Irene Stark

My first job was as a graduate trainee with Marks and Spencer. I spent some time debating whether to go down the commercial track of store management or choose what was then called the personnel route. One of the deciding factors when I opted for people management was to do with the business element. At the time, HR managers would run small M&S stores when the manager was away, so I got the best of both worlds. I was able to see early on how what you did in terms of people management could really make a difference to the business. It certainly gave me a commercial approach to the way I operate as an HR director.