Hilary Goldby, Compass Group UK & Ireland

With nearly three decades of experience across operational management and HR leadership, Hilary Goldby joined Compass Group UK & Ireland’s Business & Industry division as HR director in October 2024. Based in Horwich, Bolton, Hilary, 45, balances her mobile working role supporting catering brands Eurest and Dine and facilities management provider 14forty, with family life alongside her fiancée, Alice, 34, a secondary school English teacher, while her 18-year-old twin daughters pursue their university studies in law and philosophy.

Every morning, without fail, I am lovingly awoken by Ronnie and Oscar – my breakfast-loving pooches – between 5:30am and 6am, even at the weekends. My partner, Alice, and I take it in turns to go downstairs to feed them and let them out for a little morning run around the garden. Once they’re fed and watered, I make the essential morning brew — Yorkshire tea, of course. I cannot start the day without a cup of tea; it’s an absolute must.  

We then get ready together, comparing notes on what we’ve got on for the day and quickly moving onto what are we going to eat for tea. Food tends to play a part in a lot of our conversations, so it makes sense that I’ve joined a hospitality business.  

As a mobile worker, my workplace varies depending on where I need to be in terms of meetings or site visits. I regularly commute to our Parklands head office and stay over there a couple of nights a week. When commuting early, I blast out my favourite music to energise me for the day ahead and regularly chat with team members and exec team on my journey, to check in and discuss the plans for the week. 

At the beginning of my workday, I think about what I want to achieve and check my diary and to-do list. I always build in early admin time to clear down any emails and complete any necessary tasks. Adding value is important to me, so I focus on prioritising those activities and areas of work that are in our strategic plan to move the business forward. People are always my priority, and I ensure I have human connection throughout my day through calls, one-to-ones and check-ins.  

As I’m still in the first six months of my new role, my days are varied. I’m spending time out and about in the business, engaging with lots of different internal and external stakeholders and spending quality time with them, whilst tasting lots of delicious food, created by the chefs in our business.  

The advancement of technology will innovate HR over the next five years.

Hospitality in business and industry is fast-paced and we have a packed agenda, but I absolutely believe taking breaks throughout the day is vital to support our health and wellbeing and productivity, and to lead by example.

As a food-first business, I have the benefit of being able to sample the food and drinks we’re providing in our head offices, and customer sites when visiting, and I take full advantage. I enjoy trying the variety of food we offer, but for lunch I usually have the protein and salad options, although on occasion I will add in a little dessert for an afternoon boost. 

In my opinion, the advancement of technology, particularly in terms of people data, analytics and insights, will innovate HR over the next five years by providing real-time people behavioural data, enabling us to gain quicker insight into our people’s needs. 

The real innovation comes from HR strategically using this data and acting in our workplaces to meet these needs. We must move quickly to meet the changes in generational expectations, particularly around flexibility, inclusion, sustainability and health and wellbeing so that our businesses can attract and retain great people.  

HR is such a rewarding career and my advice for anyone interested would be to immerse yourself in all areas of your business and spend time on stakeholder relationships, building insight, trust and credibility. 

My afternoons tend to consist of reflective and strategic work where I am translating my learnings into long-term plans. I believe having a long-term business strategy underpinned by a people strategy can drive a proactive, planned and measured approach, which will deliver our long-term goals. 

Good HR not only supports the success of a business through their greatest asset — their people — but primarily supports people to have enjoyable, rewarding and fulfilling careers. 

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve recognised the importance of incorporating good habits to keep me energised and productive throughout the day, particularly when working at home in front of my laptop. I try to drink two litres of water throughout the day, alongside regular, healthy snacks to keep my energy levels up. With the introduction of video calls, it’s easy to spend all day sat at your screen, so I try to encourage phone call catch-ups away from the screen so I can move away from my laptop and get some extra steps in.   

Good HR not only supports the success of a business through their greatest asset — their people — but primarily supports people to have enjoyable, rewarding and fulfilling careers. Hospitality is great for this, as there are so many different roles and opportunities to learn, develop and progress. 

We spend so much of our lives in the workplace, and I’ve chosen a career in HR to help ensure all our people have a great experience. One of the inspiring things about working here is having the opportunity to genuinely make a difference – from enhancing people’s career progression to making our recruitment processes more accessible. This all supports Compass Group UK & Ireland’s wider Mission to a Million promise.  

In the past, I’ve found it challenging to switch off from work and have a healthy work-life balance. But in the last few years, I’ve greatly improved by setting routines and boundaries. Good mental health and wellbeing is a priority, and giving myself permission to have a set finish time is important. I also advocate this to my team members and colleagues, as I want to help them be at their best, and this starts with self-care.  

Good mental health and wellbeing is a priority, and giving myself permission to have a set finish time is important.

I look forward to winding down at the end of the day by chatting through the day’s highlights with Alice, sharing any challenges we’re having and cheerleading the good work we’re both doing. We then can relax and enjoy our evenings together, cooking tea, taking the dogs for a walk or hitting the gym to lift some weights. We try to hit the gym three times a week, as it’s a great stress reliever and lifting weights really helps me to relax.  

Working in hospitality has certainly broadened my interest in food and cooking. Although Alice tends to be the chef and I’m very much the assistant, doing the chopping and clearing up, she regularly tells me I make an excellent sous chef. In the evening, I’ll often have a quick call with the girls to hear about university life and how their courses are going. 

I’m usually in bed at 8.30pm, watching some mindless TV, scrolling through TikTok and chatting, until around 10pm. To drift off, we listen to novels — although we never get to hear much of the story.