Sonia Rai, Founder & Managing Director

Sonia started Nectar HR initially in 2011 but took an 18-month break in 2014 due to personal circumstances. In 2016 Sonia relaunched Nectar HR and the business continues to go from strength to strength. 

Sonia worked part-time in HR from 2000 whilst studying and graduated from the University of Wolverhampton in 2003 with a degree in Human Resources and Marketing. She went on to complete a Masters in Human Resources and Business from Aston University, obtaining CIPD accreditation in 2004. 

Sonia has worked in some large corporate organisations and has a vast amount of experience from strategic and board level HR right down to understanding administrative HR processes. She has worked across a wide range of industries from banking and construction to health and social care and is an expert in regulated industries such as health care and education.

Sonia loves talking to new clients about their HR needs and ensuring that the Nectar HR team add value to our clients every step of the way. Sonia is very passionate about ‘doing HR properly’ and her pet hate is generic, off the shelf HR. Sonia also does not believe in lengthy contracts with our clients, instead offering flexible solutions that best meet the needs of our valued clients.

Janice Wilson – Junior HR Consultant

Janice joined Nectar HR in December 2021 part time to broaden her HR skills further in different sectors. She gained her CIPD Level 3 in June 2020 whilst working as an HR Administrator/Coordinator for one of the UK’s largest GP Partnerships.

She splits her time between HR, swimming teaching, family and volunteering for Girlguiding UK both as a Leader and DBS verifier.

Janice supports in all areas of the employee life cycle.

Janice is also experienced in HR administration duties and working with HR generalist matters, which has helped her gain a well-rounded understanding of Human Resources.

Janice is particularly skilled at recruitment processes including onboarding new starters where there are strict regulated requirements and she is also passionate about employee wellbeing within the workplace.

Leah Callaghan – HR Consultant

Leah joined Nectar HR in July 2022 as a HR Consultant.  Leah has over 15 years’ experience as a HR Professional and is Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) Level 7 qualified and has a Degree in Business Management.  Leah has also completed Mental Health First Aider training which includes suicide prevention which has been invaluable when supporting clients and employees. 

In her spare time Leah is mum to her daughter and has three sisters, 2 of which live in Dubai, so she regularly visits them for some winter sun.  Before embarking on a career as a HR Professional Leah attended Catering College as her ambition was to become a Chef.  Leah quickly discovered that cooking and baking was more of a hobby than a career and her journey into the world of HR began. 

Leah has worked in varying private and public sectors such as, Housing, Non-profit, Veterinary, Manufacturing and Local Government Authority to name a few.  Leah was also a member of the CIPD Committee for Shropshire for 5 years which has been invaluable to increasing her Continuous Professional Development (CPD) and her HR networking portfolio.

The specific areas that Leah has a wealth of experience in are Organisational Change which includes project management of restructures, Recruitment and Selection, Absence Management and Employee Engagement and Well-Being.  Leah thrives on supporting clients through the employee lifecycle and seeing how her contributions come to life.  Leah is passionate about HR and lives and breathes tailoring her approach for the benefit of her stakeholders.

Priya Sandhu – HR Consultant

Priya joined Nectar HR originally in May 2022 as a HR Consultant and after a short break came back on a longer term basis in July 2023. Priya brings over 20 years HR experience to the team. Priya holds a Master’s Degree in Human Resources and is CIPD qualified.

Priya is passionatate about partnering with businesses to enable them to achieve their objectives and has a wealth of experience covering the employee life cycle.  Priya has worked in a breadth of industries such as Media, Publishing, Music, Legal Services, Engineering, Insurance Broking and Local Government.

Priya has worked as a HR Generalist as well as specialising in Resourcing with wide ranging experience covering Employee Relations, Performance Management, Reward, delivery of HR projects such as organisation restructures and Global Mobility

Wendy Barnes – HR Consultant

Wendy joined Nectar HR in March 2024 as a HR Consultant, bringing over 25 years of HR experience to the team.  Wendy is CIPD qualified and passionate about doing the right thing, partnering/supporting clients and their employees to enable them to achieve the business objectives and support with business growth.

Wendy’s experience during this time including working in a wide variety of industries including manufacturing, logistics, machinery plant hire and facilities management companies.

Wendy’s has worked as a HR Generalist with wide ranging experience covering the whole employee life cycle including whole spectrum of Employee Relations, Delivering HR Projects including TUPE Transfers (In and Out), Restructures, Harmonisations, Redundancies, Exit Plans, Absence Management and Performance Management.

Melanie Campbell – HR Associate

As the most recent member of the Nectar HR Team, Melanie comes to us with over 20 years as a CIPD member and has a wealth of HR generalist experience.  She has worked in manufacturing, retail, service, transport and logistical industries.

From gaining her first qualification in HR, she has moved through the ranks from Administration through to management and has mainly stayed within the day to day operational aspects of HR.  She has moved to Nectar HR, for the positive aspect Nectar HR offers and is looking forward to gaining further insights into other industry sectors and hopes in the future to gain a better understanding of the more strategic aspects of HR. 

She is very much a sports addict and loves watching the big competitions either live or on TV she is also actively involved in co-managing and playing for a local Netball team and has also recently become a badminton enthusiast playing on a weekly basis with other family members.

Carol Higgs, HR Associate

Carol joined the Nectar HR team as a HR Consultant on a more permanent basis in July 2020 after working on an ad-hoc basis since 2017. Carol graduated from the University of Gloucestershire in 2003 with a degree in Business and HR Management and then further study at Stafford University with a CIPD level 7 post graduate qualification in 2014.  She resumed her role as a HR Associate after securing a new role in 2021.

Carol has spent her entire career in the world of HR. Working around her family, Carol has worked in a variety of industries, including, retail, hospitality, estates management, health care, education, and logistics.  Carol is somewhat of a CQC and OFSTED inspection specialist and has vast experience in supporting our clients in regulated industries through both small- and large-scale inspections.

As an HR Associate Carol aids our clients with her methodical approach and expert knowledge in data analysis. Carol loves working with spreadsheets and is our resident expert when it comes to complex annual leave calculations or making sense of complex data such as sickness or retention stats – and she’s our go-to for a part-time holiday calculation!