Bournemouth, England, United Kingdom, July 2026 — Bournemouth University (BU) has announced the appointment of Helen Clegg as its new Chief People Officer, with Clegg set to join the university in early October.
She joins Bournemouth University from Lloyd’s of London, where she has served as Head of People since 2022, leading the organization’s people strategy, organizational effectiveness, leadership development, talent management, employee experience, and HR operations across one of the world’s leading insurance and reinsurance marketplaces.
With more than 20 years of human resources leadership experience, Clegg has built an accomplished career spanning financial services, manufacturing, professional services, and higher education.
Prior to Lloyd’s, she spent five years with Barclays, holding several senior HR leadership positions.
As Vice President, HR Delivery and Advisory, she led HR advisory and delivery functions, driving people operations, employee relations, organizational effectiveness, and strategic HR services across the business.
Earlier, she served as Vice President, Head of Leadership Development and Coaching, where she was responsible for leadership capability, executive coaching, succession planning, and leadership development initiatives designed to strengthen organizational capability and future leadership pipelines.
Before that, she worked as Vice President, HR Business Partner within Barclays Wealth and Investment Management, partnering with senior business leaders to deliver strategic workforce planning, talent management, organizational design, change management, employee engagement, and people strategy.
Earlier in her career, Clegg spent nearly eight years as HR Manager at Parker Hannifin Corporation, where she led HR strategy and operations across a complex manufacturing environment, overseeing recruitment, employee relations, organizational development, compensation, leadership capability, and workforce planning.
She began her HR career as an HR Officer at Taylor Walton LLP, supporting the firm’s people operations and talent initiatives before transitioning into broader strategic HR leadership roles.
Prior to moving into human resources, Clegg spent five years with Deutsche Bank, working within the bank’s Japanese Equities business, providing her with an early foundation in global financial services.
Throughout her career, she has developed deep expertise across organizational design, culture transformation, talent acquisition, leadership development, executive coaching, employee relations, workforce planning, organizational effectiveness, reward strategy, talent management, and HR transformation.
Clegg is a qualified executive coach and holds a Master of Arts (MA) in Human Resource Management from the University of Hertfordshire, along with a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Birmingham.
In her new role as Chief People Officer, she will lead Bournemouth University’s people strategy, supporting the institution’s continued focus on leadership, culture, workforce capability, employee engagement, and organizational excellence.
About Bournemouth University
Bournemouth University (BU) is one of the United Kingdom’s leading modern universities, offering a broad portfolio of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes across a wide range of disciplines.
Recognized among the Top 10 universities in South West England in the Complete University Guide 2025, the university is known for its strong emphasis on research, innovation, industry collaboration, and student experience. Guided by its motto, “To Learn is to Change,” Bournemouth University continues to foster an environment that encourages creativity, lifelong learning, and meaningful societal impact.
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