Scaled digital operations
Led technology and eCommerce foundations that supported growth from roughly £250k turnover to a peak of around £12m.
Open to permanent IT leadership roles
Technology leadership for lean teams, complex platforms and real-world delivery.
I help businesses run reliable systems, scale eCommerce, manage suppliers, reduce technology spend and deliver pragmatic change without unnecessary disruption.
- Based
- Bournemouth, UK
- Focus
- IT leadership, planning, vendors, delivery
- Style
- Pragmatic, calm, commercially aware
Profile
Senior IT and digital operations leader with a bias for useful change.
For the past 15 years I have led technology, eCommerce platforms and digital operations for an established UK SME operating across wholesale, retail and online channels. I report at owner level, manage strategy, budgets, suppliers, security, delivery and business continuity, and get the maximum output from small teams and sensible budgets.
I am looking for a stable, permanent role where I can bring leadership, planning, vendor management, delivery oversight and calm operational judgement to a business that values practical technology.
Selected impact
Commercial outcomes, not technology theatre.
Examples of measurable work delivered while keeping cost, resilience and operational fit in focus.
Delivered major replatforming
Migrated B2B and B2C storefronts from legacy platforms to Magento, spanning two installations, four front ends, bespoke extensions and integrations.
Controlled infrastructure spend
Reduced combined hosting costs from about £5,400 per month to under £2,000 by re-architecting, right-sizing and automating scheduled scaling.
Improved customer experience
Platform improvements were reflected in a B2B survey where 95% of 120+ respondents rated the experience 9/10 or 10/10.
Built new channel capability
Launched and grew marketplace operations that now average more than 200 orders per day, requiring reliable process, fulfilment and platform support.
Reduced multi-site costs
Replaced an expensive managed digital signage platform across hospitality sites with a self-hosted, low-cost endpoint model.
Core strengths
Leadership across strategy, service and delivery.
IT leadership
People management
Technology roadmaps
Stakeholder management
Budget ownership
Supplier negotiation
eCommerce operations
Cloud optimisation
Monitoring & alerting
Incident response
Backups & recovery
Security remediation
Multi-site IT
International delivery
Experience
Technology ownership without exposing private employer details.
Company names are intentionally omitted. The focus is on scope, responsibility and outcomes.
Nov 2012 — Present
CTO / Head of Technology — UK importer, wholesaler and eCommerce retailer
- Own technology direction across eCommerce, infrastructure, workplace IT, suppliers and business continuity.
- Lead a multi-discipline UK team covering IT, admin, eCommerce operations and graphics, plus international delivery support when required.
- Manage supplier relationships end-to-end across hosting, services, hardware, SaaS, renewals, procurement and commercial negotiation.
- Act as final escalation for incidents, protecting data, reducing downtime and implementing preventative improvements.
Ongoing
Technology Lead — 3-site hospitality group
- Delivered end-to-end technology for multi-site hospitality operations including EPOS, payment systems, CCTV, networking and menu display technology.
- Replaced high-cost managed signage with a self-hosted solution and low-cost endpoints to reduce annual running costs.
Earlier career
IT Technician — national electronics retailer
- Supported workplace IT and end-user issues in a fast-paced retail technology environment.
Technology
Hands-on enough to challenge, senior enough to delegate.
I understand the platforms and operational details, while staying focused on governance, prioritisation, reliability and business value.
Platforms
Magento, OpenCart, integrations, payment flows, marketplaces and B2B/B2C customer experience.
Cloud & hosting
AWS-based hosting, Cloudways, scaling automation, SSL/TLS, backups, restore planning and cost control.
Operations
Monitoring, alerting, uptime oversight, performance tuning, incident response and resilience procedures.
Workplace IT
Networks, UniFi Wi‑Fi, switching, endpoints, support workflows and multi-site technology rollouts.
Data & search
MySQL, Elasticsearch, OpenSearch and practical data-led operational improvements.
What I am looking for
A permanent role where technology supports the business, not the other way around.
Ideal fit: IT Manager, Head of Technology, Technology Operations Manager, Digital Operations Lead, eCommerce Platform Owner or similar leadership role.
I am especially well suited to SMEs that need structure, supplier control, reliability, sensible planning and calm delivery leadership.
Contact
Interested in a conversation?
For permanent IT leadership, technology operations, supplier management or eCommerce platform roles, email me and I will get back to you.
tom@serallo.co.uk
Employer names, home address and phone number are intentionally not published here.