John Greatrex, group HR director, Unipart

?Greatrex has held a number of HR leadership roles in a variety of sectors both in the UK and internationally

Before joining the Unipart Group Greatrex held senior HR positions in a number of organisations including Diageo and the Dalgety Group.

He currently holds the position of group HR director for the Unipart group of companies. In this role Greatrex is responsible for all aspects of the HR function, as well as leading the company’s CSR activities and the health and safety and payroll functions.

The Unipart Group employs around 10,000 personnel worldwide and has an annual turnover of circa £1 billion. It is a leading UK manufacturer, full service logistics provider, and consultant in operational excellence. Operating across a range of market sectors – including leisure, manufacturing, mobile telecoms, rail, retail and technology – Unipart offers a breadth of services from third-party logistics to expert consultancy.

Greatrex has a special interest in how organisations can build the capabilities needed to achieve transformational change. In particular he has done much work on how to raise productivity levels by combining continuous improvement techniques with an effective employee engagement strategy.