HUG on Tour in London - it was a blast!

Karren Brady CBE

Baroness Brady of Knightsbridge CBE, is the Vice-Chairman of West Ham FC, the Senior Non-Executive Director of the Syco and Arcadia Boards and the Small Business Ambassador for the Conservative Party. She ran the business side of Birmingham City FC for 16 years and now keeps watch on Apprentice candidates. Karren’s mantra can be summed up in five tips: work hard (be persistent); network (spread your message); move on (failure is history); don’t get side-tracked: and always do your sums. In her talks she gives a compelling account of her unstoppable success.

Katrina Collier

Katrina Collier works with companies to improve recruitment and candidate experience. She facilitates workshops that uncover technology and process issues that prevent successful talent acquisition. She is also the Author of The Robot-Proof Recruiter, a mentor, leader of The Collective, a global keynote speaker, and co-host of Hear The People.

Perry Timms

Perry Timms MCIPD & FRSA is Founder & Chief Energy Officer of PTHR. He has been 4x voted onto the HR Most Influential Thinker’s List (3x Top 10, and No 2 overall in 2021). He has authored 2 books, Transformational HR (1st & 2nd Editions) & The Energized Workplace. He is a 2x TEDx Speaker, 4x Adjunct Professor/Visiting Fellow and a LinkedIn Learning Instructor.

Annette Andrews

Annette is a leading people and culture executive with over 30 years of experience with companies including Lloyd’s of London, Lloyds Banking Group and Ford Motor Company. A coach, mediator and experienced senior human resources professional , she considers how organisations and leaders need to adapt to new expectations from employees and the fundamental changes in leadership style and culture this brings. She sees people as being the heart of the business, ensuring they are listened to and discussed.​

Hanno Renner

Hanno Renner is co-founder and CEO of Personio, the all-in-one HR software for SMEs. After his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering, Hanno did his master’s in Munich, Auckland and New York. Since 2015, he and his team have been helping small and medium-sized businesses across Europe unlock their productive potential by digitizing and automating HR processes.

Asif Sadiq MBE

Asif is the Senior Vice President at WarnerMedia for Equity and Inclusion, International, he was previously the Global Head of Diversity, Inclusion and Social Impact at adidas and has a long and rich career in the diversity and inclusion space with senior executive roles at The Telegraph Media Group, EY Financial Services and the City of London Police. He is a board member for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and a member of the board of advisors for Hedley May. Over his 20-year career he has worked in Europe, North America, Middle East, Africa and Asia.  

Asif has been credited with impactful global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion activities and programs across organizations, that have created a strong sense of belonging for all and resulted in truly diverse workplaces. He has been key in building synergies between internal and external D&I efforts within organizations, ensuring diversity and inclusion is embedded in all elements of a business, resulting in innovative, creative and inclusive products and services. 

Hamira Riaz

Hamira Riaz is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist & Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. With two doctorates and specialism in neuropsychology, her 30yr career includes neuroscience service provision within the NHS and MoD and strategy consultancy at YSC Ltd. She joined Volvo Group as VP Strategic Leadership in 2020. She’s a regular media commentator on a wide range of subjects from existential anxiety and resilience to the psychology of public figures and leadership.

Daniel Illes

Daniel is VP People at Vinted, the largest second hand platform in Europe. Before Vinted, Daniel was Co-Founder and Chief People Officer at Drover, a car subscription startup in London which exited to Cazoo last year. In a previous life, Daniel worked as a corporate lawyer and later as an early employee at the ridesharing company Lyft.

Jeffrey Wotherspoon

Jeffrey is an Executive & Leadership Coach, International Trainer, and Conflict Resolution Specialist, with expertise in the field of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.

He works across sectors with a full range of professional roles from C-Suite to those early on in their careers. Jeffrey also uses his time to coach those who would not ordinarily have access to coaching e.g., young men in prison and underrepresented young women.

In addition, Jeffrey is active in a range of pro bono roles, sitting on the Advisory Board for ‘Culture at Work’- a leading global Coaching company that offers Coach Training to Senior Executives worldwide; and as a Trustee for two charities ‘Peer Power’ and Jubilee ‘Primary School’.

Michelle Clark

Joining in April 2020, Michelle made a leap in sector’s moving from the Rail industry to Charity and commenced her role as the Executive Director for Diversity & Talent at The Children’s Society (TCS). Leading all things people (and people means employees and volunteers at TCS) Michelle brings a different energy to her work, positively disrupting the system of HR and creating a human centred, people experience focused approach.

Fran Newman

Fran’s 17 year career in People/HR has spanned corporate giants to high growth scale ups. Now Chief People Officer at Minor Figures, Fran takes a creative approach to building the best possible people experiences that attract and retain the right people. She’s passionate about businesses doing good in the world and making the People function strategic rather than tactical – for her it’s at the heart of how businesses grow and thrive sustainably.

Annika in der Beek

Annika in der Beek is Director HR & Organizational Development at the Hamburg-based e-commerce platform About You and is responsible for HR, recruiting and organizational development projects, from HR processes to leadership development. After her Master’s degree in psychology and international business, she first worked as a strategy consultant with focus on mergers, acquisitions and corporate development and then changed her consulting focus to HR on organizational design and HR technologies.

Melissa Re

Melissa Re is a former model and aerial performer turned public speaker, lecuring internationally on mental health awareness and emotional wellbeing. She is also a certified stress management specialist and clinical hypnotherapist with a BA in psychology and a lifelong interest in the study of the unconscious mind. Melissa’s passion for psychology is inspiring, and she is known for her fun and engaging workshops that combine her unique areas of interest to address wellbeing an original and holistic way. In addition, Melissa is currently studying for an MA in Ecology & Spirituality.

Marta Galofré

Marta comes from Spain, Barcelona and she started at Personio in November last year as its first Program Manager. Prior to that, she spent 4 years in beautiful Australia working at Atlassian. She loves dark chocolate and the ocean.

Joanne O' Brien

I’ve been working in Personio for one year helping medium sized companies in our international market implement Personio into their HR processes. To date I have worked with customers in a range of different markets from Greece, Finland, UK, Netherlands, Italy and Sweden successfully implement our HR solution into their companies.

Sim Lamb

Sim believes people create value, not businesses. She runs the People Practise at Founders Keepers helping ambitious, innovative, growth businesses find inspirational executive people leaders that fuel and enable their missions. She is equally passionate about the power of networks and in addition to helping businesses hire Chief People Officers she co-leads Mentor for Growth, a cross- company, cross-function mentorship programme and the FK CPO Forum – an intimate and curated global community for progressive and strategic people leaders.

Dharmisha Vekaria

Originally an Interior Architect took the leap into HR. I love being dynamic and having a different day each day. Speaking to new people and helping them.

Philipp Kristian

Philipp Kristian is a TEDx speaker, human futurist, moderator and executive educator, big on trusting the human in transformation.

A defining force in his career is driving large-scale innovation and transformation programmes for blue-chips across JAPAC, and tinkering with the Founder / CEOs of digital disruptors on building the future. His two books, The Trust Economy and RESET, bring a human approach to digital trust and our post-pandemic future. He’s also a yogi, matcha maven and meditation practitioner.

Sandra Schwarzer

Sandra is a global talent executive who focuses on the complex relationship between recruitment, culture and organizational strategy. She serves as a collaborator and thought partner to Index Venture’s founders during the growth and scale-up phases, advising on all talent-related matters and connecting them to the best C-Suite and Board talent in Europe.

Holly Smith

At Personio, our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) vision is to embrace uniqueness, where we educate around individual needs and create a safe space where everyone can belong. We believe this is everyone’s responsibility but our Employee Resource Group (ERG) dedicate time each month to help ensure this remains a priority for us. Holly uses her passion and previous experience to empower, scale and develop our ERGs and ultimately help them to achieve their goals. Previously she has worked at Top FinTech startup, ComplyAdvantage and global footwear retailer, Dr. Martens. Holly uses a data-driven approach to partner with global leaders of fast-growing organisations to help highlight what matters most to their people at work and create and execute on global DEI strategies to elevate inclusive environments.

Maximilian Specht

Maximilian Specht is a Content Marketing Manager at Personio. As an expert copywriter and content creator, Max’s work is focused on writing surrounding HR issues, topics, and topics that educate and engage audiences.