Emma Tolhurst MCIPD has enjoyed a distinguished career that encompasses leadership and employee experience. Having worked in consulting, HR, marketing and communications, Emma has forged a strong reputation as a strategic advisor and NED. Renowned for her almost 24-year tenure at Accenture, a time during which she reached Global People Communications Lead for Accenture, Emma worked at the epicentre of a company that boasted more than 500k employees. Now hired as a keynote speaker, Emma shares her expertise on all things workplace culture, change management, business transformation and more at global corporate events.
Renowned for her decorated career with Accenture, Emma initially joined Accenture in its People Enablement Programmes, Transition and Transformation department. Progressing through the ranks, later roles of Emma’s included being the Internal Communications Lead of the UK and Ireland, fostering her knowledge of impeccable communication, and Employer Brand Director for Accenture. A pivotal experience at Accenture saw Emma working a two-year secondment to the Royal Navy for the Trafalgar 200 Programme. In this role, Emma was ranked Commander and was responsible for leading teams of Naval personnel, delivering the youth, child and disabilities offering for the celebrations and securing 50K young people aboard ships.
Leaving Accenture in 2020, Emma went on to become the Director of Connects Consulting Ltd – providing consultancy services on the importance of a strong company culture. She later became the Executive Director of Brand-Lead Employee Experience for Landor & Fitch, a distinguished company of branding experts, and Associate Director of Client Services for Kin&Co, a purpose-led culture consultancy. Building a strong reputation for her expertise in corporate culture and employee experience, Emma’s distinguished career has seen her awarded the Best Employee Engagement Campaign at the RAD Awards and winner of the Innovation in Recruitment award from Personnel Today Awards. Having also been the recipient of the Best Graduate Initiative award at the CIPD RMA Awards, Emma most recently became the owner of CQCO Ltd Strategic Culture & Employee Brand Advisory.
Currently an Executive Advisor on Employee Engagement for Woodrow, Emma is also highly sought after as a keynote speaker to empower the creation of exemplary corporate cultures. Helping organisations to apply new people-led practices, Emma drives the transformation of communication functions and ignites new processes and procedures in business. If you are looking for a speaker who can impart wisdom on how to boost staff morale, how to build positive workplace cultures and the top HR practices, hire Emma Tolhurst MCIPD.
Official Feedback from In-Person & Virtual Events
Feedback from In-Person Events:
"Emma was great. The delegates found her really relatable, and they definitely took some key messages away from her Keynote. Some approached her afterwards too. It was great that she was friendly and welcoming. One delegate said ‘Emma was the perfect speaker for the closing event’." - Hannah, L&D Manager, Serco
"Emma has the ingredient that I always look for in people I like to recommend and work with - humanity. But it's more than that - it's the ability to combine that personal approach with absolute professionalism, wit and skill in everything she does. And she's great fun to work with!" - Andrew, Managing Director, Criticaleye
"Emma is a rare beast - smart, practical, creative and with a big heart which means she has put her career at the centre of what makes an employee's life better. She's a pleasure to work with..." - Morgan, Chief Strategy Officer, Saffron Brand Consultants
"We loved working with Emma. Feedback was that she was fantastic and we definitely want to use her again." - Katie, Navan Labs
"Thank you for yesterday session. The session was engaging, thought-provoking and highly relevant to us all. The content was well delivered, and the examples you shared helped bring the key messages to life. Feedback from attendees was positive, with colleagues appreciating both your energy and the interactive nature of the session. As committee coordinators, we often work across a wide range of stakeholders and support senior decision-making forums, so the themes you covered resonated strongly with the challenges and opportunities we encounter. Thank you again for sharing your expertise and experience with us. We all took away useful reflections and practical ideas that will support us in our roles." - Inderjit, NPCC Finance Committee Coordinator
Feedback from Virtual Events:
"I had the pleasure of hosting Emma at our company's IWD event. Working with Emma was a breeze leading up to the big day. She understood exactly what we wanted to achieve and communication with her was extremely pleasant and easy. The event itself was a huge success - we had colleagues joining from our global offices and received only very positive feedback about Emma. She is a brilliant speaker, very personable, engaging, and extremely insightful. The topics we discussed included: the value exchange and the importance of person -led organsiational culture, the role of DEI in today's world of business, how we can Accelerate Action (IWD theme of this year), and how can organisations better support their employees to improve retention and work satisfaction. It was an invaluable discussion and we would happily work with Emma again!" - Milena, Director Asset & Wealth Management Consulting, Alpha FMC
- 2024 - Executive Advisor of Employee Engagement for Woodrow
- 2023 - CQCO Ltd Strategic Culture & Employer Brand Advisory at CQCO LIMITED
- 2023 - Associate Director of Client Services for Kin&Co
- 2021 - Executive Director of Brand-Led Employee Experience at Landor & Fitch
- 2020 - Director of Connects Consulting Ltd
- 2019 - Global People Communications Lead at Accenture
- 2013 - Employer Brand Director at Accenture
- 2011 - Internal Communications Lead at Accenture
- 2010 - Geographic Marketing & Communications at Accenture
- 1997 - People Enablement Programmes at Accenture
How to hire Emma Tolhurst
Contact the Champions Speakers Agency to provisionally enquire about hiring Emma Tolhurst 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.
