Bristol-headquartered national law firm Burges Salmon has appointed Alice Bretherton as its new chief people officer.
Alice, pictured, joins from ‘big four’ accountancy group EY, where she held the role of strategic talent director in the UK and Ireland.
During her time at EY Alice had responsibility for HR and talent activities, including recruitment, performance, reward, engagement, learning and development and diversity, equity and inclusion. She was also a member of the firm’s executive leadership team.
Prior to EY, Alice was global head of organisational development and, subsequently, global head of workforce of the future at accountants KPMG International.
Her early career was spent as a client-facing consultant in KPMG’s people and change advisory practice. She also holds an MBA from INSEAD Business School in France.
At Burges Salmon she will lead the firm’s people strategy for its 1,000-plus strong workforce based across its offices in Bristol, Edinburgh and London.
She will have a particular focus on ensuring the firm continues to recruit, develop and retain the highest calibre of talent in the legal sector and remain an employer of choice.
She will also work with groups across the firm to support the delivery of its diversity and inclusion and social mobility priorities as part of its commitment to being a responsible business.
Alice said: “The first thing that really struck me about Burges Salmon was its authenticity in terms of its values and unique culture, which are both clearly at the core of the firm’s overarching vision and purpose.
“This, along with the impressive efforts that it makes to build long-lasting relationships with its clients, its people and the organisations it works with as part of its responsible business agenda, represents genuine differentiation in the market.
“I’m proud to be joining a firm that doesn’t just pay lip service to these important factors but really does ‘walk the talk’.”
Alice takes over from long-standing chief people office Robert Halton, pictured, who is retiring from the firm.
Burges Salmon managing partner Roger Bull said Alice brought a huge amount of experience and expertise in delivering successful people-led strategies across the professional services sector.
“We’re excited to welcome an individual of her calibre to the firm,” he added. “I would also like to thank Robert for all he’s done at Burges Salmon. During his time at Burges Salmon, Robert has made a significant contribution to the business and has helped us enhance our unique culture and approach to our people.
“Robert has embodied the very best elements of the firm’s values during his tenure and has been a truly collaborative and supportive colleague.”
