People and Culture Director

People and Culture Director
- Hybrid / Remote from venue

Lane7 is the UK's fastest growing and biggest independent boutique bowling destination. We have multiple venues across our Lane7, Level X, Gutterball and ML7 brands. Bowling has always been our thing - since launch in 2013, but really, we're all your best nights in one:
Pool, golf, darts, karaoke, arcades and a ton of next-level gaming experiences, combined with great drinks and fabulous food. A night with friends, date night, special celebrations and private functions… we've got every occasion covered.

The People and Culture Director will lead the people agenda across Lane7, ensuring our growth is supported by capable leaders, confident teams and a consistent employee experience. The role will design, build and implement a business-wide learning and development strategy for department heads and frontline teams. It will also strengthen our culture of support, opportunity and wellbeing, while establishing clear, practical policies and communications that help people perform at their best.

Working closely with the CEO, SLT and department heads, this role will translate business priorities into practical people plans, learning programmes, policies and internal communications. It is a visible, hands‑on leadership role that must balance employee experience with commercial discipline, operational simplicity and measurable productivity.

• Develop and deliver a people and culture strategy aligned with Lane7’s commercial goals, growth plans and operational priorities.
• Advise the CEO, SLT and department heads on organisation design, workforce planning, succession, capability and change.

• Design, build and implement a group-wide L&D strategy based on clear capability needs and business priorities.
• Create effective onboarding, role‑specific training, management development, leadership programmes and career pathways.
• Give department heads the tools, standards and support required to develop their teams consistently.

• Build and maintain a robust, accessible set of people policies that supports all teams and promotes fair, consistent decision‑making.
• Ensure policies remain legally compliant, commercially sensible and straightforward for managers and employees to use.

• Own the internal communications policy and establish a clear operating rhythm for business‑wide and departmental communication.
• Work with leaders to ensure communications result in understanding, action and improved productivity, with feedback loops to test effectiveness.

• Build trusted relationships across support functions and venues, providing constructive challenge as well as practical support.
• Coach leaders and managers to handle people matters confidently, consistently and at the appropriate level.
• Use people data, employee feedback and operational insight to identify priorities and demonstrate impact.
• Lead and develop the People and L&D team, setting clear standards, priorities and measures of success.

• Significant senior experience in a People, Organisational Development or L&D leadership role, ideally within a multi‑site hospitality, leisure, retail or other operational business.
• A strong record of creating and implementing people and L&D strategies that improve capability and business performance.
• Experience developing practical people policies and embedding them consistently across dispersed teams.
• Demonstrable experience of internal communications, organisational change and increasing manager effectiveness.
• Commercial…