Meet our team

Vicky Hayhurst

Vicky is Hayhurst & Co’s Founder and CEO. Vicky is fully accountable for all elements of how we get things done at Hayhurst & Co. An accomplished strategist and company director with 23 years of marketing project management experience, Vicky is also a skilled and experienced facilitator, and a qualified workplace coach.

Vicky has worked in the private and public sectors, including 19 years in both the client and supplier sides of Higher Education and has been a senior lead in change management programmes at two universities. Having worked as a supplier with over 100 universities, Vicky is well known and trusted within the sector. She has a passion for helping our clients to strive for excellence whilst also setting realistic goals and taking a pragmatic approach to overcoming challenges faced by those working in university external relations teams.

Outside of work, Vicky likes to watch stand-up comedy and loves all genres of music (apart from Country & Western - sorry, Dolly). Vicky also plays tennis for her local club where she captains the ladies doubles team; however, her organisational and team building skills far outweigh her ability to play, which is a constant battle for her and a great source of amusement for her team mates!

Connect with Vicky

Our Associates

Our associates are experts in their field – leaders with successful track records and who are the top of their game in their chosen discipline. This means that we can ensure that you receive a consistent level of focus, relevance and synergy from every one of our team. Not only that but we are all passionate advocates of the education sector and the societal transformation it delivers.

Between us we have a wide range of experience in many different sectors and different types of organisations, which helps to keep our thinking fresh and innovative. It also means that we can tailor best practice from multiples sectors to provide the most effective solutions for Higher Education. We are particularly skilled in the following areas:

  • Leadership & Management Training

  • Strategic & Operational Planning

  • Student Journey Mapping

  • Psychological Safety Implementation

  • Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Practices

  • Coaching & Mentoring

  • Burnout Prevention Strategies


  • Danielle is Hayhurst & Co’s Executive & Leadership Coach, working with Leaders across organisations to support them in reaching their potential, drive performance and create impact. After spending two decades as a senior Leader, and Managing Director at one of the World’s largest Advertising Agencies, Danielle’s approach is unique in bringing together the best of Leadership & Executive Coaching using neuroscience, psychology and transformational approaches, with the real-world strategic framing and expertise from 20 years as Business Leader.

    Danielle is Female Leadership expert and specialises in supporting Female Leaders globally, across sectors like Education, Tech, Digital, Marketing & Healthcare in developing the strategies, confidence and mindset to step into their bigger games and thrive across their careers. Danielle has worked with hundreds of Leaders from emerging Leaders to Founders and C-suite Executives, using bespoke 1:1 Leadership Coaching to support them in achieving goals such as transitioning into bigger Leadership roles, elevating their Leadership skills, driving high performance, navigating stakeholders and organizational intelligence, leadership style, overcoming feelings of imposter, public speaking and developing reslience and wellbeing.

    When Danielle is not busy with her mission to support women across business to win and rise, you can find her with her Italian partner Alessandro in their cottage in Far Headingley, cooking up a storm and enjoying an Italian Red, doing a spot of Yoga, or learing Italian (at an exruciatingly slow rate!)

  • Robbie is an experienced executive and non-executive director working across a range of industries building, developing and leading high performing teams. His passion is delivering positive social impact through the teams he works with both in commercial and not-for-profit sectors.

    He has significant experience at Board level of complex organisations, marketing to an international audience and driving awareness across a wide range of channels.

    Robbie is a champion for creating and implementing people centered strategies which engage colleagues and stakeholders across organizational silos ensuring positive engagement and results.

    He works to drive equity, inclusion and belonging across all his work through meaningful and positive engagement recognizing that this drives improved results but, most importantly, it’s the right thing to do. He is committed to education and particularly the benefits this important sector has to the lives of marginalised groups in society. He has chaired school governing boards for almost a decade and is a Visiting Fellow of a University supporting their revalidation as a provider of professional qualifications.

    As important as his work is, Robbie has a whole new priority. Alongside his partner Ben, they have adopted twin boys who have zero respect or tolerance for Robbie’s usual leadership style. ‘Referee’ was never listed in the various leadership books Robbie studied as part of his MBA but has now turned into his default style (at least on Saturdays and Sundays).

  • Stephanie Amor is the co-founder and director of Afro Leads, a brand and consultancy that is focused on diversity and inclusion (D&I) and advancing race equality in the workplace. Afro Leads is the recent winner of the 2022 Legacy Awards and shortlisted for this year’s National Diversity Awards 2023.

    Prior to focusing on diversity and inclusion, Stephanie spent over five years supporting domestic student recruitment and D&I strategies within higher education.

    She has a passion for supporting clients with a holistic understanding of D&I, impactful practices and manageable goals. Additionally, coaching inclusive management skills is an area that Stephanie has provided to both private and public sector clients.

    The Afro Leads brand contributes to mainstream media, with Stephanie writing a monthly column for OK Magazine. Through a D&I lens, she promotes Black British business and culture to a wider audience – furthering the reach and audience.

    Outside of work Stephanie enjoys spending time with her family. She enjoys exploring the joys that are on her doorstep, Yorkshire landmarks and pubs! Who doesn’t like a ramble and a well deserved drink!? Having studied a language degree, Stephanie also enjoys learning and experiencing different cultures. Travelling (when possible) will always be something she enjoys.

We’re well networked, so if you need help with something that we don’t specialise in, it’s likely that we will know someone who does!

Chat to us any time if you think we can connect you with other suppliers, or clients who have similar challenges to you and who may be interested in collaborating.

“It has been a pleasure working with Hayhurst & Co at the University of Dundee. Vicky has an infectious energy and attitude that drives positive thinking and outcomes across multiple teams within the directorate…”

DAVID RILEY
Head of Marketing, University of Dundee