The Asta Interview: Alice Scott, Head of Culture & Talent
Since joining Asta in early 2025, Alice Scott has brought an energising mix of curiosity, candour and ambition to her role as Head of Culture & Talent. With a career spanning retail, radio, recruitment, hospitality and charitable ventures, she has spent two decades shaping environments where people feel able to contribute, grow and belong.
We spoke with Alice about her career journey, why culture and talent belong together, the changes she sees across the Lloyd’s market, and the everyday actions that build a strong, inclusive culture.
Can you tell us a bit about your background and what led you to your role at Asta?
My route into this role hasn’t been linear, but the thread running through everything I’ve done is a focus on people. I started in fashion retail in Leeds and realised very quickly that what I enjoyed most wasn’t selling clothes — it was helping someone feel confident for whatever moment they were preparing for. That set the tone for my career.
I moved into leadership roles, then into learning and development at Arcadia, supporting managers across the UK and internationally. After 15 years in retail, I wanted a new challenge, so I moved into culture roles in radio at Global, before working across charity, youth employment programmes and hospitality. Those experiences showed me the impact that opportunity and belonging can have in any industry, particularly for people who haven’t traditionally been given a chance.
I later helped scale a recruitment start-up from 60 to around 300 people globally, eventually becoming COO. That gave me a broad view of how culture, leadership and employee experience fit together.
What drew me to Asta was the unknown of the industry, an opportunity to dive in and learn fast, and the leadership team here — I’d never worked for a female CEO — and the genuine commitment to shaping a progressive, inclusive organisation. It felt like the right place to bring together everything I’d learned.
Your role covers two big areas – culture and talent. What does that look like in practice at Asta, and what are you aiming to achieve?
Culture and talent are completely intertwined. Culture isn’t just the “feel” of a place — it’s the values, behaviours, systems, leadership, communication and the decisions we make every day. And all of that is brought to life by people. You can’t meaningfully move one forward without the other.
At Asta, my work involves building an environment where everyone feels valued, empowered and psychologically safe — so they can contribute and grow. That means understanding who we are today, what our people experience day to day, and how we can evolve to support our strategy.
Ultimately, my ambition is for Asta to be the most inclusive and inspiring place to work in insurance. A place where it doesn’t matter whether you’re entering the market for the first time or joining as a senior leader — you feel you can do your best work and have a meaningful impact.
Culture is shaped through day-to-day behaviours rather than just top-down initiatives. What actions help build the culture Asta aspires to?
Often, it’s the small things that matter most — the micro-affirmations that make someone feel seen, respected and supported. Recognition is a big one. Our leaders are excellent at acknowledging contributions, whether in a corridor conversation or on a company-wide stage.
Genuine interest in people’s lives also builds trust. Remembering personal milestones or checking in after a big week creates human connection.
We’re intentional about making space for different voices. Attracting a diverse workforce is one thing; ensuring their day-to-day experience is positive is another. Psychological safety underpins this — encouraging people to speak up, share views and challenge constructively.
Culture is shaped at every level, not just by leadership teams. It’s the collective behaviours of everyone in the organisation.
The Lloyd’s market has changed a lot – but still has further to go. What shifts have you seen, and where is more work needed?
What’s struck me is how open and collaborative the market is when it comes to culture. People genuinely want to do better, and there’s increasing focus on inclusion, skills-based hiring, flexible working and improving the employee experience.
The Lloyd’s culture principles are helpful as a shared benchmark, but they should be used as guidance, not a tick-box exercise. They give firms a clear structure for understanding what good looks like.
There’s still more to do, particularly around social mobility and opening the market to people from non-traditional backgrounds. Technology is also an area where the market is accelerating, but there’s further opportunity to adapt and adopt quicker.
Progress is clear, even if the journey is ongoing.
Social mobility and inclusion are clearly important to you – and you recently wrote about accent bias. Why should businesses be paying attention to this?
Accent bias is subtle but real. It can influence how people are perceived before their capability has even been assessed. Growing up in Yorkshire, I’ve experienced and witnessed situations where someone’s accent shaped assumptions about their competence or suitability.
That’s why it’s important to talk about. Bias exists whether we like it or not, and it turns up in different ways. When I shared my experience, so many people said it resonated with them.
Raising awareness isn’t about blame; it’s about giving people the opportunity to pause and consider whether they’re making unintended assumptions. If we want fair, equitable workplaces, we need to explore all of the barriers — even the subtle ones.
What do businesses often get wrong when it comes to hiring or nurturing talent? What should they be doing instead?
A big challenge in our industry is over-reliance on networks. Someone knows someone; a coffee chat leads to a job. It’s well-intentioned, but it reinforces affinity bias and closes the door to people from different backgrounds if the informality leads to a lack of testing in the skills necessary to do the job.
Another issue is the idea of “culture fit”. Too often, hiring managers ask themselves: Is this someone the team would be happy socialising with? That approach narrows the pool and means we’re effectively fishing in the same place over and over again.
There’s also a tendency to hire “another version” of someone successful who left — assuming we need a carbon copy instead of assessing what skills and perspectives are needed now.
What businesses should be doing is moving towards skills-based hiring: structured interviews, clear criteria, and objective assessments. At Asta, we’re investing heavily in this. We redact parts of CVs that reveal background or identity, to minimise unconscious bias. And we emphasise fairness, transparency and meaningful feedback.
Candidate experience also matters enormously. Even in a soft market, organisations damage their brand if people feel ghosted or devalued. Every interaction should reflect the culture you want to be known for.
What have been some of the most rewarding moments in your role so far?
Some achievements are tangible — developing our culture strategy for 2026, or playing a major role in Asta’s participation in Dive In as a global festival partner.
But the most rewarding moments are often personal ones: seeing members of my team grow in confidence, watching colleagues feel able to bring more of themselves to work, or being trusted as a sounding board across the business. Those relationships give me invaluable insight and make the work meaningful.
Asta is evolving quickly. How do you maintain and strengthen culture through growth and change?
Communication is everything. People need to understand what’s changing, why, and how it affects them. It has to be two-way — we need to listenas well as inform.
Leadership capability is also key. We can’t scale effectively if leadership behaviours don’t scale with us, which is why we’re investing in more structured leadership development in 2026 and beyond.
I often compare organisational change to software updates. If you put the first iPhone next to the latest one, they look very different — but the change happened gradually, with updates people could adopt easily. That’s how culture should evolve: recognisable, but continually improving, with everyone taken on the journey.
What advice would you give to someone early in their career who wants to influence culture or build a better workplace – but doesn’t know where to start?
Be curious. Ask why things work the way they do. Support the people around you. Influence isn’t about seniority — it’s about how you communicate, build trust and show up.
Look for allies. Share ideas. Don’t be afraid to challenge the status quo respectfully.
And get involved. Employee resource groups (ERGs) are a brilliant way to meet others who care about culture and to learn more about how the organisation works. Asta has high engagement in Davies’ ERGs — and we’re always looking for more people to join.
Finally – the dinner question! If you could sit down for a meal with anyone, past or present, who would it be and why?
I can never pick one person, so I’m choosing three.
Maya Angelou, for her wisdom, resilience and commitment to equality. I’d love to hear her stories firsthand.
Angela Hartnett, because I adore her food and admire what she’s achieved in such a male-dominated industry. She’s exceptional and relatable at the same time — and ideally she’d cook for us!
And Bob Mortimer, simply because he has funny bones. His life is fascinating beyond comedy, and I’m certain he’d keep us laughing all evening.
Great food, meaningful conversation and lots of laughter — the perfect mix!
If you would like to continue the conversation, get in touch with Head of Culture and Talent, Asta, Alice Scott at a.scott@asta-uk.com
