The telecoms firm’s chief customer officer tells Tim Healey why the brand is focused on giving customers more reasons to stay, not joining a race to the bottom on price.
You’ve worked across telecoms, banking and the Post Office before joining Tesco Mobile as chief customer officer in March 2025. What have been the defining chapters of your career so far?
Looking back, two themes run through my career: a curiosity about how technology impacts people, and a fascination with the power of storytelling to shape human experience. At university, I studied both classics and computer science – not at the same time! – and that unusual combination laid the foundation for everything I’ve done since. Computer science taught me how systems work, the importance of testing, and how to build robust, scalable solutions. Classics taught me about narrative, persuasion, human behavior, and the power of language.
I started at BT as a content producer in the dial-up, pre-DSL era. Even then, it wasn’t just about the technology – it was about helping customers make sense of it, creating engaging journeys, and making complex services feel accessible and valuable.
From there, I joined Demon Internet as a product manager. My first project was leading a trial launch of broadband, which quickly scaled into a multi-million-pound product. That time really reinforced something I’ve believed ever since: technology only matters if it changes people’s lives.
After telecoms, I moved into financial services with Barclays for seven years, working across retail and business banking. There I deepened my expertise in customer journeys, digital experiences, and test-and-learn approaches at scale, learning how to optimise for both customer value and business outcomes.
I then joined the Post Office, taking on a broader remit with full-funnel responsibility across customer support, propositions, digital channels, and marketing.
In 2025, I returned to telecoms as chief customer officer at Tesco Mobile. Telecoms has always fascinated me because these services sit at the heart of everyday life: enabling connection, work, entertainment, and relationships. Being back in this sector, leading a customer-led brand, feels like a natural continuation of a career built around putting technology in service of human experience.
What’s the offer at Tesco Mobile?
Everything we do starts with our brand promise: we care for human connection. Our focus is on helping people stay connected in ways that really matter – with family, with friends, and with the world around them.
We’re a virtual network operator running on the O2 network, and a long-standing joint venture between Tesco and Virgin Media O2. We’ve been operating for over 20 years, making us the longest-running virtual operator in the UK.
Our offer includes a wide range of mobile phones, flexible data and voice packages, as well as tablets, smartwatches, and other connected technology and accessories. Tesco Clubcard members enjoy extra perks, including better pricing, great deals, no price hikes during their contract (on Clubcard Price offers), plus the Clubcard points they earn each month on their Tesco Mobile bill. All our customers also get EU roaming included. Together, these benefits deliver real added value, making the experience more rewarding for our customers.
One of our real points of difference is our people. With over 500 Tesco Mobile Phone Shops in Tesco stores across the UK, customers can get help in person, in real time, which is increasingly rare in the market. That personal support is a tangible way we bring our “human connection” promise to life, helping customers feel supported, confident and genuinely connected.
Tesco Mobile is doing well. Turnover is up 4.7% year-on-year. What’s coming up in 2026?
I joined a really strong business at a good moment, but we’re also very realistic about the market we’re in. Mobile is a mature category, cost of living pressures are still very real for customers, competitors will continue to push hard on price, and we’re likely to see new entrants from adjacent sectors. All of that increases the risk of mobile becoming commoditized.
Our response to that isn’t to chase a race to the bottom. Instead, 2026 is about leaning into what genuinely differentiates us, while also being very clear about why customers should actively choose Tesco Mobile over both MNOs and other MVNOs.
Part of that is absolutely our Tesco-ness. Being part of the wider Tesco ecosystem allows us to deliver real, everyday value through Clubcard, strong propositions and trusted service – our commitment to no price hikes mid-contract for Clubcard Price customers and continuing to include EU Roaming are two great examples – at a time when many customers have seen repeated price increases elsewhere.
But it’s not just about existing Tesco shoppers. We also see a big opportunity to attract customers from across the market based on the strength of our overall offer: great products, competitive pricing, clear and simple propositions, brilliant customer service and ease at every touchpoint. Whether customers engage with us online or in one of our 500+ stores, we focus on making things straightforward, human and supportive.
Our existing customers remain our key asset, and our priority is to protect and build on that by giving customers more reasons to stay, while also growing our base in a sustainable way. For us, success in 2026 is about standing out in a crowded market by combining value, trust and service, and building long-term relationships rather than chasing short-term wins.
How are the best marketing teams structured?
In my experience, the best marketing teams aren’t defined by org charts – they are defined by clarity and trust. They’re empowered, well supported, and very clear on their vision, purpose and what success looks like.
High-performing teams know exactly what they’re there to do, who they need to work with, and how decisions get made. Roles are clear, but collaboration is built in, through shared goals, shared metrics and shared accountability, so people feel confident working across disciplines rather than protecting their own patch.
When you combine that clarity with trust and a genuine spirit of collaboration, teams move faster, make better decisions, and deliver stronger outcomes both for customers and for the business.
How do you manage to surf the tidal wave of marketing technology?
I tend to think less about surfing the wave of marketing technology and more about staying immersed in it. There’s a real risk, particularly at senior levels, of skimming the surface and adopting new tools without truly understanding them. That can result in poor decisions and missed opportunities.
That means staying curious, making time for learning, and being comfortable admitting when I don’t yet have the answer. I believe leaders need enough depth to understand how the technology actually works, what problems it’s solving and where its limitations are. I spend time exploring tools directly, testing them, and sometimes breaking them, because that’s how you really learn what’s possible and what isn’t.
My background in computer science means I naturally gravitate towards the underlying architecture as well as the user-facing capability. I’m interested in what’s happening beneath the surface: how data flows, how models are trained, how insights are generated and how those insights can be translated into meaningful customer outcomes.
I am so excited about the pace of change. Marketing technology, for the most part, has been a hugely positive force, providing access to better data and improved insight, with much more precise measurement. The challenge, and the opportunity, is making sure the technology serves the customer and the strategy, not the other way around. That’s where the real value is.
What myth about marketing would you most like to bust?
The myth I’d most like to bust is that marketers somehow aren’t financially literate and need to be taught how to speak to CFOs or training to be taken seriously at board level.
That just doesn’t match reality anymore. Most senior marketers I know spend a huge amount of time building business cases, weighing up investment trade-offs and being directly accountable for growth and returns. That idea – that marketing is all creativity without commercial rigor – feels really out of date.
For me, the issue isn’t that marketers don’t understand the numbers. It’s that marketing is still sometimes treated as a cost rather than a value-creation engine. When you look at marketing as the function that connects customer insight, experience, technology and growth, the financial conversation becomes completely natural.
Could you describe a moment when your instincts and the data pointed in different directions? How did you come to a decision, and what was your takeaway from the experience?
A useful starting point for me is recognizing that my instinct is only ever one data point. However experienced you are, you can still be too close to a problem or emotionally invested in an outcome, so I try to stay very conscious of that.
At the same time, instinct doesn’t come from nowhere. After more than 20 years in marketing and customer experience roles, my gut reactions are often based on patterns I’ve seen repeatedly: how customers behave, where friction might show up, and what tends to fail even when it looks good on paper.
A good example was work I led on digital customer journeys, where performance data suggested that a streamlined, more transactional experience was converting better. My instinct, based on customer feedback and past patterns, was that while short-term conversion looked strong, the experience was storing up problems for trust, understanding and longer-term value.
Rather than choose between instinct and data, we dug deeper. We reviewed where the data came from, what it was and wasn’t telling us, and then brought customers directly into the process through testing and qualitative research. What we found was that the headline metrics were masking confusion and repeat contact further down the journey.
We iterated the experience, tested again, and ended up with a solution that slightly softened the initial conversion but materially improved completion, satisfaction and downstream value.
The takeaway for me was that data isn’t the same as insight. When instinct and data don’t align, that’s usually a signal to ask better questions, not to pick sides. The best decisions come from triangulating experience, data and real customer input, and above all from being comfortable with the fact that sometimes you’ll be wrong, but you’ll learn faster, and more effectively, if you test properly.
What question would you like me to ask the next senior marketer when I interview them?
What advice would you give someone graduating today who’s thinking about a career in marketing, and what do you wish you’d understood earlier yourself?
What’s the biggest revelation you’ve witnessed in the last year that will affect maybe the next 10 years in marketing, other than AI?
One of the biggest shifts I’ve really felt in the last year is the renewed power of high-quality paid TV partnerships – not as media buys, but as genuine collaborations built around shared topics and values.
In 2025, we partnered with Channel 4 on The Great British Phone Switch, which was focused on online safety, how teenagers actually use their phones, and helping parents to have difficult but necessary conversations about mobile use. What really stood out was the level of cut-through and engagement we achieved. It didn’t feel like advertising; it felt like we were part of an important and timely national conversation that mattered to everyone.
For me, that will be key. When you find the right partner, the right subject, and you’re willing to invest the time and effort properly, these partnerships become a very different way to build trust, relevance and rapport with an audience. They allow brands to show up with something meaningful to say, rather than just something to sell.
I think over the next decade we’ll see more marketers moving in this direction, with more thoughtful, content-led partnerships that sit at the intersection of culture, customer need and brand purpose.
What advice might you have for mid-weight marketers looking to move to the next level?
The biggest piece of advice I’d give is to stay curious and keep building your skills, and not just by aiming straight up at the role above you. Some of the most valuable growth comes from looking sideways and outwards, not just upwards. Get exposure to different parts of the business, understand how commercial decisions are made, and spend time learning how customers actually experience your products or services. That broader perspective becomes incredibly powerful as you move into more senior roles.
I’d also put real emphasis on relationships. Build a strong network and look for support beyond your direct line manager: think about developing your peer network, finding mentors and sponsors, and connect with people in other functions. Those relationships often make the biggest difference over time.
And finally, don’t become overly fixated on the next title. Focus on doing the job you’re in really well, adding value, and building a reputation for good judgment and follow-through. If you get that right, the next step tends to take care of itself.
There’s been a lot of conversation when I talk to accomplished marketers about the need to break down silos within marketing teams or indeed within organizations. How might marketing leaders tackle this conundrum?
I’ve been hearing conversations about silos for most of my career, across lots of different organizational models. In my experience, reference to “silos” is often a symptom of misaligned objectives or unclear ownership.
What actually makes the difference is having the right people, clear goals, and strong communication. We work in a fully agile manner, with cross-functional squads collaborating on business priorities. That results in a high level of respect for different disciplines, a shared understanding of how those skills come together, and real clarity on what we’re trying to deliver for customers and the business.
Customer-centricity plays a huge role here. When teams are aligned around a common customer outcome, rather than a functional agenda, collaboration becomes much more natural.
For me, breaking down silos isn’t about reorganizing charts or constantly changing team names. It’s about being clear on priorities, aligning on the same OKRs and KPIs, and making sure everyone understands how their work ladders up to shared goals. When that’s in place, silos usually sort themselves out.
How do you ensure your team stay culturally relevant?
It starts with the team itself. We’ve built a genuinely diverse group – in background, thinking, experience, age and gender – and that really matters when you’re trying to stay in tune with culture rather than just react to it. Diversity isn’t a tick-box: it directly affects how confidently and credibly you can respond to what’s happening in the world around you.
We also work very closely with our agencies, and there’s a lot of trust in those relationships. There’s a healthy ebb and flow in how we collaborate, which means we can move quickly when something’s happening in culture, but also step back and plan more considered, longer-term work.
A big focus for me is learning. We deliberately bake time for upskilling into the working week, so it isn’t something people are expected to do “on top of” their day job. That’s complemented by external speakers, industry events and bringing in different perspectives from outside the organization.
Just as important, though, is sharing learning internally. We’re very intentional about sharing what teams are seeing, testing and learning: what’s worked, what hasn’t and why. Getting teams to present back to each other, share best practice, and be open about failure creates real momentum.
My role in all of this is less about dictating what cultural relevance looks like, and more about creating the space, rhythm and permission for it to happen consistently.
If there’s one thing you know about marketing, it is…?
If there’s one thing I know about marketing, it’s that you always have to start with the customer. Always. Don’t start with the product you want to sell, the service you want to push, or the latest shiny gizmo. Start with the customer.
What are they trying to achieve? What are their real needs? What are the ‘jobs to be done’? Genuine insight comes from really understanding that – and then checking back with the customer again and again as you shape your ideas. If you get that right, marketing becomes less about pushing messages and more about creating experiences that matter, solving real problems, and building trust. That’s how you turn customers into advocates, and a product into a brand people genuinely feel connected to.
You might die tomorrow so make it worth your while. Worth Your While is an independent creative agency helping brands do spectacular stuff people like to talk about. wyw.agency.
This interview has already appeared in The Drum. Discover the best campaigns, industry insights and interviews from world-leading marketers, creatives and more.
