Nicola Boardman

Long before HR became my profession, engineering was my world – the hands-on, sleeves-rolled-up kind. I was fascinated by how things worked, how problems could be fixed, and how systems could be improved. I would have loved to become an engineer if I wasn’t scared of heights and truly awful at welding. While that career path wasn’t meant to be, the mindset never left me. That practical, fix-it mentality and inventor’s way of thinking still underpins everything I do today.

My early career in operations and project management, gave me a strong commercial grounding and a clear understanding of how decisions affect people on the ground. I went on to hold senior HR leadership roles, including Head of HR for an international manufacturing business, where I led the organisation through a significant period of growth and transformation. Since then, I’ve worked closely with senior leaders, managers, and business owners across the full range of people challenges, from day-to-day employee relations to complex change, restructuring and risk management; always keeping solutions practical and proportionate.

Over the years, both professionally and through my network as a musician, I became increasingly passionate about supporting small and growing businesses. I saw first-hand how overwhelmed many business owners feel by HR – confused by myths, over-serviced by large providers obsessed with their own processes or tied into long contracts that don’t reflect how they actually work. I wanted to use my experience to help businesses get from A to B without the faff.

That’s what ultimately led me to join Metis HR. Metis reflects exactly how I believe HR should be delivered: practical, flexible and focused on what genuinely adds value.