opportunity to advance Irwin Mitchell’s offering through actionable insight is really appealing and I am excited at the prospects for the application of data within the legal sector.

I was previously director of data with Studio Retail Group and prior to this I was group insight and analytics director at TalkTalk. I have also held roles as director of data science and director of customer data and analytics with N Brown Group over the last six years.

Like Studio, my role at Irwin Mitchell encompasses end-to-end responsibility for data and analytics and there is an exciting opportunity to make insight more accessible and intrinsic in decision-making. Irwin Mitchell has a fantastic heritage and is an ambitious organisation with a clear growth strategy as well as being a business with a solid growth trajectory over the last ten years. 

I am a big believer in having commercialised teams aligned to the entities of a business. This enables collaborative and faster decision-making. This, coupled with a “walled garden” data science, approach enables successful value creation which I am looking forward to repeating with Irwin Mitchell.