Running a business in the UK means constantly balancing cost, risk, and speed – HR is one area where the choice between in-house staff and external consultants has a major impact.
The case for consultants (outsourced HR):
Expertise on demand: Access to specialists in employee relations, restructures, TUPE, investigations, and reward, without paying for every skill set full-time.
Lower fixed costs: Pay only for retained hours or projects instead of salaries, benefits, and systems year-round.
Risk reduction: Up-to-date UK-specific advice helps SMEs avoid costly missteps.
Speed: Consultants bring proven templates and processes that shorten implementation timelines.
Elastic capacity: Scale support up during peaks or change programmes, and scale back when demand drops.
When in-house HR makes sense:
At 100–200+ employees, daily volume in recruitment, Employee Relations cases, payroll, and admin can justify a team.
Highly regulated or specialised sectors may need HR staff embedded for compliance and industry nuance.
Why this matters: SMEs dominate the UK economy (5.5 million in 2024, 99.8% of all firms). With sickness absence averaging 6.7 days per worker, proactive people management directly affects the bottom line. Consultants often pay for themselves by tightening absence policies, training managers, and improving compliance.
Regent HR helps SMEs reduce risk, improve performance, and build confident managers, all without adding permanent headcount. Contact Regent HR for a free consultation today: [email protected].