Career reflections with Lisa Meredith: “You need to be creative, persuasive and engaging”

Q: Lisa, you’ve had a varied and successful career to date, did you have a clear plan when you started out?

Lisa: Definitely not! But I’ve always been inquisitive, opportunistic and willing to take on new challenges, even if it felt scary. I started as a Christmas temporary employee at Marks & Spencer in ’97. That was meant to be a short role, but 6 jobs and 16 years later, I was still there! I didn’t go to university as originally planned, but I learnt from amazing people and gradually moved across all sorts of operational roles, then fire, health and safety, and eventually found my way into insurance.

Honestly, I knew very little at the start, but I had a manager and mentor who really took me under his wing and introduced me to the industry. From there, it was about saying yes to opportunities and letting my career unfold organically.

Q: Mentorship seems to have played a big role for you. How important is it in risk management?

Lisa: I wouldn’t be where I am without the advice and guidance of incredible people at every stage of my career. They introduced me to the right people, supported technical training, gave me confidence and helped me make sense of the industry.

Networking is invaluable for personal and professional development. That’s where Airmic really comes in – it’s not just about courses or technical knowledge, it’s the community. Having peers, mentors and access to different experiences can be transformative for anyone starting out, or even later in your career.

Q: Risk professionals are currently navigating very challenging macro conditions. How is that impacting your role at Selfridges Group?

Lisa: It affects us in several ways. The news is often negative, geopolitical tensions and macroeconomic pressures create uncertainty, and that impacts consumer confidence and makes the outlook hard to predict.

It’s clear we’re going through a transformation where the world will change more in the next five years than it has in the past 50. In retail, evolving customer needs and expectations, demand for quality and experience, and increased awareness of sustainability will all be key drivers of change.

Across the Selfridges Group businesses, our approach is to make the world a little brighter – to bring joy and magic. It’s about creating iconic inspiring destinations and experiences that enrich people’s lives.

My role is to help make those creative and experiential ideas workable. For example, last year we launched “Sportopia,” turning the Selfridges stores into summer sports venues with major brand collaborations and immersive experiences – basically fun and games on every floor including two climbing walls.

Presenting that to our liability insurers was interesting – they thought we were joking! But it all worked out well. We even invited our insurer and broker to climb the wall and experience the activation first hand! It’s a perfect example of risk and insurance enabling creativity, not blocking it.

Q: How have the skills needed for risk professionals changed?

Lisa: Technical knowledge is still key, but attitude and soft skills matter just as much. You need to be inquisitive, creative, persuasive and engaging – the skills to be a business partner and an enabler. You want to be involved in the business strategy from the beginning, not brought in at the end to present the problems.

And with AI and tech changing everything, you need to know how to use it. AI has huge potential for research, scenario planning, modelling and much more. But you still need the experience to know what questions to ask – it can’t replace judgement.

Q: Is AI more of a risk or an opportunity for risk professionals?

Lisa: AI presents huge opportunities, particularly for operational efficiency and understanding complex, interconnected risks. But it also presents challenges: the early career learning traditionally gained through hands-on experience could be reduced if we rely too heavily on AI.

Looking ahead, developments like AI-driven cyber threats and quantum are a formidable prospect – we will be managing risks in a whole new world where AI will likely be the method of attack and the basis of defence. It will be fascinating to see how that unfolds – and how the insurance industry responds.

Q: What role has Airmic played in your career development?

Lisa: Airmic has been crucial. The technical output was invaluable to me when I first moved into insurance and had to quickly upskill. Beyond technical learning, it’s about networking, sharing insights and understanding the broader ecosystem.

Airmic has evolved over the years and now really supports all stages of the professional journey, from Risk Management Fundamentals and fastTrack to later-stage programmes, like Business Excellence and the leadership series. Its whole offering allows risk and insurance professionals to continue learning and adapt to new challenges, which is critical in such a rapidly evolving field.

Q: What advice would you give to someone starting in risk management today?

Lisa: Embrace opportunities that come your way – careers in risk are squiggly not linear! Take risks, be curious and build your personal brand. Find mentors who will challenge you to try new things, and don’t be afraid to put yourself in situations that feel uncomfortable.

A turning point for me was when a senior colleague told me to stop being apologetic – it shifted my mindset and since then I’ve owned my role and leaned into the leadership mindset.