A Masterclass in Retail Tech with Christopher Blatchford, CTO at Kingfisher PLC
How Kingfisher is future-proofing retail, and why modularity wins.
Hi Everyone,
This week on OFFBounds, I sat down with Christopher Blatchford, Global CTO of Kingfisher PLC, the £13B retail giant behind household names like B&Q, Screwfix, Castorama, and Brico Dépôt.
Chris is one of the few CTOs overseeing technology strategy across eight countries and nearly 2,000 stores — and he’s doing it while navigating legacy systems, accelerating AI adoption, and building one of Europe’s fastest-growing DIY marketplaces.
In our conversation, he explained exactly how he’s driving transformation across Kingfisher’s banners and why he believes modularity is more powerful than microservices alone.
Some highlights you don’t want to miss:
🔹 Marketplace strategy at scale – Why B&Q launched a third-party marketplace with over 2 million products, how they built it fast, and how it’s changing the customer journey
🔹 AI with purpose – From real-time stock optimization and markdown forecasting to an AR-powered tool called Lens and a custom-built chatbot, Chris shares how they’re using AI to create real value
🔹 Legacy isn’t the enemy – Kingfisher still runs on SAP ECC6 (yes, really) — and Chris explains how they’re making it work by plugging it into modern cloud infrastructure instead of ripping it out
🔹 Do it yourself, do it for me, or do it with me? – How Kingfisher is adapting its digital and physical strategy to match evolving customer behaviors
🔹 The business case for DEI – Chris doesn’t hold back: “If you’re removing DEI policies on a whim, what else are you willing to compromise on?”
We also talked about what it means to build product-focused teams in traditional retail, why proximity to the customer is critical, and how he went from pushing trolleys at Sainsbury’s to leading Kingfisher’s tech evolution.
If you care about the future of retail, building scalable tech, or just hearing smart people challenge conventional thinking — this is a must-listen.
I’d love to hear your take — reach out to me on LinkedIn and let me know what stood out most.
Until next time,
Paula Macaggi