Audrey Low has been appointed as an international consultant with William M Mercer, based in London. She will advise on employee benefits and HR issues, drawing on her experience with HR information systems. Low joins Mercer from HCM International, a global HR consultancy, where she spent four years as an associate consultant supporting global clients in the area of employee benefits.
Susan Atkins has just taken up the role of director of the Women’s Unit after spending 18 months as head of the Probation Unit. A qualified solicitor, Atkins began her career in local government and went on to hold a range of personnel positions, many of which involved modernisation and managing change. She has a long-standing interest in equality issues and spent 12 years as a law academic specialising in women and law before joining the Civil Service in 1989. She was also deputy chief executive at the Equal Opportunities Commission from 1993 to 1995. As the Home Office’s departmental equal opportunities officer from 1996-1999, she played a leading role in developing the department’s race equality strategy. Atkins took up her post on 30 October, replacing Fiona Reynolds, who is leaving to become director-general of the National Trust.
Trudy Hindmarsh has taken up the post of head of personnel for the Alzheimer’s Society. Hindmarsh will be responsible for setting up a personnel department for the society’s 1,000 staff across the UK. She joins from palliative care specialist Trinity Hospice, where she was personnel manager, and has previously worked for the RNIB as employee relations adviser, the Red Cross and the NHS.
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Trevor Bromelow, personnel director of Siemens, has been made a member of the Institute for Employment Studies council. Along with two other new appointments, Bernard Harty and Bert Massie, Bromelow will support the IES’s development as the UK’s centre for independent research and consultancy on employment policy and practice and HR management. He is responsible for strategic vision and direction of HR throughout the company’s UK activities. He served two years as CIPD vice-president of training and development and is a board member of the European Vocational College. He is also chairman of the CBI Southern Region HR forum and chairman of the EEF employment policy committee. Bernard Harty is chairman of Dexia Municipal Bank and Bert Massie is chairman of the disability rights commission.
Manchester-based health and safety consultancy Employee Management has appointed Jenny Grand as senior management consultant. A fellow of the CIPD and a long-standing member of its Manchester Branch Committee, Grand has 20 years of experience in HR management. She has spent the past 12 years as head of personnel in both public and private-sector organisations.
