Welcome to Ellie Burford!

This week we welcome Ellie Burford to the People and Culture team as Director of People, based in Cambridge.

Ellie will play a pivotal role in further strengthening our excellent people team, ensuring our people have the tools, clarity, and support they need to thrive and perform at their best. Our investment in this role reflects our commitment to being an employer of choice—fostering a culture of growth, inclusion, and excellence—whilst driving strategic initiatives that align our people practices with the evolving needs of our business and clients.

Below Ellie has shared her previous work experience and a little about herself:

“I live in Cambridge with my dog, Jeffrey, who keeps life interesting. I enjoy going to the gym regularly and each year take part in a 24-hour charity fitness event, this year I managed 13 hours and I’m aiming for the full 24 next time. I also love to travel with friends, however recently went out of my comfort zone on a solo group trip around Vietnam with 13 strangers, which was an amazing experience.

I joined Azets UK as Head of HR for the UK business, where my focus has been implementing the people strategy, leading multiple Centres of Excellence teams, and supporting the integration of acquisitions. It’s been a role I’ve really enjoyed, but this new opportunity at Affinia was too good to pass up.

Before that, I worked at Grant Thornton for over eight years in the People Team. For the last two years there, I partnered closely with the Deals and Business Consulting teams, including Corporate Finance and Transaction Advisory Services, to shape and deliver their people strategies. Earlier in my time at GT, I also supported the Audit and Tax service lines, giving me broad experience across the business.

Affinia is in an exciting stage of significant and rapid growth. Having come from Azets, which also expanded quickly through acquisitions, I’ve seen first-hand how important it is to have the right people infrastructure in place so that the team and processes can keep pace. My focus will be on getting to know the team, understanding how we currently work, and prioritising the next priorities for the People Team’s strategy to support the pace of growth Affinia is aiming for.

A career highlight for me was leading a team that was shortlisted for both a DE&I Award and an Best Early Careers Employer Award, recognition I’m really proud of.”

Please join us in welcoming Ellie to Affinia.