Meet the Team

We are the only HR franchise to have a dedicated central office team, who are there to support our Licensees from the initial set up and ongoing running of their business. The HR Dept is a family business and our support team have been chosen for their specific areas of expertise including operational, legal, finance and marketing.

Sue founded The HR Dept in 2002, two years later franchised the model and grew it into the success it is today. The original Bristol office is now staffed with a team of 15 and the Licensee network covers the whole of the UK and Ireland. Sue is an experienced and commercially aware HR professional she is a great a source of advice and professional support for the network as well as their ever-growing client base.

Mike has been with The HR Dept since the very start and has driven the growth of the brand and its products and services for many years. He was attracted to The HR Dept because for once HR was acting as a business support service and not a hindrance. Mike now oversees the finances of The HR Dept and supports business development.

Gemma is responsible for the success of the company and its Licensee programme, supporting her team of 12 based in offices in the UK and Australia to take the brand from strength to strength. Before joining the company that her mother founded Gemma worked in a range of roles in marketing and communications, policy development and stakeholder management. She loves working with our network of fantastic HR Professionals helping them to achieve their dreams.

Felicity’s role is to oversee the Marketing strategy of The HR Dept. Felicity manages the Central Office Marketing team and has 10 years’ Marketing and Business Development experience from roles held within both corporate and SME businesses. Felicity is also an Associate member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and is passionate about helping our licensees to grow their business through a range of marketing tools and techniques.  

Sarah oversees the Partner Relations side of the business for the UK, Ireland and Australia. This is about the relationships we have with our licensees and supporting them with their business success and growth. Having worked in HR, Sales and Operations over the past 20 years with companies at different stages of life from start-up’s, SME’s to Corporate’s, she has gained a variety of experience around business growth and development in business that she brings to the team. A great generalist with a strong variety of skills to adapt to the Franchising world.