Reporting to CEO Lynda Shillaw, she will also be a member of Harworth’s group leadership committee.

Morris-Bates' responsibilities in her position will include HR, business support, workplace improvement, and corporate communications.

She will oversee the strategic alignment and growth of the group's resources, the efficiency of processes and systems, and the ongoing development of the corporate culture while collaborating closely with senior executives and other company staff.

Lynda Shillaw, CEO at Harworth, commented: ‘Kate is an excellent addition to the Harworth team, bringing with her extensive transformation and resourcing expertise. Kate’s appointment will be key to realising our growth strategy and delivering on our purpose of creating sustainable places where people want to live and work.’

Morris-Bates added: ‘I am extremely pleased to be joining Harworth and to be supporting Lynda and the team in achieving the Group’s growth ambitions. I was drawn to Harworth by the opportunity to be part of a high performing team, contribute to a shared strategy, and play a leading role in a business with such strong sustainability credentials, and I can’t wait to get started.’

For the past six years, Morris-Bates has run her own companies in the fields of executive development, learning and development, and wellbeing.

Prior to that, for almost 20 years she worked in and led corporate teams in the facilities management and risk management space, latterly at the Co-operative Group.

Harworth sees the new role of group resources and transformation director as key in its strategy to grow business to £1 bn (€1.14 bn) by 2027.