During one of the most turbulent periods for BBC, Lucy Adams was the BBC's HR Director whose responsibilities consisted of training, development, employee relations and rewards. With Lucy's expertise she saved BBC £25 million a year by reducing BBC management by over 30%. Lucy is now an extremely popular keynote speaker for business events, conferences and functions where she shares her insights in order to change the process of HR within all organisations.
Lucy's five year role at BBC saw her take on huge responsibilities and often deal with some very controversial situations. From overseeing the move to Salford site to numerous public crisis such as the executive pay-offs and Savile scandal. Being responsible for over 20,000 employees Lucy's daily role of talent retention, development and remuneration was an impressive job which gained her a wealth of experience which she implements into her presentations. Before the BBC, Lucy filled the position of Group HR Director at Serco, once again this was during a challenging period of extensive expansion and acquisition and it was Lucy's responsibility to incorporate new employees and cultures.
An excellent keynote speaker, Lucy provides a fresh perspective to businesses and her presentations have been described as 'visibly energising'. With an aim to educate HR professionals on how to adapt to uncertain times, Lucy's expertise are very applicable to current situations within the business industry. Former clients have stated that Lucy's talk is one that leaves lasting impressions and she comes with a 'passionate and entertaining' delivery style that is 'fresh and thought-provoking'. Lucy's speaking topics cover personal resilience, when power corrupts, leadership in times of crisis, delivering real change in complex organisations and preventing a bullying culture.
In September 2023 we sat down virtually with Lucy Adams and discussed how businesses should deal with change and crises in business. Watch our Exclusive Interview with Lucy Adams.
How to hire Lucy Adams
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Lucy Adams for your next event, today. To get in touch, simply call an official booking agent on 0207 1010 553 or email us at [email protected] for more information.
** We do not accept requests for autographs, signed merchandise, fan mail, birthday messages or any other non-commercial contact with the speakers or acts. Each speaker on the website may not have necessarily worked with Champions in the past but are known to perform such engagements within the industry.
Lucy's official speaking topics are listed below.
- People leadership in a post-pandemic workplace
- The post-pandemic workplace for HR teams
- Retention, development and remuneration
- Department management
- Leadership and teamwork
- Personal resilience
- When power corrupts
- Delivering real change
- Preventing a bullying culture
"Lucy spoke at one of our recent HR Community events and she was passionate, entertaining and most importantly engaged with the audience of HR Professionals in a way that was fresh and very thought-provoking." - Belinda, Employee Relations Lead, Accenture
"I invited Lucy to address a corporate dinner for Business Leaders, and I have to say she ticked every box. Her personality is exceptionally warm, positive, and most of all engaging. The aspect of Lucy’s talk that will stick with me is that she obviously knows her subject matter; She talks passionately from experience and finds a perfect balance of professionalism, humour and relevance. She’s thought-provoking and dynamic in her opinions, and quite clearly very well positioned to talk to Business Leaders. I expect every aspect of her business life will be successful if she adopts the approach to Commerce as she does to Public Speaking. She’s obviously a very unique and exceptional professional, and I would recommend her without question. If you have the opportunity to spend time in her company, you’ll find it hugely beneficial." - Sebastian, Sales & Marketing Professional
"Lucy spoke at an internal HR event for our senior management team and left a lasting impression, for all the right reasons. She spoke with honesty and humour about the challenges the HR profession faces and gave really practical examples of how we can change this. What can be quite a tough audience, were visibly energised after her presentation and even now, a couple of months on, Lucy’s session is still talked about. If you’re after an engaging and hugely experienced HR professional who’s a brilliant speaker and great to work with, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Lucy." - Lucy, Head of Internal Communications - Strategy and Planning, BT
- 2017 - Published ' HR Disruption: It's Time For Something Different'
- 2014 - CEO of Disruptive HR
- 2014 - Named Director of Firehouse Productions
- 2009 - HR Director of the BBC
- 2008 - HR Director at Eversheds
- 2004 - Group HR Director of Serco
- 1999 - HR Director of Serco Rail
- 1998 - Business Development Director for PKF
- 1993 - Head of Strategy and Development for North Yorkshire TEC
