VoCoVo Hires Former Waterstones CFO Emma Hillyard and Ex-CBRE Technology Chief Paul Birkin

VoCoVo has appointed Emma Hillyard as Chief Financial Officer and Paul Birkin as Chief Technology Officer, the retail communications specialist announced on November 3, 2026. Retail Technology Innovation Hub reported the appointments.

Hillyard's CFO Background and Birkin's CTO Mandate

Hillyard has held CFO roles at Waterstones, Blackwells and Alzheimer's Society, working across the private and not-for-profit sectors, including retail. "VoCoVo has achieved strong growth already, and my role is to help make sure we navigate this next period and build on the growth already seen," she said. Hillyard added that culture was a big part of what attracted her to the company.

Birkin has held C-suite positions at CBRE, Experian, Capita, Logica and Cisco. "I've spent much of my career leading large scale transformations where technology can make a visible difference," he said. Birkin said AI has the potential to create business value as retail becomes increasingly intelligent, and that his focus is on turning that potential into tangible value for customers.

Beth Worrall on the Two Appointments

CEO Beth Worrall said the pair bring two highly complementary areas of expertise to VoCoVo. "Emma helps ensure we have the right commercial foundations and insight to scale sustainably, while Paul helps us accelerate our technology roadmap and innovation to create greater impact for our customers," she said. Worrall said both share the company's focus on people, culture and sustainable value, which she described as critical to its next phase of growth.

VoCoVo's Scale at the Time of the Hires

According to akta.pro company records, VoCoVo crossed one million daily headset users across 39 countries in June 2026, serving more than 75 global retailers and 42,000 stores. The same records show a five-year partnership signed that month with Co-op to deploy Series 5 Pro Headsets to over 2,300 UK stores, following a 114-store pilot that began in February 2026. VoCoVo also launched an AI Gateway, a manufacturer-neutral solution connecting third-party AI systems to store employees through its headsets.

Earlier VoCoVo Leadership and Product Moves

In September 2026, former Aldi UK and Ocado Group executive Ben Serrano joined VoCoVo as Senior Business Development Manager, Retail Technology Innovation Hub reported. That month the outlet also reported VoCoVo's partnership with The Range to roll out Series 5 Pro Headsets and Call Points across all 283 stores, following a one-store trial. In October 2026, the outlet reported that Dunelm became a finalist at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards for upgrading its in-store communications from Series 3 to VoCoVo Series 5 Pro headsets.