I'm responsible for all aspects of the UK HR function, as well as for its growing Continental Europe operations. This includes approximately 1,400 people.
Previous jobs (both HR and non-HR)?
In my youth I tried a variety of holiday jobs including carpet salesman, Swiss roll roller, and occasional barman - all good experience for a career in HR. More recently I worked in HR for the industrial gases company, Air Products, as a general HR manager, including three years in France.
Why did you choose to work for BNFL Environmental Services?
BNFL Environmental Services was, and still is, going through an immense transformation as it gears up to deal with the commercial marketplace. Its future success depends heavily on the skills and knowledge of its highly trained workforce.
What key skills do you need to be successful in your current role?
The successful HR practitioner combines the roles of lawyer, counsellor, negotiator, communicator, social worker and change manager.
What do you enjoy most about your current job?
Being involved from the start as this specialist business group of BNFL evolves and takes shape is particularly rewarding. There is a real sense of building a business and actively managing change as we move towards having real commercial focus.
What do you enjoy least about your job?
Managing employee terminations and redundancies is part of every HR manager's job. I don't think anyone enjoys doing it.
What is the most important contribution that HR can make to a business?
HR policies have to pass the 'added value' test. Our line manager customers are under a lot of commercial pressure and judge HR on its contribution to their business success.
If you weren't working for BNFL Environmental Services, which company would you most like to work for?
I admire the internationalism and 'can-do' approach of some of the large high-tech companies - Intel is a good example.
Which business person, outside BNFL, do you admire most?
I think Bill Gates is under-rated - he has had terrible press coverage over the past few years. However, he has built one of the world's biggest businesses, developed new technology which helps all of us to do our jobs better and made many of his employees rich in the process.