After 14 years serving the local business community, Peter Bailes – founder of HR Dept Norwich and East Coast – is handing over the baton to local HR professional Lucy Westlake.
Lucy, who was ‘born and raised’ in Norfolk, returned to her beloved East Anglia during Covid, after honing her career working with global corporations and smaller businesses varying from start-ups, to established organisations.
She said, “I’m delighted to be back home and to be able to bring my expertise to support local business.
“We have a rich business community with real loyalty to each other. I’m so happy I’m able to bring back my skills and experience to the local industry.
“Over the past 14 years, Peter has built an incredible business, and it is an honour to continue his legacy.”
An advocate of pragmatic advice for business owners, Lucy knows that being proactive is the best way to get the best out of people.
She added, “Running a business can be incredibly lonely, for any business owner having a trusted partner and sounding board to walk alongside you on what can be some very isolated moments in business is something I consider an honour to be entrusted to do.
“I like to focus on bringing pragmatic solutions and initiatives to a company to make life easier and work more efficiently for all.”
The HR Dept is a franchisee network of 70 licensees providing outsourced services in 120 territories in the UK, Ireland, and Australia. It was created in 2002 after founder and executive director, Sue Tumelty, identified a gap in the market to offer personalised expert HR solutions to local businesses.
The first HR Dept office was in Bristol, and it has since grown into a global enterprise.