Meet our new Guernsey HR Manager, Laura Campbell

As Offshore Group continues to expand across the Channel Islands and beyond, it remains core to our mission to keep our people front and centre of everything we do.

This ethos propelled our recent decision to expand our HR team, hiring an HR Manager to join our Guernsey office.

Laura Campbell was welcomed onto our team as HR Manager in March, joining Claire Guilbert, based in our Mauritius office, and bringing Offshore's HR department to a team of two.

Together, the two of them keep things running smoothly whilst helping to maintain our growth and keep the business people-focused.

Read on to get to know Laura better, including a breakdown of her role, how she's settling in at the Guernsey office, and where you can find her outside of work.

What is your professional background?

Finance and accounting is actually quite a new industry for me, which is something I’ve found really exciting.

My background is in the superyacht industry, where I spent around 18 years working in crew payroll and employment. My most recent role was as a Business Development and Crewing Manager at a yacht management company, and before that, I worked for another yacht management company focusing on client services and corporate ownership structures. Earlier in my career, I was also yacht crew myself, so I’ve seen the industry from both sides.

So, although this role might look quite different on paper, my experience has a strong overlap with payroll and HR. A big part of my crewing roles was the employment side—contracts, supporting crew, and dealing with people day-to-day.

I think that’s what’s really helped me transition into this role. Understanding people, systems, and how the market works are all transferable skills, and have helped me to settle in and add value.

What attracted you to Offshore Group?

I really liked the sound of how flexible things could be here, and since joining, I've learned that that's certainly the case. People are in and out. Everyone's got slightly different hours, but there's such a high level of trust among the staff and between colleagues.

We all trust one another to do the hours and manage our own time rather than forcing anyone to be stuck at their desk. And that was such a massive appeal to me in particular.

I joined Offshore Group just off the back of maternity leave for my second baby, and when you have a young family, things crop up. You have to work around them. And Offshore Group really is made up of other people with young families and a variety of circumstances, and it's really nice that Offshore is always able to meet them where they are.

How have you found your first few months?

A new job is always going to be challenging, especially when you're first going back to work after time away, but I think that's a good thing. Nobody wants to join and feel like they have nothing to do, nothing to learn. So the beginning was challenging, but it was a good challenge, and it's getting easier and more comfortable as I get more and more integrated into the team.

The team at Offshore are so supportive, and that's been really important. A new job will always have a learning curve, especially when you're changing industries, and they've been supportive every step of the way.

What is the main focus of your role?

My role is focused on HR and payroll.

In terms of the day-to-day, at the moment, it's really split.

Right now, I'm really focusing on working with the payroll team to learn Offshore's specific payroll systems and processes, and working with Claire on the HR side of things.

In the long term, it'll be continuing that trend but working more in a leadership capacity; our payroll team is split between Mauritius and the UK, as is our HR team, so there's a lot of coordination that needs to happen. A lot of meetings and chats and deadline management—and that's both for our clients' sake, and for any of our internal payroll needs.

Because I'm still so early in my time here, a lot of my days right now are spent just trying to get to know the staff. Meet people, see where things are going well, and acknowledge any areas where we can look to improve.

I'm not joining to suddenly change the world within a month; I think it's always good to start small, with understanding how people feel. Our staff have such wonderfully diverse viewpoints and experiences, you never know who may have a great idea that had just not occurred to the leadership team yet. So I think it's always important to stop and listen before I come in and try to make any huge changes.

I also just think that it's really important that we've got a strong team morale. It's a fast-paced industry, and that can sometimes add a lot of pressure to people. I want to make sure that our team feels supported and knows what sort of resources are available to them.

How would you describe the culture at Offshore Group?

It's a really lively place. You can never hear a pin drop, and I love that. Personally, I don't do my best work in a dead-silent office; if I need that for a particular day or task, then I can work from home or work from an office room, but in the main space, there's always noise. We've got the radio going. Everyone comes in in the morning and says hello. There's just a great social and happy feeling.

What are you looking forward to contributing at Offshore Group?

I want to keep that great culture and expand it even further.

It's really clear that the business is expanding quickly, and so it's really important to both the HR and leadership teams that we have the foundations in place to support a larger team.

As more people join, dynamics are bound to change. Trust changes. Relationships change. And that doesn't have to be a bad thing, so long as we're ready for it in advance and everyone feels like they're having the best experience possible within the company and are doing the best they can at work. I'm looking forward to building those foundations and helping all of our team members feel like they're truly supported at their workplace.

What's your favourite thing about Offshore Group so far?

The people! None of the amazing culture and dynamism would be possible without the people. And it's such an interesting and diverse group of people when it comes to interests and hobbies. No two people are the same, but everyone is really welcoming and open, so there's always someone to connect with and learn from.

Just since I've joined, there have been multiple social events with even more planned. And Craig is always around; some directors aren't like that. Staff may feel like they struggle to get facetime with them, but Craig is always around, and he's always available.

And I have to mention the office; it's a nice office. A new kitchen has just been put in. It's really clear that Offshore has a lot of pride in their work and their workplace, and it shows.

What could we find you doing when you aren't working?

When I'm not working, I love to be outdoors, I love the beach, and I love spending time with my young kids. They're three and one, so they keep me really busy. I also love travelling, spending time with family and friends, and coffee. I need lots of coffee.