Our Story
Hurst Smith Consulting was founded on the strong belief that a highly effective and motivated team is critical to building a successful and sustainable business.



Niki Hurst-Smith

Established leader in the marketing and comms industry with a 20-year career working for best in class agencies and brands. Initially my career developed within client services where I was renowned for growing client business with a relationship led approach and a focus (and passion for) motivating high performing teams. During my career I have always found myself at the heart of people led initiatives. For 15 years I have sat on the board of an HR consultancy QCG, as an non-executive Director providing counsel on marketing, branding, business change and HR.

8 years ago I was lucky enough to become Head of People for WDMP and have never looked back. Over the last 7 years I have worked in-house for iris and WDMP in-house, spanning both talent and HR.

Last year, Hurst Smith Consulting was born to collaborate with senior leadership teams to help them craft their people strategy and create an effective toolkit of HR and Talent initiatives and, more importantly, deliver a positive impact on both the culture and effectiveness of a business.







“We have a long-standing partnership with Niki, she worked as our head of people for a number of years and we have subsequently worked with Hurst-Smith Consulting over the last year. During our time as Head of People she supported the leadership team through a period of significant business change. She is adept at flexing her style to reflect the business or individual need. She worked across the full HR and Talent remit, and during her time ensured we had a programme of activity to attract and retain the best talent. Having worked in agencies all her career, she understands the role of HR and talent in taking the business forward, and more importantly creating great places to work. More recently we have worked with Niki on building our team and managing a tupe transfer. Niki is very personable, dedicated and goes the extra mile to help you find the right solution for your needs. It helps that she is sensitive to the wider implications of HR discussions on your wider business.”


Craig Wheeler - MD WDMP