About me
I’ve spent my career helping organisations improve performance through people, leadership and operational change.
For more than 25 years I’ve worked in senior leadership roles across government, higher education and large commercial organisations, leading major people, operational and cultural transformation.
As Government Chief People Officer, I helped shape workforce strategy across the Civil Service, covering more than 525,000 employees. At UCL, I led operations across HR, Digital, Estates, Procurement and Shared Services. At Compass Group in the UK, I led large-scale HR and cultural transformation across a workforce of over 60,000 people.
What connects all of those roles is this: organisations rarely fail because they lack strategy.
They struggle because delivery, management capability and organisational culture don’t keep pace with what the organisation is trying to achieve.
That’s the work I now focus on as an independent consultant.
How I Work
I work with senior leaders to understand what is really getting in the way of performance, whether that sits in leadership capability, organisational structure, management culture, unclear accountability or an HR function that has become too overwhelmed.
My approach is practical, collaborative and grounded in operational reality. I care about whether things work in practice, not just whether they sound good in a strategy document.
That usually means helping organisations:
- improve the effectiveness of HR and people functions
- strengthen line management capability
- develop more commercially credible HRBPs
- improve organisational culture and leadership behaviours
- make large-scale transformation more sustainable
Career Highlights
Government Chief People Officer
I led workforce strategy across the Civil Service, covering approximately 525,000 employees.
This included:
- developing a new Civil Service People Strategy
- establishing government wide leadership and line management standards
- sponsoring the Government Shared Services strategy targeting £4bn of benefits
- improving workforce planning capability across government
- strengthening digital and leadership capability
UCL
As Vice President Operations, I had executive responsibility for HR, Digital, Estates, Procurement, Shared Services and Student Services.
I led major operational and cultural transformation, including:
- establishing shared services across multiple functions
- improving staff satisfaction from the bottom to the top quartile as externally benchmarked
- leading large-scale digital and operational programmes
- overseeing the development of UCL East at Stratford Olympic Park
Compass Group
As HR Director for Compass Group UK & Ireland, I supported a workforce of around 60,000 employees across a £2bn business.
The work included:
- large-scale HR transformation
- reducing HR costs while improving service quality
- improving recruitment capability and operational delivery
- supporting business growth and improving the organisation’s operating model and sales culture
I now work independently with organisations that want experienced, delivery-focused support from someone who understands the realities of leading change inside complex organisations.
If that sounds relevant to the challenges you’re facing, I’d be happy to have a conversation.
