Caroline Hitchen has spent over 35 years in the employment law field, advising clients at all levels, both in house and in a consultative capacity.

She began her career with an honours degree in Business Studies with Human Resources (then known as good old fashioned Personnel!), before working her way up through the ranks in a variety of HR roles, initially with Booker Group PLC, before joining Biffa Waste Services Ltd in 1990 where she was promoted in 1991 to a main board Directorship as Director of HR at the age of 28.

Having spent 10 years working in HR Caroline came to realise that the part of HR she enjoyed the most was the legal side, and so she decided to 'go it alone' and focus exclusively on advising clients on the law. She set up an employment law advisory business which she ran for 17 years, advising both corporate and private clients alike. She was often asked by new clients if she was a solicitor, and eventually decided to bite the bullet and become formally legally qualified. She underwent four years of legal studies whilst also running her consultancy business, and then spent two years with a well-respected firm of solicitors in High Wycombe, (who were generous and visionary enough to take on a mature trainee!), in order to complete her qualification as a solicitor.

Having achieved that goal she found the lure of her own consultancy too enticing, and went back into private business again as Caroline Neal Employment Law offering employment law advice to corporate clients whilst also offering an advisory service to private clients. She advises on all aspects of employment law, and has represented employees and employers alike in employment tribunals over the years and negotiated countless settlement deals on behalf of clients on both sides.

In addition to her employment law work, Caroline has also held the role of Company Secretary for the family business, Neal Training Limited, for over 20 years, and so is well placed to understand how small businesses work and what they need.

Having spent so many years advising clients on thorny employment law matters, she decided to put pen to paper in the form of this 'Conquering Employment Law' series of books, in the hope that she can shed some light on a difficult subject for the benefit of many more small businesses.