Neil Hughes

Neil is a Director in Grant Thornton’s People and Change Consulting practice and brings over 20 years of experience as a senior HR Professional.

Neil has been with the firm since 2019, and before joining Grant Thornton he was Group HR Director for a major UK Hospitality franchise, and prior to that spent 16 years working for a large Retail and Commercial Bank in a variety of senior HR roles including Business Partnering, HR Programme and Project Management; and also Head of the Bank’s Recruitment Team.

Neil’s particular areas of expertise include:

• Subject matter expert in Organisational Reviews, developing HR Strategy and HR operating models, Organisational Design, and Strategic Workforce planning
• Significant experience in helping clients adapt to hybrid working including developing operating models, policy development, and culture change leadership
• Design and delivery of impactful strategic HR interventions across the range of HR specialisms including Staff Engagement, Training and Development, Succession Planning, Talent Management, Absence Management, Reward and Compensation, Recruitment and Staff Retention
• Supporting clients in HCM system implementation including HR operating model design
• Managing significant business restructuring programmes including redundancies and complex TUPE transfers
• Experienced in HR due diligence through both acquisition and disposal projects
• Supporting business change projects through Organisational Design interventions and developing management capability in leading change
• Significant ability in managing complex stakeholder environments
• Extensive experience in managing complex employee relations issues and disputes, and developing positive working relationships with Trade Union and Employee Representative Bodies