Article: “It’s our responsibility to be a great influence and set the right conditions” Written by Georgia Lewis Thursday 23 October 2025 Share Share to LinkedIn Share to Facebook Share via email Matt Elliott CMgr CCMI, our Chartered Companion of the Month, hopes his diverse career experiences will continue to help him support CMI’s work Like many graduates, Matt Elliott CMgr CCMI wasn’t sure what career path he should follow. Thanks to “luck and curiosity”, he found an interest in HR while working at Marks & Spencer, “back when HR was still called ‘personnel’”. A postgraduate year studying HR management led to his first professional role in employee relations at the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in 1997. His long stint at RBS was the beginning of an international people management career that has informed his philosophy on people-centred management, organisational culture and employee wellbeing. From finance to oilfields RBS saw a period of rapid growth during Matt’s time there. With that came great opportunities, allowing him to gain a strong grounding in HR and the financial services sector. But he felt the bank’s culture shift, and he realised he wasn’t happy at work. He knew it was time for a change. “I remember going home one night thinking: I’m ten years into a 40-year career. I realised if I am going to do another 30 years like this, I need to get my head steeled for that,” Matt recalls. “But then I thought: that can’t be right; maybe it’s time to see what another organisation is like.” Matt decided to pivot away from financial services and took up a position in the energy industry with BP. This turned out to be one of the most transformative experiences of his personal and professional life. During his four-and-a-half-year tenure at BP, he was heavily involved in overseeing the evacuation of staff at the company’s Libya operations during the fall of the Gaddafi regime. What is a Chartered Companion? A select group of the best leaders around the world, CMI Chartered Companions help shape our activities by providing thought leadership and directly supporting policy, research and product development. Find out more Additionally, Matt gained invaluable experience working on long-term projects and dealing with serious safety issues at BP: “While I was at BP, the Deepwater Horizon incident happened, with loss of life. The company was responsible for it and it took responsibility – it clearly wanted to do everything it possibly could to make sure lessons were learnt and it did not repeat those failures.” A different kind of financial role “At BP, I was more challenged than I was at RBS in so many ways, and I really enjoyed my time there, but then an opportunity to get back into financial services came about,” says Matt. After years of working for large companies, he started as people director with Virgin Money in 2011. At the time, it was a start-up with 300 employees. The company grew exponentially during Matt’s time there, with the acquisition of Northern Rock and becoming listed on the stock exchange. “I’m really proud of the culture we grew at a difficult time after the global financial crisis,” says Matt. “Our strapline was that we make everyone better off. We looked to really bring fairness and appropriate outcomes in the day-to-day running of the organisation.” Keep reading: a neuro-inclusive approach Login or register below for Free Instant Access Login If you are already registered as a CMI Friend, Subscriber or Member, just login to view this article. Confirm your registration Login below to confirm your details and access this article. Sign in with email Email remember me remember Forget? Please confirm that you want to switch off the "Sign in with email" remember me feature. Yes No Register for Free Access Not yet a Member, Subscriber or Friend? Register as a CMI Friend for free, and get access to this and many other exclusive resources, as well as weekly updates straight to your inbox. You have successfully registered As a CMI Friend, you now have access to whole range of CMI Friendship benefits. Please login to the left to confirm your registration and access the article. Article Our extensive range of articles are designed to keep you in the loop with all the latest management and leadership best practice, research and news. Members See More CMI Members have access to thousands of online learning and CPD resources. Learn more about our membership benefits Join The Community CMI offers a variety of flexible membership solutions, tailored to your needs. Find out more and get involved in the CMI community today.
