She will join the V Team – Virgin’s executive team – in July, reporting directly to Josh Bayliss, CEO of Virgin Group.

Humphrey joins Virgin from her role as executive director, people at John Lewis Partnership (JLP), a position she has held since 2020. Before her role at JLP, Humphrey held the position of CPO at Virgin Atlantic.

Bayliss said: “Virgin’s founder, Richard Branson, has always said that if you take care of your employees, they’ll take care of your business. I am therefore delighted to welcome Nikki back to the Virgin family – her knowledge of Virgin‘s brand, values and culture will be invaluable to leading a first-class, uniquely Virgin people experience.

“It‘s the right time for us post-pandemic to further strengthen our people team in this way – by recruiting a chief people officer.“

In the past year, Virgin has launched a new Purpose and Vision strategy with its people central to this, a company statement said.

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