Meet our Experts

Rachel started coaching in 2011 after many years working at director level in high growth IT and Healthcare companies, including as mentor in residence for an investment incubator where her role was to accelerate their listing on the NASDAQ stock exchange. After a period as Operations Director for an American Toxicology company, Rachel wanted to improve her leadership skills and did an ILM level 5 in coaching and mentoring.  After 3 years as a high growth business coach Rachel joined ActionCOACH, the world's number one coaching company as a business coach and mentor for the franchise partners. As a coach, Rachel believes in making clients more resilient and more resourceful.  This means that the coaching relationship is one where the client is consistently moving forward towards their goals and becomes increasingly more confident and able to cope with any challenge. For The HR Dept, Rachel works with our new licensees when they first join the network, delivering a business planning session within the licensee induction program, followed by 6 months of mentoring to help new licensees develop a business mindset and maintain a focus on early key activities.

Karen Dunne-Squire is the owner and MD of Elation Experts and a leading expert on business growth and sales practice. She and her team at Elation Experts are a group of sales and communication experts who have been working with small businesses to help them meet their growth aspirations since 2009. Karen has worked with the HR Dept since 2012 to support all licensees to embrace the skills required to network and sell effectively. Whether providing structured training programmes, online webinar content or personal coaching calls Karen is available to ensure that all licensees have structured support in growing their businesses. “Working with the HR Dept is a real privilege because they take the success of each individual licensee very seriously”

Rupert is the founder of Turn the Tables PR and our network's PR guru. He works with new licensees to provide a press launch in their local business press, as well as being on call to advising and supporting licensees with ongoing press activity when required. In addition, he is responsible for promoting The HR Dept brand nationwide – positioning us as a thought leader in Human Resources and, in particular, as the nation’s HR voice for SMEs. A qualified journalist with a degree in English Literature and Language and a post-graduate Diploma in Journalism, he helped formulate our response to the Government’s enquiry of the Future of the World of Work, leading to an invitation for Sue to give evidence at the Parliamentary Select Committee. He also ghostwrites and edits expert comment articles on behalf of The HR Dept’s management team, for inclusion in HR industry publications and journals.

Insurance is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and while you as a Licensee will not be individually regulated, but you will be able to offer a fully regulated insurance policy under our regulatory umbrella – this will set you apart from other HR service providers. Straight Solutions Ltd provides initial induction and on going training on employment protection insurance in general and Advice Line Insurance in particular. The comprehensive Insurance Manual we provide contains all you need to know about administering and selling Advice Line. And of course, our team is always on hand to provide support in connection with any insurance related issues.  For example, we can provide support relating to claims or potential claims, pricing for new customers, renewals, general queries etc.

We work closely with Nash & Co solicitors who provide our franchisees with support on a range of issues.  Nash & Co’s Employment Team, led by Ian Grimshaw, are there to provide advice when, perhaps, a matter becomes very technical or when you simply want someone else to provide a view on a tricky issue. Due to our close relationship, Nash & Co provide their support at a very reduced rate and they extend this out to our franchisees’ retained clients as well.  As well as employment issues, as a full service law firm, Nash & Co are able to provide support to our clients on all of their business needs, for example commercial acquisitions or commercial property transactions.  Through our close relationship we are able to provided added value to all of our franchisees’ clients by providing access to specialist legal services at highly preferential rates. Nash & Co are a highly regarded law firm, with the Legal 500 guide to leading solicitors describing their employment team as “very commercially minded” with “vast knowledge”.  By working closely together, we can ensure that our franchisees and their clients get the best advice combined with great value.  

‘It’s what we bring together that sets us apart’ - Bishop Fleming Chartered Accountants   Zara is a chartered accountant at Bishop Fleming, who provides our new Licensees with accountancy and business setup support in their first year. She is passionate about building strong relationships with our new Licensees and provides individual support and guidance to each new business. From the initial company set up through to the year end accounts and tax return compliance aspects, as well as adding value to our Licensees through tailored advice based on the individual needs of each business.