Birmingham, England, United Kingdom
I lead people and culture strategy for purpose-led organisations, building the HR function that lets charities operate at their best. As Head of HR at The British Horse Society — the UK's largest equine charity — I work alongside the executive team to translate people strategy into organisational outcomes. A people strategy I designed contributed to a 6% increase in membership and 15% income growth within two years. A data-led overhaul of our recruitment approach cut time-to-hire by 30% and cost-per-hire by 57%. My work spans OD, DEI, employee experience, workforce planning, wellbeing, and change management, and the provision of data and updates to the Board of Trustees. I'm a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD with cross-sector experience across charities, FE, and international commercial law. If you fancy a chat about HR stuff, leadership, your top five biscuits, or the Eurovision Song Contest drop me a message!
The British Horse Society is the UK's largest equine welfare and membership charity, with c200 employees and 125,000 members. I lead the People function of 5, partnering with the CEO and Executive Team to align HR strategy with organisational performance and a values-led culture. Designed and delivered a people strategy tied directly to organisational objectives, contributing to a 6% increase in membership and 15% income growth within two years. Rebuilt recruitment using a data-led approach: reduced time-to-hire by 30%, cut cost-per-hire by 57%, and grew LinkedIn employer brand visibility by 58%. Created the organisation's first DEI strategy. Recruited a dedicated DEI Trustee and established an external Advisory Group, positioning BHS as a sector leader on inclusion. Redesigned policy, benefits and reward across the workforce: reduced voluntary turnover by 5% and generated £120k in-year savings. A targeted base pay review in the administrative workforce reduced attrition in that group by a further 2%. Delivered an ILM-accredited Coaching and Mentoring programme for 30 line managers, achieving a 100% pass rate. Launched an e-learning platform and L&D strategy, increasing employee satisfaction by 6%. Built a wellbeing strategy following organisation-wide listening — covering mental health support, wellness initiatives, and agile working — reducing absenteeism by 3% and increasing satisfaction by 7%. Procured and implemented a new HRIS, eliminating 80% of manual HR processes and reducing technology costs by 8%.
Senior HR leadership across one of the UK's largest FE colleges, in a complex, unionised, multi-site environment undergoing significant financial transformation. Led concurrent collective redundancy programmes as part of a major financial recovery plan, delivering pay savings of approximately £1.5m. Simultaneously managed a complex TUPE-out following the closure of Stourbridge College, transferring teaching provision to two separate institutions. Redesigned the operating model for the Security function, negotiating new terms and conditions: achieved 100% staff sign-up and annual savings of £100k. Transformed HR service delivery through process redesign and technology adoption (Office 365, ticketing systems): reduced time-to-resolution from 21 days to 48 hours and reached 98% customer satisfaction. Achieved Disability Confident status through a structured review of recruitment and selection processes in collaboration with employee resource groups.
HR leadership across a nine-site cultural and educational charity operating in a unionised environment. Established the HR function from scratch: built core processes, policies, and a cross-site clinic model to serve staff across all nine locations. Introduced a structured job evaluation and salary benchmarking framework, improving pay fairness and market alignment across the organisation. Implemented a new HRIS and built a suite of people KPI reports for the senior management team, contributing to a 1% reduction in sickness absence and 2% reduction in voluntary turnover.
Project managed concurrent collective redundancy exercises, reducing headcount by 25 and delivering salary savings of approximately £450k per annum. Led HR preparation for a Care Quality Commission inspection, with the business area meeting all inspected standards. Project managed the HR strand of a pilot Emergency Transport Attendant training programme: 12 candidates, 100% pass rate, and on-time delivery of an agreed SLA with West Midlands Ambulance Service.
Project managed the HR programme for the Government-mandated closure of the MLA, reducing compulsory redundancies to 44% of the workforce through outplacement support and a voluntary redundancy scheme. Managed a redeployment programme to Arts Council England following the transfer of museum and library responsibilities: 35% of at-risk employees redeployed under COSOP. Led the HR strand of a complex inwards TUPE transfer from nine regional agencies, including negotiation and harmonisation of terms and conditions.