The HR Specialists

What The HR Specialists does

The HR Specialists is a privately held UK HR consultancy founded in 2017 and headquartered in Hertfordshire, delivering outsourced and project-based human resources support to small businesses, start-ups, small charities, and select larger organizations. Its service portfolio spans employee relations, performance management, disciplinary and grievance handling, re-organisation, organisational change, payroll (HMRC liaison, BACS, RTI, auto-enrolment), health and safety, psychometric profiling, recruitment, and training, delivered remotely, online, or in person. The company operates under sub-brands (The Payroll Specialists, The HSE Specialists, The Recruiting Specialists, The Training Specialists) and is led by Managing Director Kerry McGowan with a small named team of four professionals.

The technical backbone is a proprietary Cloud HR system that automates and centralises holiday booking, absence management, employee data, document storage, training, performance, time logs, and expenses, with GDPR-compliant encrypted data storage. Pricing for the cloud platform starts at £108+VAT annually for under 10 staff and is offered with a 50% discount or free use for small charities. Psychometric profiling is delivered through an SHL Recruiter Partner arrangement, providing access to SHL's testing and role-profiling questionnaires rather than in-house tooling.

The business model blends professional services (project, retainer, and pay-as-you-go consulting) with a low-ARPU SaaS subscription and a managed payroll service. Go-to-market is sales-led, using direct phone and email contact, website lead capture, free HR audits, word-of-mouth referrals from professional services firms, employment lawyers, and accountancy firms, and a baseline Twitter presence. The company serves a single-country UK market and has no disclosed funding, M&A, or external investors.

Name

The HR Specialists

Legal name

The HR Specialists

Website

https://thehrspecialists.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The HR Specialists is a UK-based HR consultancy founded in 2017 that delivers outsourced, project, and retainer HR, payroll, health and safety, recruitment, psychometric, and training services to small businesses, start-ups, and small charities, supported by a proprietary Cloud HR SaaS platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

HR Consulting

NAICS

Human Resources Consulting Services (541612), Payroll Services (541214), Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services (56131)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Management Services (8741), Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

HR Service Delivery, Shared Services & HR Operating Model Advisory (BPACAJAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Comprehensive HRO (Multi-Process HR Outsourcing) (BPACAKAA), Core HR & HRIS (BPACAPAA), HR Operations Administration (HRIS Admin, Records, Employee Data Mgmt) (BPACAKAC)

Keywords

• HR consulting services
• Payroll management
• Health and safety
• Recruitment support
• Psychometric profiling

Headquarters

HQ city

Bishops Stortford

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. HR Consulting Services: Project-based consulting or retainer arrangements for HR support including employee relations, performance management, disciplinary processes, grievance handling, organisational change, and re-organisation support
2. Cloud HR Software Subscription: Annual subscription for cloud-based HR administration system with pricing based on company size. Includes 50% discount for small charities
3. Payroll Services: Full payroll management service including HMRC liaison, tax calculations, pension payments, BACS payments, RTI returns, and end of year filings
4. Health and Safety Services: Risk assessments, safety inspections, policy development, environmental management systems, and H&S training
5. Recruitment Services: Full recruitment support including job descriptions, short-listing, interview support, assessment centres, psychometric testing, and background checks
6. Psychometric Profiling Services: Personality questionnaires, role profiling, individual development reports, and group development reports for team building and recruitment
7. Training Services: HR training packages including strategy, leadership and management, business skills, and HR topics. Delivered in-house or one-to-one

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The HR Specialists is a UK HR consultancy that provides outsourced HR support covering employee relations, performance management, disciplinary and grievance handling, organisational change, and re-organisation. Alongside HR consulting, the firm delivers payroll management, health and safety services, recruitment support, psychometric profiling (via an SHL partnership), and training, and offers a proprietary cloud-based HR administration system (Cloud HR) for automating holiday booking, absence, employee data and documents. Engagement is flexible — full HR outsourcing, project-based work, retainers, or pay-as-you-go.

Product overview

The HR Specialists offers a suite of integrated HR services including HR consulting, Cloud HR (a cloud-based HR administration system for automating holidays, absence, employee data, and documents), Payroll Services (including BACS, RTI, and Automatic Enrolment), Health and Safety (HSE) Services, Psychometric Profiling (as an SHL Partner), Recruitment Services, and Training. The Cloud HR platform serves as the central digital product with prices starting from £108 + VAT per year for under 10 staff, while other services are delivered as consultancy engagements on a project, retainer, or pay-as-you-go basis.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Payroll Specialists: Payroll services including HMRC liaison, statutory pay calculations, pension management, BACS payments, RTI returns, and end of year filings
• The HSE Specialists
• The Recruiting Specialists
• The Training Specialists

Products and services

• HR Services Core HR consulting and support for UK businesses, covering employee relations, performance management, disciplinary and grievance handling, re-organisation, and interim resourcing. Offered as full outsourcing, project-based work, retainers, or pay-as-you-go.
• Cloud HR Cloud-based HR administration system that automates holiday booking, absence management, employee data, documents, notifications, and time-saving tasks; priced annually from £108 + VAT for under 10 staff with a 50% discount for small charities.
• Payroll Services Full-service payroll management including HMRC liaison, statutory pay calculations (SSP, SMP, SPP), pension payments, BACS payments, RTI filing, end-of-year returns, and Automatic Enrolment, for UK employers.
• Health and Safety (HSE) Services Health and safety consultancy including policy development, risk assessments, safety inspections, audits, environmental management systems, and e-learning courses for small and medium-sized businesses.
• Psychometric Profiling Psychometric testing and personality profiling services offered via an SHL Recruiter Partner relationship, including online personality questionnaires, role profiling, individual development reports, and group development reports for team assessment and recruitment.
• Recruitment Services End-to-end recruitment support including job description writing, shortlisting, interview question development, assessment centres, psychometric testing, competency-based interviewing, and background checks (DBS, FCA, financial).
• Training Services HR training packages covering strategy, HR, leadership and management, and business skills, delivered as one-to-one or group training, including short courses on H&S, Word, Excel, and custom course development.

Quantifiable outcome

• Organisations achieve full compliance with employment legislation without employing expensive HR staff
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Charlie HR: UK-based HR platform for small businesses offering employee records, time-off, document storage and onboarding workflows. Directly competes with Cloud HR in the UK SMB segment.
• HR Dept: UK network of outsourced HR consultancies serving SMBs with HR, employment law and tribunal support on a retained or project basis. Closely comparable to The HR Specialists on core service mix and SMB target market.
• Citation Group: UK provider of HR, employment law, health & safety and ISO consultancy to SMBs, combining professional advice with a cloud compliance platform. Direct competitor across consulting, HSE and compliance SaaS.
• Breathe HR: UK cloud HRIS platform purpose-built for small businesses, automating holiday, absence and employee records on a subscription model. Direct competitor to The HR Specialists' Cloud HR product on features, pricing and target buyer.
• WorkNest: UK HR, employment law, health & safety and ISO consultancy delivering outsourced advisory and compliance services to SMB and mid-market clients. Comparable outsourced HR operating model and SMB focus.

Broad incumbents

• IRIS HR & Payroll: Established UK vendor of payroll and HR software for SMBs and accountants, including HRIS, auto-enrolment and managed payroll services. Comparable on payroll/HRIS overlap and accountancy-firm referral channel.
• Moorepay: UK payroll bureau and HR software provider serving SMB and mid-market employers with managed payroll, HRIS and auto-enrolment services. Directly comparable to The Payroll Specialists and Cloud HR propositions.
• Employment Hero: Multi-country HR, payroll and employee benefits platform expanding into the UK with HRIS, payroll and people-management tools. Comparable SaaS product overlap with Cloud HR and broader outsourcing ambition.
• Croner (Wakeley): Established UK HR, employment law, payroll and H&S consultancy serving SMBs through retained advisory and a SaaS HR documentation platform. Overlaps heavily with The HR Specialists' consulting and product offerings.
• Peninsula Group: Large UK incumbent offering HR, employment law, health & safety and payroll outsourcing plus MyPeninsula HR software to SMB and mid-market clients. Comparable service portfolio at significantly larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TheHRspecialist
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-hr-specialists

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The HR Specialists