RETAINED HR PARTNER
Nothing lands on your desk without someone who already knows what to do.
Retained HR support: your outsourced HR partner.
A named HR partner who knows your business, your team and your documents, there when something comes up. No call centres, no being passed around. One person, one fixed monthly fee, sized to your team: from a light-touch buddy for the smallest teams up to full cover as you grow.
From £150/month + VAT
Monthly · 3-month minimum · rolling thereafter
You've outgrown sorting HR on your own.
"I need someone who knows us, not a helpline."
You have employees, and things come up. Sickness that goes on longer than expected. A performance issue that has been building for a while. Someone who is not working out in probation. You handle each situation alone, usually under time pressure, hoping you are getting the process right.
Meanwhile there is a pile of things you know need sorting: contracts that have not been updated in years, managers who make different calls on the same situation, a handbook written for an earlier version of the business.
The Retained HR Partner gives you one named person who knows your business and your team, there when something lands, not a call-centre queue and a stranger reading from a script.
What every client gets, whichever tier you're on:
A named consultant who knows your business, your team and your documents
Employee relations support as issues arise: disciplinary, grievance, sickness, performance
Up-to-date document templates when you need them
HR advice by phone and email during business hours
Employment law updates relevant to your business
A regular check-in call
No call centre, no hold music, no being passed to someone who does not know your business. One person, who is on your side and does not judge how things got to where they are.
HR Buddy is the light-touch entry tier, on fair use with a quarterly check-in. The Retained HR Partner tiers (Foundations and up) add unlimited advice, hands-on document and policy work, and a monthly check-in, scaling with your headcount.
Four tiers. One relationship.
HR Buddy
Under 5 employees
£150/mo + VAT
Light-touch ongoing HR support for the smallest teams. A named consultant for the everyday people questions, with employment templates on demand. Expert backup, sized and priced for a very small team.
Guardrails: fair use, not unlimited · advice and templates (bespoke drafting from £250) · quarterly check-in · remote
Best for: first hires and teams under five
Foundations
5 to 10 employees
£450/mo + VAT
For a small team where HR issues come up now and then. Unlimited advice and a named person who knows your business when you call, not an advice line.
Best for: post-growth · early-stage
Partner
11 to 25 employees
£650/mo + VAT
For growing teams where people management is becoming a regular part of running the business. More employees means more situations, more manager questions, more times you need someone who already knows the background.
Best for: post-growth · early-stage · small established businesses
Full Cover
26 to 50 employees
£895/mo + VAT
For established businesses where HR is a constant operational reality. Multiple managers, complex team dynamics, regular employment law considerations. A named senior HR partner at less than 16% of the cost of an in-house hire.
Best for: larger established businesses
All tiers: 3-month minimum, then rolling monthly with one month's notice. Your tier is based on headcount at onboarding. As your team grows you step up a tier, from HR Buddy to Foundations and onward, reviewed at your check-in. HR Buddy runs on fair use; the Retained tiers include unlimited advice.
Have a bigger team? Speak to us for a tailored quote.
What's not included in the retainer:
On-site visits or in-person meetings (quoted per visit)
Complex casework needing more than 3 hours on a single matter (TUPE, redundancy programmes, tribunal preparation) — quoted separately at day rate
A new staff handbook build, if not already in place (see HR Foundations Build or Backbone Programme)
Manager training workshops (see Manager Confidence Workshop)
HR system implementation, if not included in the Backbone Programme
Nothing unexpected. Anything beyond the retainer is agreed with you before any work begins.
What does retained HR support cost, compared to the alternatives?
vs hiring in-house
An in-house HR Manager costs £45,000–£70,000 a year including salary, employer NI and pension.
The Full Cover retainer: £10,740 a year.
A named senior HR partner for less than 16% of the in-house cost.
vs doing nothing
A straightforward tribunal, even one you win, costs £4,500–£8,000 in legal fees and management time.
A 12-month Foundations retainer: £5,400.
The comparison makes itself.
vs an advice line
The big advice-line providers sell volume and call-centre access. What you get here is different: a named consultant who built your documents and knows your team when you call.
It is a different kind of support, and it is the thing founders say they were missing.
And the lowest-risk way in: HR Buddy at £150 a month, just £1,800 a year, for a named consultant on hand when the everyday questions come up.
The employment law context in 2026.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 has introduced day-one rights for several types of leave, and is shortening the unfair dismissal qualifying period from two years during its rollout. Retained clients get employment law updates as the changes land, so you are not caught off guard.