Virgin Group has appointed Nikki Humphrey (pictured) to the newly-created role of chief people officer.
Humphrey will join the ‘V Team’, Virgin’s executive team, in July, and will report directly to Josh Bayliss, chief executive officer of Virgin Group.
Her previous role was executive director of people at John Lewis Partnership, a position she held since 2020. Prior to this, she worked as the chief people officer at Virgin Atlantic.
Bayliss said: “I am delighted to welcome Nikki back to the Virgin family, her knowledge of Virgin’s brand, values and culture will be invaluable to leading a first-class, uniquely Virgin people experience. It’s the right time for us post pandemic to further strengthen our people team in this way by recruiting a chief people officer, as it will bring even greater focus to this aspect of Virgin’s purpose. Nikki’s significant experience offers us an excellent opportunity to build on the success we create by focusing on our people.”
Humphrey added: “It’s been a difficult decision to leave the John Lewis Partnership but, the opportunity to rejoin the Virgin family was too good to miss. In the past year, Virgin has launched a new purpose and vision strategy with its people central to this, and I cannot wait to get stuck in and bring this unique business’ culture built over more than 50 years to life.”