Three-dimensional number five painted in cream with a black shadow on a green surface.

5 minutes with…

In 2023, I set out to interview people working across delivery and project management to share real, grounded insights, straight from those doing the work.

The result is 45 short reads exploring what really makes delivery tick, from career paths and challenges to the mindsets and skills that matter most.

If you’d like to be featured, I’d love to hear from you.

Happy reading!

A list of all articles

  1. Indira Reyes Oviedo is a Project Manager and Scrum Master with degree in Organisational Psychology.

  2. Darren McCormac is a Senior Delivery Manager in the public and charity sectors, focused on team culture. He delivered Europe’s first fully online passport service and led a major AWS migration after a cyber-attack.

  3. Stew Livingstone is a people-first delivery management leader based in Manchester. With over 15 years’ experience, he’s passionate about enabling teams through leadership, coaching, and removing obstacles to their success.

  4. Sam Sharpe is a Delivery Manager at Hippo after spending 7 years in central Government and Citizens Advice. She’s passionate about helping people do their best work.

  5. Elizaveta Koroleva is a Senior Project Manager at Cyber-Duck leading high-performance web projects that blend business needs, product goals, and user experience.

  6. Damien O'Connor is a delivery and change leader in the energy sector, with over 20 years’ experience across technology and energy, and a guest lecturer in Agile at Cardiff University.

  7. James Leigh is Head of Consultancy at James Chase Consulting, bringing over a decade of experience in project and stakeholder management to digital delivery.

  8. Alex Leppert is a Delivery Lead based in Liverpool, with over a decade of experience across industries and a passion for launching great team efforts into the real world.

  9. Darrell Larkin is a Senior Delivery Lead at Valtech, based in Manchester, focused on empowering teams to deliver excellence across digital transformation projects.

  10. Kelly Falconer is Marketing Delivery & Team Manager at Holiday Extras, where she’s spent over 15 years growing from software testing into delivery, people leadership, and coaching.

  11. Jonny William is Chief Digital Adviser for the UK Public Sector at Red Hat and author of Delivery Management: Enabling Teams to Deliver Value. With over a decade of experience, he now helps organisations adopt effective, modern ways of working.

  12. Daniel Egan is a Product Owner based in Cape Town, with a background in hospitality and a passion for empowering teams to grow, thrive, and go the extra mile.

  13. Simon Houghton has over 20 years’ experience in software delivery, specialising in Agile ways of working to help teams and individuals reach their full potential.

  14. Holly Davis is Head of Delivery at Torchbox, with over 13 years’ experience in digital agencies. She’s the founder of the Digital Delivery Slack community and a mentor helping agencies improve how they deliver.

  15. Dan Maw is Head of Delivery at Tall, a digital brand experience agency. With 13 years’ experience starting as a developer, he now leads delivery and sits on the senior management team.

  16. Scott Drayton is a Principal Delivery Manager based in Somerset, with a strong track record of progression within his company over the past 18 months.

  17. Shauna McDonagh is Operations and Delivery Lead at Superscript, an Insurtech based in London. With 6 years’ experience in delivery and a background in UK insurance call centres, she brings a practical, customer-focused approach.

  18. Rich Cassidy is Head of Strategic Delivery & Operations at Camden Council. With 10 years’ experience at organisations like FutureGov and GDS, he’s passionate about solving complex challenges with a sense of fun.

  19. Billie Watt is a Senior Project Manager at The Creative Copywriter, a fast-growing agency in Norwich. With 5 years’ experience, she thrives on balancing multiple priorities and delivering client-focused results.

  20. Andreea Daly is founder and director of SaaSy, a systems expert who fell into project management 6 years ago and has been immersed in software ever since. She’s based near Reading.

  21. Jamie Harris joined the British Army at 18 before discovering project management. With nearly 17 years’ experience, he is now Head of Delivery at Inardua, a specialist consultancy.

  22. Jack Stapleton is a Partnerships Consultant at Northcoders and former recruitment consultant at Digital Gurus in Manchester, specialising in hiring for Delivery Manager roles and building long-term community relationships.

  23. Aidan Roberts is a London-based project, producer, and product manager with 13 years’ experience, passionate about building collaborative, high-performing teams.

  24. Nina Dunwoody is Lead Data Delivery Manager at Co-op, a certified Scrum Master and is currently pursuing APMG Change Management certification. Based in Cheshire, she brings a motivated, sports-driven mindset as a qualified triathlon coach.

  25. Ian Ames has 22 years’ experience helping multidisciplinary teams deliver user-centred digital and IT services, primarily within government. He is based in Plymouth.

  26. Brett Harned is a founding voice in digital project management, creator of the Digital PM Summit, and author of Project Management for Humans. He helps clients solve project challenges with a human-centered approach and hosts the Sprints and Milestones podcast. Brett is based near Philadelphia, USA.

  27. Helen Smailes is a Senior Games Producer based in West Yorkshire, with over 15 years’ experience in e-commerce and games. She champions Agile methods and is currently working on the mini open-world game Walkies.

  28. Jemima Monteith-Thomas is Head of Standards and Product at the Centre for Digital Public Services, helping the Welsh public sector design and deliver user-centred services. She has over 10 years’ public sector experience.

  29. Janine Sheridan is a Lead Delivery Manager at Made Tech, with 15 years’ experience in local government. Based in London, she’s passionate about fostering positive work environments and helping people find job satisfaction.

  30. Dan Richardson is Programme Manager for green hydrogen projects at ITM Power, following 9 years in a tech scale-up. He lives in Sheffield with his wife and two daughters.

  31. Devon Noake is a Project Manager with over 9 years’ experience across varied industries. Originally from the North of England, she now enjoys life by the beach in New Zealand, bringing a friendly, personal approach to her work.

  32. Melissa Joy is a Product Manager at giffgaff with over 9 years’ experience in IT, specialising in website and app development. She lives in Witney, Oxfordshire with her husband, two children, and two cats.

  33. Becky Hutchings is a Senior Project Manager at the Ministry of Justice, having transitioned from 11 years in e-learning. She is based in Sheffield.

  34. Laura Burnett is Delivery Director at Made Tech, specialising in people-focused product delivery. She has extensive experience leading global teams and driving positive change in the public sector.

  35. Tom Hoyland is an Expert Agile and DevOps Practitioner, Coach, and Mentor at That Agile. With nearly 20 years in tech, he leads global Agile and digital transformations focused on building teams and accelerating business impact.

  36. Manisha Patel is a Project Management professional with over 14 years’ experience delivering Waterfall and Agile projects for websites and mobile apps. She is PRINCE2 and SCRUM certified and specialises in building tailored PMO functions and processes.

  37. Emma Peel is Head of Delivery at Co-op. She has a background in agencies including McCann Erickson and Code Computerlove, with a brief period in the Civil Service at DWP.

  38. Pete Ward is Delivery Deputy Director at NHS England. He has delivered software for major companies, worked in health and education in rural Peru, and led digital teams supporting teacher recruitment and retention in England.

  39. Pieter Mouton is a Delivery Lead at Equal Experts with 20 years’ experience across industries in South Africa and the UK. He’s passionate about Scrum, Kanban, and Flow Framework to help teams deliver sustainably. Based in Cape Town.

  40. Agnieszka Kowalczuk-Hum is a freelance digital project manager balancing work at Bravand with motherhood to her 1.5-year-old. She has 12 years’ experience in project and program management across production and IT. Based in Gdynia, Poland.

  41. Richard Norris Richard is the founder of Morus Digital and currently works with the GOV.UK team at GDS. With 15 years’ experience leading digital projects and programmes, he has also worked at dxw and the Open Data Institute. He is based in London.

  42. James Peel is Head of Digital Agile Delivery at Jaguar Land Rover, where he’s helped build a thriving tech hub in Manchester and deliver transformative products. He also makes good pizza and great cocktails

  43. Sarah Dowling is Head of Delivery Operations at the BBC, with over 20 years’ experience across startups, agencies, and large organisations including The FA and Just Eat. She currently supports portfolio delivery for BBC digital products and is leading the rollout of Jira Align to 100+ teams.

  44. Steven Sampson-Jones is a Senior Partner at TPXimpact and an experienced visual facilitator. Since 2008, he’s worked in central government, specialising in agile delivery and visual thinking to support creative, impactful change.

  45. Anna Sherrington is Head of Delivery for GOV.UK at GDS, with over 16 years’ experience in digital delivery across agencies, the charity sector, and government. She joined GDS in 2017 and is based in London.