Nirupa Wikramanayake Will Take Over From Garry Dowdle in 2023

Irwin Mitchell has appointed Nirupa Wikramanayake as its new Chief Information Officer (CIO).

Currently Chief Transformation Director at Irwin Mitchell, Nirupa will take over as outgoing CIO Garry Dowdle steps down after six years at Irwin Mitchell to focus on non-exec director and coaching roles.

Nirupa joined Irwin Mitchell from Santander in January 2022 as Chief Transformation Director. With over 20 years’ experience of working in CIO functions she has a passion for delivering technology that enables client growth and customer experience. Nirupa will be working with Garry to transition into her new role prior to Garry leaving Irwin Mitchell at the end of December 2022. Reporting directly into CEO Andrew Tucker she will also be a member of the Group Executive Committee.

Nirupa said: “It’s a really exciting time to be taking over the running of the CIO team. My love of technology was evidenced by my career change after university from international development to securing a place on the Microsoft graduate programme. It was an exciting time to be in the tech space and see how technology enables client experience.

“Our CIO tech strategy at Irwin Mitchell supports this client-centric evolution, and presents a huge opportunity for our business.  With strong partnerships in place - including with Microsoft, Peppermint, Vodafone and Advanced -we are building sustainable and accessible applications for the future enabling us to quickly adapt to our clients’ and colleagues’ needs.

“I would like to take the opportunity to thank Garry for his dedication and vision to lead this Transformation journey. He has laid the foundation of the strategy, talent and partnerships for our next phase.”

Andrew Tucker, Group Chief Executive at Irwin Mitchell said: “To ensure the success of our business we need to continue to ensure we have the right technology, processes and data in place to meet our ambitions for the future and evolve how our clients interact with us. Nirupa’s experience and drive will be fundamental in our progress and we are excited about her appointment to CIO.

“The expectations of both colleagues and clients are changing rapidly, due in part to the significant and ongoing improvements in technology, and we need to ensure that we are best placed to set ourselves up for long-term sustainable success.”

Since joining Irwin Mitchell as CIO in 2016, Garry Dowdle developed Irwin Mitchell’s strategy and capabilities as a business and built the current CIO team and partnerships to meet the firm’s needs for now and in the future. Garry has also been a key member of Irwin Mitchell’s board during his time with the business and lead the development of the firm’s Responsible Business strategy.

Andrew Tucker added: “Garry leaves us in excellent shape to continue our digital transformation and we wish him well as he looks to use the expertise and experience gained from his successful career to date to support other businesses in non-exec director and coaching roles; not least his commitment to responsible business, where his time as Board sponsor at Irwin Mitchell was hugely successful in driving our ambitions in that area.”