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Emily Chiverton
Human Relations Director, L’Oréal UK & Ireland
An exclusive interview with L’Oréal's HR Director, Emily Chiverton, explains how their London headquarters are a key component in fostering inclusivity, connection, and innovation to shape a thriving culture...
Emily Chiverton
Human Relations Director, L’Oréal UK & Ireland
An exclusive interview with L’Oréal's HR Director, Emily Chiverton, explains how their London headquarters are a key component in fostering inclusivity, connection, and innovation to shape a thriving culture...
When Emily Chiverton stepped into her role as Human Relations Director for the UK and Ireland at L’Oréal in 2022, she was returning to a place that had been instrumental in shaping her career.
“I spent a good chunk of my early career here,” she explains as we take a seat in one of the many, spacious meeting rooms at L’Oréal’s London HQ.
“I started my career as an intern in Paris. And then I moved to the UK and was on the management training scheme in marketing. So I'm a product of our early careers programmes.
“I was set to go into a career in marketing. I studied languages and psychology, and then did a Master’s in Business. I was living in Paris, and knew I wanted to marry all those experiences and interests together. But I wasn't exactly sure what that was going to look like.
“During the course of my management traineeship in marketing, I started to ask more questions about people in leadership, about work culture and how that develops.
“And all this thinking led me to HR. I went to see my HR manager, and I was very lucky at that time that they facilitated my move. I came into the HR team in the UK & Ireland and spent five or six years here.
“When I got the call about my current job, I was working in our European headquarters in Paris. It was an amazing moment to be asked to come back to the UK for this leadership role. It meant I could come back to my home country, where it started my career, and where I'd been a management trainee. It was a really exciting moment.”
Her appointment as HRD came at a crucial time in the company’s history – with the small task of moving the business, and its 1,000 UK staff, from its home of 20+ years in Hammersmith, to a brand-new headquarters in White City, London.
But this move wasn’t just about relocating desks and chairs—it was about creating a workspace that embodied L’Oréal’s vibrant culture of creativity, collaboration, and people-centric innovation.
A new chapter in an established legacy
L’Oréal has long been a company where people come first. “When you ask people what they love about L’Oréal, they always talk about the people,” Emily says. This sentiment is a deeply ingrained part of the company’s DNA, one that has persisted through its 115-year history. The new office, which opened just over a year ago, was designed to amplify that human connection.
The decision to move was driven by L’Oréal’s rapid growth. The previous headquarters had served the company well for 22 years, but with the business rapidly increasing in size during that time, it was clear that L’Oréal needed a new space—not just physically, but also in terms of the facilities and opportunities it could offer its employees.
Designing for inclusivity and flexibility
As Emily walks me through the expansive new offices, she points out the varied workspaces that have been meticulously designed with inclusivity and flexibility at their core. “We talk about ‘activity-based’ working,” she says. “The point of the building is that you move around it. It’s a really different proposition from what we had before, where you just came in, sat down and worked. Here, you move according to where you need to be.”
The concept of activity-based working is central to the new office’s design. Employees aren’t tethered to a single desk. Instead, they can choose from a variety of spaces that suit their tasks and moods—whether that’s a quiet corner in the library, a collaborative pod, or an open terrace with sweeping views of London.
Inclusion was also a priority from the outset. The building features sit-and-stand desks on every floor, a wellness room, and a faith room. “Not everybody has the same needs,” Emily acknowledges. “People with certain types of neurodiversity, for example, might need more quiet space, while others may thrive in a more vibrant setting. It’s really about offering that element of choice.”
The impact of hybrid working
The pandemic, Emily notes, didn’t delay L’Oréal’s move, but it did influence how the space would be best utilised.
“The pandemic did a lot to shift our thinking about how we could work,” she says. With two years between the end of the UK’s lockdown restrictions and the big move, L’Oréal had the opportunity to adapt to the new normal and consult employees on what they wanted from their future workspace.
“We introduced a three-day minimum in the office,” says Emily. This hybrid approach balances the human connection that’s so crucial to L’Oréal’s culture with the flexibility that employees have come to value. “The new building has been amazing for that, because on top of having a hybrid working policy, employees can choose where they want to work, and how they want to work within the building.”
