Exciting time to be in EdTech as Nikki Labrum takes on CDO role at Shaw Education Trust
Nikki Labrum has started a new role as Chief Digital Officer at Shaw Education Trust, a group of academies in the UK covering mainstream, special schools, primary, and further education.
Labrum was previously Transformation Lead at Ormiston Academies Trust. She brings over two decades of expertise working in digital.
Beginning her IT career in 2003 as a web developer, she went on to establish and lead digital teams for organisations predominantly serving the public and third sectors. Her career includes nine years at a global research consultancy, where she worked with clients such as the UK government, the European Commission, and the World Bank, prior to transitioning to the non-profit sector.
Labrum’s specific areas of proficiency are in product development, digital transformation, agile delivery methodologies, and human centred design.
In a LinkedIn post, she said: “I’ve had a wonderful welcome to the trust from colleagues, and an inspiring morning visiting two of our secondary schools in Bury. It’s a super exciting time to be in education technology and I can’t wait to see what we achieve together for our students!”
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
Education technology for frontline employees will be a key focus area at our sister title RTIH’s 2026 Innovation Awards.
The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Check out the 2025 winners here.
RTIH’s 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
