Where were you working before and what were your duties?
I was HR director of Genesis Communications. I was responsible for building the strategic leadership and people capabilities needed in the company. I also delivered HR and people development activities.
What qualifications do you hold?
Chartered member of the CIPD and Chartered Institute of Management.
What are the duties in your new role?
My main focus is to help support and drive the company growth over the next five years. I report to the CEO and there are seven people in my team.
What are the main challenges HR faces in the next five years?
Understanding, leading and gaining the respect of all the people that we serve, as well as understanding the potential within our markets/organisational environments.
What is the essential tool in your job?
My pen and a serviette.
And the most overrated?
A clock.
What is the worst thing about HR?
Two-letter abbreviations.
What is the strangest situation you have been in at work?
Meeting my future wife.
Who is your ultimate hero?
Jonathan Ross.
What is the most annoying piece of management jargon?
‘Blamestorming’.
How do you fill your spare time?
I don’t. My wife Sandra and four children (Tilly, Millie, Cale and Micah) do that for me.
What three words would you use to describe yourself?
Relaxed, intense, and confused.
What is your favourite web page?
www.cyprus-online.com/cyprus-weather.htm.
What song gets you on the dance floor?
Love Generation by Bob Sinclair.
What is your worst habit?
Belgian beer (in Belgium).
What is the greatest risk you have ever taken?
Going under the surgeon’s knife for an emergency back operation a week before my wedding. Everything went smoothly and I recovered quickly.
What three items would you take with you on a desert island?
Sunglasses, swimming trunks and a phone.
Who would play you in the film of your life?
Russell Crowe. He has the body and mind of an HR director and a gladiator.
What is the best office party you’ve ever attended?
My leaving do with the Genesis board.
Who would you most like to be stuck in a lift with?
The lift engineer, the lift engineer’s boss and the lift engineer’s HR manager.
Sum up your philosophy on life in one sentence.
You only live once, but you can do it 365 times a year if you want to.
CV
March 2007 – present
Director of HR, learning and development, Advantage (a Morgan Stanley Group company, financial services)
April 2004 – February 2007
HR director, Genesis Communications (business to business mobile communications)
December 2002 – March 2004
Head of HR, DSG International (electrical retailing)
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
January 2000 – November 2002
General manager, business customer service, O2 (telecoms company)
