HR support, London and South London
What if you've hired twelve people this year and the paperwork is still catching up?
HR support for small businesses in London and South London with no in-house HR.
We are based in Caterham, on the Croydon side of the M25. Close enough to sit in your office for the meeting that needs a person in the room. Day-to-day questions run by phone and video, which is how most London clients want them anyway.
In your office when it matters
Based in Caterham, Surrey CR3 6BA, with direct trains to East Croydon, London Bridge and Victoria.
Anywhere in London
In person whenever the work needs it. Quick questions by phone, email or video.
Got a live situation today?
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, or email hello@whatifhr.co.uk. We reply the same working day.
- Based
- CaterhamOn the Croydon side of the M25
- Reach
- All of LondonIn person when you need it
- Google reviews
- 5.0From 30 reviews
- Prices
- Fixed, agreed firstNothing on a running clock
- Who you deal with
- One named consultantWho gets to know your business
Where most London businesses are
Most London businesses hire first and sort the HR later.
"We went from four people to fourteen in a year and nobody has a contract that matches what they do."
A care provider opens a second site and needs staff by the end of the month. A cafe becomes two cafes. A consultancy that ran on contractors for six years takes on its first employee. A tech business hires three engineers in a quarter, two of them hybrid, one of them from abroad. The hiring happens because it has to. The paperwork follows later, if it follows at all.
Then the small print catches up. Holiday for someone on irregular hours, worked out the old way since 2022. A contractor who has become an employee without anyone deciding it. Three managers handling sickness three different ways, and nobody noticing until someone compares notes. These are the mistakes that cost London businesses money, and they are rarely dramatic.
And all of it is fixable. Most of what we sort for London clients started as a ten-minute look at one payslip or one contract. It is cheaper now than later, and nobody is going to make you feel foolish for not having looked sooner.
Caterham to LondonDirect trains to East Croydon, London Bridge and Victoria. When a meeting needs someone in the room, we come to you.
One address
Where we are, and what that means for you
Being in the room for the meeting that needs it, without a central London address in every invoice. Central and north London too: if the work needs someone in the room, we come to you. One named consultant, on every call and in every meeting.
If your business is in Surrey rather than London, there is a separate page for the HR consultant in Surrey.
The trade is simple. You get someone who can be in the room, without central London rent inside the invoice.
- Based in
- Caterham, SurreyOne address, and no London office.
- In person
- Croydon
- Bromley
- Sutton
- Wandsworth
- Clapham
- Battersea
- Balham
- Streatham
- Dulwich
- Lewisham
- Greenwich
- Kingston
- Richmond
- Wimbledon
- Central and north London
- Remote
- Anywhere in the UKBy phone, email and video, Monday to Friday, 9 to 5.
What we sort
What London businesses call us about
Contracts for hybrid and remote staff
Including the person you hired in Clapham who now works from Devon three days a week.
Contractors who have become employees
Without anyone deciding to. Employment status is decided on how the relationship works in practice, whatever the contract is headed.
Probation and performance
For teams that hired in a hurry and now regret one of the hires.
Flexible working requests
Driven by commute cost and commute time. They come up more here than anywhere else we work.
Holiday pay for irregular hours
In hospitality and care, where the rules changed and the rota did not.
Pay bands pulled out of shape
By London salaries, so the person hired last month earns more than the person who trained them.
First-time employer setup
The written statement you must give, the contract, right to work checks and the policies you need on day one.
Live disciplinary and grievance situations
Including the ones where both people matter to the business.
Not all of this needs a project. Some of it is a 20-minute call. Tell us what is happening and we will say which one it is.
We use What If HR for quick, ad hoc HR advice when we need practical support for our professional services firm. Elena is approachable, responsive and very easy to speak to.
What If HR provided us with excellent support on a sensitive employee relations matter, handled with care, professionalism and complete discretion. The advice was practical, clear and easy to act on, which gave us confidence in moving forward in the right way.
We used What if HR as our business lacked expertise around employment contracts and what we should or shouldn't include in them. Elena was so helpful, helped us understand the legal aspects but also how we could be fair to everyone involved.
Services and prices
Where to start, and what it costs
All prices + VAT.
- HR Health CheckYou have staff and no clear view of what is missing£395, credited
- First Hire ReadyYou are about to employ your first person£595
- HR Systems SetupHoliday and absence still live in a spreadsheetfrom £695
- Employee Relations SupportYou have a live situation right nowfrom £125 an hour
- HR Foundations BuildContracts and handbook built properly, once£1,800 up to 15 staff, £2,500 for 16 to 30
- Retained HR PartnerYou want someone on call every monthfrom £150 a month
- HR Backbone ProgrammeThe whole thing set up in order, then run for youfrom £3,495
Most London clients start with the HR Health Check. It is £395 + VAT and the fee comes off whatever you do next within 60 days, so if the answer turns out to be a full foundations build you have not paid for the same thinking twice.
Every price is fixed and put in writing before anything starts. If you would rather pay as you go, advice is £125 an hour + VAT.
Who this is for
Three situations we see most often in London
- Growing faster than the paperworkFive to fifty people, hired in bursts, with contracts that describe jobs people no longer do.
- Managers deciding differentlyTwenty people or more, team leads handling sickness and performance their own way, and everything still landing on you.
- A live situation nowA grievance, a long absence, a dismissal you want to do properly. You want to know where you stand today.
The people on the other end
Who you work with
Every client has one named consultant who gets to know the business, so you never start from scratch. What If HR has been running since 2020. It was founded by Elena Suhova, MSc Human Resource Management from Birkbeck, University of London, and CIPD Associate, who leads the client work.
Elena came to the UK as an adult and learnt how everything works here from scratch, the written rules and the unwritten ones. That turns out to be useful in London, where a good share of the founders we talk to are building a UK team from somewhere else. UK employment law, translated.
Zhanna Zhuravleva and Anna Wheeldon, both Chartered FCIPD, join as Consultant Partners when the work is culture, leadership or training, and experienced associate consultants join the team as we grow. What If HR is FSB and ICO registered, and a partner of BreatheHR and Hireful. More about us.
Employment law changes
What the shorter qualifying period means when you hire quickly
The Employment Rights Act 2025 cuts the qualifying period for unfair dismissal from two years to six months. The start date and the other changes are on our employment law changes page, kept up to date. If you hire quickly and your team turns over, more of your people will have that right, and sooner. A probation process that holds up is a small piece of work at this stage, and it is part of the HR Foundations Build and the first month of any retainer.
Straight answers
Common questions from London employers
Can't see your question?
Ask us directly. We reply the same working day.
Book a free 20-minute callor email hello@whatifhr.co.uk
Do you have a London office?
No. We are based in Caterham, Surrey, just outside the M25 on the Croydon side, with direct trains to East Croydon, London Bridge and Victoria. You get a consultant who can be in your office when it matters, without a central London address in every invoice.
Will you come to our office?
Yes, anywhere in London, whenever the work needs it. For a disciplinary hearing, a redundancy consultation or the first meeting with a new client, being in the room earns its keep. Quick questions run by phone and video because it is faster for you.
Our team is hybrid and some people are not in London at all. Does that change anything?
It changes what the contract needs to say, and it does not change the price. Place of work, homeworking expectations and expenses need to say what you mean, and a lot of London contracts still describe an office nobody attends five days a week. If someone has moved abroad, that is a separate conversation and we will say where HR advice stops and tax or immigration advice starts.
We use freelancers rather than employees. Do we still need HR?
If the person works set hours, uses your systems and cannot send a substitute, the label on the contract does not settle it. Employment status is decided on how the relationship works in practice. We will say which side of the line each person sits on and what to do about the ones on the wrong side.
How much does an HR consultant in London cost?
An HR Health Check is £395 + VAT, ongoing support starts at £150 a month + VAT and help with a live employee situation is £125 an hour + VAT, or from £650 a day for a formal case. Every price is agreed before anything starts.
Do you work with hospitality and care, or only office businesses?
Both. Shift patterns, holiday for irregular hours and higher turnover change what the contracts and the rota policy need to say. The underlying work is the same and so are the prices.
Good to know
Three what-ifs, answered
Is the contractor really an employee? Are our holiday records what the law now asks for? What does a new starter need on paper?
Where most people go next
Three ways to start
- Not sure yetHR Health CheckStart here if you are not sure. A clear view of what is missing and what to fix first.£395 + VAT, credited
- About to employ someoneFirst Hire ReadyContract, written statement, right to work check and a plan for the first three months.£595 + VAT
- Someone on callRetained HR PartnerThe next situation handled by a person who already knows your business.from £150 a month + VAT
Most HR advice starts with what is not allowed. We start with what you are trying to do and work out a route there that is fair to your people and stands up if anyone checks.
Send us your what-ifs.
What if the contractor is really an employee. What if I've been doing holiday wrong since 2022. What if the person I hired in March is not working out. Twenty minutes, no charge. Describe the situation and we will say what it needs, what it would cost and whether you need us at all.
All prices + VAT. This page is general information, not legal advice. What If HR Ltd, Caterham, Surrey. Serving South London, central London, Surrey and the South East.