Having started as an HR Consultant, I support a number of clients across a range of industries with ER issues, Redundancies, Performance Management, TUPE, Training and General policy advice.

Oversee the HR element for all projects, looking for opportunities to support further and put together new proposals ready to present to the business.• Created a master file for all current projects which I oversee. Discuss with HR Director and also all HR Business Partners with regard to their own projects.• Project lead on Company car proposal to not only save money but to look at the fleet become more green.• Supporting with Employee Wellbeing projects• Working on a company wide pay and reward strategy• Revisit the Right to Work process in line with future legal changes.

Manage the HR Support centre responsible for support - Manage 3 employees to deliver first rate service to the business.• Project managed the implementation of a Learning Management System to support compliance training as well as bespoke bookseller training. Lead the project from initiation to implementation.• Collaborated with several directors to introduce new IT equipment and Microsoft teams into all shops to enable the new LMS and facilitate in-store learning.• Revised the holiday process throughout the business managing the system end of reporting and providing monthly reports for directors, making recommendations and creating guidelines for all employees.• Worked with payroll to implement the 2021and 2022 pay reviews on the system, managed any anomalies and suggested a number of system improvements.• Implemented the retail restructure onto the HR system, managed the training of new Area Rota Supports to ensure they are working efficiently.• Carry out a full audit of all employee information held on the HR system, ensuring that errors are corrected and training carried out to prevent future mistakes. Put together monthly reports to spot issues earlier, identify training needs.• Introduced the performance management module within the HR system to record predicted ratings, to allow the business to see the cost of potential promotions, as well as the actual rating.• Introduced 2-Factor Authentication across the business to the HR System and managed through a number of issues working with the system provider and IT teams.• Developed improvements to recruitment process, company car management, leavers process.• Main point of contact for all HR System queries for the entire company working closely with Head of Retail and Head of HR to discuss current issues and how we could support.• Worked with HR Business Partners to seek improvements to the ER processes by enabling the system to be used for recording disciplinary and grievances.

Newly created role to look at opportunities to improve the business, cut current costs, improve employee wellbeing, act compliantly and manage HR system more effectively.• Tendered for a new Travel Partner – having reviewed the existing arrangements which has resulted in savings in excess of £200k• Looked at the current Employee Assistance Programme and initiated the introduction of Retail Trust as the preferred provider saving the company in the region of £6k.• Supported the overhaul of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy to ensure it reached all aspects of the business.• Developed a proposal for an Employee Forum with representatives across the company for a number of areas. This resulted in the first representative being nominated and elected as Health and Safety rep to support the employees return to work after the pandemic.• Improved the current HR related Intranet to enable all employees a better experience and make the pages clearer• Supported the business with managing a number of Head Office redundancies • Carried out a full assessment of the HR Policies and categorized them depending on whether they are urgent and / or necessary. As a result a full suite of policies have been proposed and a timeline in place for them to be drafted and reviewed by the newy formed HR Policy Working Group which I am a member.

• Had HR responsibility for 84 shops and 16 cafes including London, supporting 5 Regional Managers,17 Cluster Leaders and serving as the first point of contact for these shops.• Coached and supported the managers to deal with the day to day ER issues such as disciplinary, grievances and other formal meetings offering clear advice and support.• Created and developed a Talent Mapping programme to identify and engage high performers as well as manage those not meeting expectations.• Developed a succession planning mechanism and discussion to identify and prepare the next managers and promotion opportunities.• Developed and delivered ongoing training programme to enable Bookshop Managers to deal with issues including the introduction of a new performance review process, disciplinaries and investigations, absence management enabling them to start having difficult conversations.• Project lead for the insourcing of a number of Cafe staff across all retail stores and then managed the TUPE process and subsequent training and development. • Fully implemented the Back of House restructure from start to finish within a number of the largest shops within the business. Also dealt with a number of store closures and openings.• Managed a number of long term and short term sickness issues including an unusually high proportion of mental health issues compared to previous companies I have worked for.• Heavily involved in the creation of new roles in the business such as Area recruiters, cluster admin to define the role and then assess the individuals selected.• Played a key role in managing both the internal and external recruitment process across the business, have helped interview for these key roles and supported senior managers to make informed decisions.

• Supporting Managers in volume areas of Retail and Customer Operations, to deliver outcomes of many case types including Grievances, Disciplinaries, Improving Performance, Sickness and Probation.• Have developed and delivered training to People Managers to increase their knowledge in ER covering topics such as Managing Investigations, Sickness, Grievances and Disciplinaries. • Played a key role in a number of projects to support business improvement initiatives such as improving the Compromise Agreement process and the introduction of Civil Recovery and trained the relevant teams accordingly.• Project lead for the successful introduction of Pre-employment screening process throughout the company, and participation in the TIED database collaborating with other telecom.• Acted as the link between Employee Relations and Employee Services delivering training and support to the Employee Help Desk to ensure the managers were fully supported at the first point of contact.• Acting as the ER link in the unification of EE policy and process, supporting in the design of policies and manager guidelines. • Establishing key relationships with the Employee Rep body across a number of Business Areas, attending meetings and supporting in the election process.

• Supported stores in North of England and Scotland – key stakeholders included Territory Manager, 6 Area Managers and 79 Store Managers, with whom I supported in creating robust succession plans, establishing recruitment needs and support in the development of induction and review process.• Responsible for developing and implementing Retail Pay Review 2010, across the whole estate using Performance related pay award. Presented the proposal to the Retail Director and then enabled the key stakeholders across retail to allocate this pay award, ultimately saving the company £ 80k vs budget.• Key stakeholder in development of Retail Performance Management process, including being responsible for all training, website consultation and support for all People Managers. • Attended Area meetings to deliver training on a number of HR issues and update the Managers with policy changes • Identified and developed training programme for Deputy Managers across the Territory to fast track them into Store Management – once model created supported roll out to the whole of Retail.• Supported the Managers to take ownership of own career development by spending time with them discussing their Personal Development and giving feedback where appropriate.• Developed Regional absence management plans to ensure that holidays were monitored and planned and absence was dealt with consistently and fairly.• Supported the Area Managers to deliver the highest participation rates in the “Pulse” surveys and also Sunday Times Best Place to work. Reacting to the results to deliver biggest year on year improvement in company.

• Took career change to be part of re-structured HR function within Head Office • First point of contact for Store Managers in Retail to advise them on points of policy. Also supported all retail employees in matters of grievance, performance management and all other HR issues.• Created a number of reports to enable the managers to understand and action probation reviews, absence management and process leavers therefore reducing Retail overpayments by 68% year on year• Responsible for processing changes such as Family Leave, contractual changes and Organisational Management.• Being involved in departmental projects and attending meetings to help clarify policies.

• Consistently outperformed the company across all KPIs and lead Retail for delivery of Pay Monthly and Pay as you Go.• Delivered high store standard to become Regional Store of Excellence.• Played a key role in assisting with the regional succession plan by recruiting, training and developing several sales people into management grades.

• Became first store manager to achieve all KPIs for six consecutive months in Milton Keynes• Managed Luton from one of the most fraudulent stores in the company into the top 25 beating like for like sales by over 150%, delivering gross profit targets of over £100k per month.

Ran the Peterborough store in the absence of a Store manager for three months. Successfully managed the Fathers Day proposition for the AreaInitiated the implementation of the new Staffing structure. Successfully implemented the Summer Sale / Autumn Look in store.

Successfully managed two stores in Stevenage and Bletchley. Managed Bletchley into top ten in company, with like for like increase in top three. Improved stock result to 0.2% thus making store one of most profitable in company. Consistently delivered good audit result improvement from 53% to 77%.

Successfully managed eight difficult stores in and around London area. Managed district payroll (covered Regional payroll in times of holiday). Consistently reduced shrinkage in EVERY store. Was involved in the recruiting and training of new managers into the business.

Successfully managed a number of shops in the Watford / London area including the flagship shop on Argyll Street

Started as a trainee manager covering every department including working nights. Promoted to provisions manager running dairy, frozen and delicatessen counters. Worked on the Store Committee involved in making localised decisions.