A Warwickshire HR professional has praised her employer’s attitude to flexible working and progression after the creation of a new group-wide department.

Charlotte Birch and Sophie Allan, who have a combined 20 years’ experience working at No Ordinary Hospitality’s Coombe Abbey Hotel, have been appointed Head of People and HR Administrator respectively by the NOHM group.

Sophie, who had previously worked in housekeeping, reception and accounts roles at Coombe Abbey Hotel, joins Charlotte in supporting HR activity across the No Ordinary group, which includes St Mary’s Guildhall, The Sundae Club, The Park Bistro in Coventry’s War Memorial Park and other retail and leisure outlets.

Charlotte, who joined the team in 2012, had been NOHM’s sole HR employee until late last year, and welcomed Sophie’s appointment with her experience across multiple areas of the business helping to support people across the portfolio.

Charlotte, who initially joined part-time to care for her then three-year-old son, praised her employers for their attitudes towards internal progression and flexible working to mark International Women’s Day – after having a successful career while raising a family, and now having the chance to support more employees across the group.

She said: “Since NOHM took over the management of Coombe Abbey Hotel it has brought fresh challenges because of the additional size and scale of the business, but the focus on people has been a constant throughout.

“Having Sophie on board in our new HR team is absolutely brilliant. She brings great experience across the business, as well as new ideas and approaches to help apply our standards across the group.

“NOHM have been a big supporter of flexible working and to have the opportunity to extend that wider ethos across the group has been great. This is hugely important to women who often have the main responsibility for childcare, but is also key to ensuring staff are able to maintain a healthy work-life balance.”

With Charlotte’s appointment as Head of People, women now make up half of NOHM’s senior team, while 63 per cent of the total workforce is female.

She continues to work slightly reduced hours while caring for her son, who is now 13.

“Everyone has their individual goals and challenges, and I’m proud of our efforts so far to support these. NOHM continues to grow but I have no doubt that our approach to women on a personal and professional level is second to none, and is vital to our continued attempts to create a great place to work,” she added.

NOHM is recruiting for a variety of roles across its outlets. To view the latest vacancies, visit https://noordinaryhospitality.com/careers/

For more information visit https://noordinaryhospitality.com/who-we-are