Meet Kate: Founder of HR Impact Lab
Strategic HR Leader. Commercial Thinker. Business Partner.
Kate is on a mission to elevate HR as a profit-driving partner in business. With a unique background combining HR strategy and commercial leadership, she empowers organisations to use people strategy as a growth engine.
Kate’s perspective is shaped by her early career experience in retail, where she was handed a sales takings sheet and tasked with aligning HR strategies to drive store commerciality and growth.
Her core beliefs are that:
- HR should be a profit-driven partner in business, not a compliance-focused or tertiary function.
- People strategy is a critical driver of profitability and operational success.
- HR needs to be restored to a senior, strategic role in business, aligning people strategy with business goals.
This foundation drives her passion for transforming HR into a business-critical, strategic partner.
Having spent her early career in M&S, with strong commercial and financial training as part of the graduate management scheme, she learnt the importance of true HR business partnership when leading a store and region with her Commercial Director. She has since launched her own HR consultancy business and has worked as an HR and People Director for SME’s in Retail, Brand, Tech, Not for Profit and more.
What sets Kate apart?
A Dual Perspective: Kate combines her deep expertise in HR with a strong commercial mindset, enabling her to approach business challenges holistically.
Practical Solutions: Every strategy she develops is actionable and tailored to deliver business impact.
Passion for Empowerment: Kate thrives on empowering HR professionals to elevate their roles and become trusted business advisors.
Kate’s Approach: From HR to Business Partner
Kate works with business leaders and HR professionals to shift the perception of HR from a support function to a critical driver of business performance.
Her proven approach focuses on:
Commercial Alignment: Teaching HR leaders how to align people strategies with core business objectives to deliver measurable ROI.
Leadership Influence: Equipping HR professionals with the skills to engage and influence the C-suite.
Data-Driven Decision Making: Leveraging workforce analytics to predict challenges, solve problems, and capitalize on opportunities.
People-Centric Impact: Building high-performance cultures that drive productivity, retention, and employee engagement.
Fun Facts
Kate grew up in Somerset, and has a degree from Imperial College London: in Biology with management – a strange combination!
Her children and step-daughter are now flying the nest and are all exploring universities in cities around the UK.
She and her husband live in South Bucks, and are big fans of tennis, athletics and cheese!
Keen on running and playing tennis – a ruptured ACL in 2024 tested both – she is healing nicely after surgery and enjoying both.
Her two cats – Kenny and Trotty, are named after Olympic gold medal cyclists Jason Kenny and Laura Trott (now Kenny).
HR Impact Lab 