With a keen interest in people and culture from the start, Amy Spate, UK HR Director, WSP, UK & Ireland developed her career through bringing commercial and people considerations together.
Q: Please give a short guide to your career
A: I began my career in HR more than 20 years ago, having initially studied law at university. I didn’t set out with a fixed plan to work in people and culture, but I’ve always been interested in how organisations balance commercial outcomes with fairness, and what happens when the ‘human’ side of the business is either overlooked or done well. That curiosity, and a desire to work close to the day-to-day reality of business, is what drew me into HR.
My first role was in recruitment, which taught me early what ‘great’ looks like in practice: not just technical capability, but attitude, values and potential. I was fortunate to gain exposure to generalist HR early on at Balfour Beatty. Working in a complex, project-driven environment was formative. It taught me how to partner with operational leaders, stay close to what is really happening on the ground, and build the trust and credibility HR needs to make a difference.
Alongside work, I completed a Master’s degree in HR Management, which strengthened my grounding in employment law, organisational behaviour and strategic workforce planning. As my career progressed, I moved into HR Business Partner roles across construction, engineering and professional services, including Balfour Beatty, AECOM and KPMG. Working across sectors has given me a simple takeaway – the context changes, but people still want clarity, consistency and respect, and organisations perform best when leaders create the right conditions for teams to do their best work.
It’s not the result of one initiative, but of doing the fundamentals well and consistently.”
I joined WSP in 2018 as an HR Business Partner, and it’s been a brilliant place to grow and stretch. Since then I’ve progressed through roles including Head of HR for Transport & Infrastructure and Director of HR Partnering. In May 2025, I moved into my current role as UK HR Director at WSP in the UK & Ireland. I’m also the first to admit I’m not naturally someone who enjoys talking about myself; I prefer to focus on the work and the people around me, which probably says something about why HR has suited me so well.
Q: Please give us one or two stand‑out achievements
A: One of my proudest achievements has been helping to build and sustain a strong, people-focused culture at WSP during a period of significant change. The business has continued to grow, and my focus has been on keeping the employee experience front and centre while still supporting the pace and priorities of the organisation.
Over the past couple of years, we’ve achieved our lowest attrition in many years alongside our highest engagement scores, which suggests we are focusing on the right areas. It’s not the result of one initiative, but of doing the fundamentals well and consistently – clear expectations, supporting managers, being honest about what we can and can’t change, and listening properly to colleagues, particularly around workload and day-to-day pressures.
A second achievement I’m proud of is building a high-performing HR leadership team that can be operationally excellent and genuinely strategic at the same time.
