Job title: HR director
Company: B&Q
What are your key responsibilities?
I am accountable to the B&Q board for HR across the whole business, covering 33,000 employees in six countries.
Previous jobs? (both HR and non-HR)
At Nationwide I was a branch manager, then management trainer, head of management development, head of group profitability, head of retail planning and head of retail HR. Most recently at Kingfisher I was director of resourcing and reward.
Why did you choose B&Q?
It is an incredibly successful business with its own distinctive culture. From the moment I walked in the door I felt at home.
What attracted you to a career in HR?
I like to think that my career isnt in HR as a board director I am as much a general manager as an HR professional and my previous career has covered operations, strategy and planning.
What key skills do you need to be successful in your current role?
Leadership.
What do you enjoy most about your current job?
Seeing people prosper and grow with the business.
What do you enjoy least about your job?
Distractions from outside B&Q, but within the group.
What has been your greatest achievement in work?
Building entirely new models of product, brand and customer profitability in financial services.
What is the most important contribution that HR can make to a business?
As custodian of culture and values, working through the board.
If you werent working for B&Q, which company would you most like to work for?
The England Rugby Football Union.
Which business person, outside of B&Q, do you admire most?
James Dyson of the bagless cleaner fame. He makes terrific products, founded on innovation, and he understands the people dimension enough to build a great work environment.
What measures do you use to test whether you are doing a good job?
Employee commitment, customer satisfaction and profit.
Which book has had the greatest influence on you?
Winston Churchills History of the English Speaking Peoples. When I was nine, the four volumes presented history as a great yarn and lit a passion in me for history that I still have today.
