Annette Andrews

Annette Andrews is one of the UK’s most respected voices within conscious leadership, people strategy, and workplace culture. With more than 25 years of experience in senior HR and executive leadership roles, she has built a career helping organisations transform the way they lead, engage, and support their people.

Having held influential leadership positions including Chief People Officer for Lloyd’s, HR Director at Lloyds Banking Group, and senior HR roles at Ford Motor Company, Annette brings deep expertise from complex, highly regulated, and unionised industries. Her experience spans global organisations, where she has partnered with CEOs, Boards, Executive Committees, and senior leaders to deliver large-scale business transformation aligned with corporate strategy.

Today, through her company Acaria Coaching & Consulting Ltd, Annette supports organisations and leaders in unlocking their full potential through coaching, consulting, and keynote speaking. Her work centres on helping businesses create inclusive cultures, strengthen emotional intelligence, and develop leadership approaches that place people at the heart of performance.

Book Annette Andrews for your event

When organisations book Annette Andrews, they gain a speaker who combines strategic insight with authenticity and warmth. Her sessions are engaging, practical, and highly relatable, drawing from decades of experience navigating leadership challenges at the highest level.

Annette’s ability to connect with audiences comes from her unique blend of executive expertise and lived experience. As a female leader, mother, and carer, she understands the realities many professionals face while balancing leadership responsibilities, career progression, and personal commitments. This perspective enables her to speak with honesty and empathy while offering practical tools leaders can immediately apply in their organisations.

Her talks inspire leaders to rethink workplace culture, employee engagement, and leadership impact in a modern business environment where emotional intelligence and inclusion are becoming increasingly important differentiators.

Leadership and HR expertise

Throughout her career, Annette has led initiatives focused on employee attraction, retention, engagement, leadership development, and organisational culture while helping businesses navigate significant periods of transformation and change.

She is widely recognised for her ability to influence key stakeholders both internally and externally, leading to high-profile leadership roles and industry recognition as one of the UK’s top 50 most influential HR practitioners.

Her experience on both sides of the boardroom table — as an Executive and Non-Executive Director — gives her valuable insight into leadership, governance, and organisational decision-making. She understands the challenge of balancing commercial objectives with people priorities and helps organisations create sustainable strategies that support both business growth and employee wellbeing.

Conscious leadership and emotional intelligence

A central focus of Annette’s work is helping leaders strengthen emotional intelligence and lead with greater awareness, empathy, and authenticity.

She believes modern leadership requires more than operational excellence. Organisations need leaders who can build trust, create meaningful relationships, and foster environments where employees feel valued, included, and motivated to contribute.

Annette encourages leaders to think intentionally about the experiences that shape workplace culture — what she calls “Moments that Matter.” These moments play a significant role in employee engagement, retention, and overall organisational performance.

Through keynote speeches, workshops, and executive coaching, she helps leaders improve communication, navigate change, strengthen resilience, and create psychologically safe and inclusive environments where teams can thrive.

From corporate leadership to Acaria Coaching & Consulting

In 2020, Annette stepped away from her role at Lloyd’s of London to establish Acaria Coaching &Consulting Ltd. The move reflected her passion for helping leaders and organisations grow in a more personal and transformative way.

As a qualified Life & Executive Coach, Mediator, and Mentor, she supports businesses and individuals looking to strengthen leadership capability, navigate transition, and create workplace cultures where people perform at their best.

Her consulting and coaching work combines strategic thinking with human-centred leadership principles. Drawing on experience across multiple industries and leadership levels, Annette tailors her approach to the needs of each audience while maintaining a clear focus on inclusion, authenticity, and sustainable leadership.

An engaging and inspiring speaker

Annette Andrews is known for delivering presentations that are insightful, practical, and inspiring. Combining storytelling with real-world leadership experience, she creates engaging conversations that resonate with audiences across industries and organisational levels.

Whether speaking to executives, HR professionals, leadership teams, or wider organisational audiences, Annette challenges perspectives while providing actionable insights leaders can apply immediately.

Her sessions are especially valuable for organisations looking to strengthen leadership capability, improve workplace culture, increase employee engagement, and create more inclusive and emotionally intelligent teams.

With warmth, credibility, and extensive executive experience, Annette Andrews helps organisations understand how people-focused leadership can create meaningful and lasting business impact.