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HR Consultants in Hampshire, offering support for the whole county. We have provided HR services in Southampton and for UK small businesses for over 10 years.

No Jargon. No Fuss. Just HR That Works

Book a Free ConsultationFree HR Health Check
Kate Underwood, HR Consultant in Hampshire

Why Do You Need Outsourced HR Support?

As a small business owner, you wear many hats. Let us take HR off your plate so you can focus on what you do best. We're HR consultants in Southampton but have a nationwide client-base and offer outsourced HR services for small business owners across the UK.

Save Time

Focus on growing your business while we handle the HR complexities. From contracts and policies to performance management and employee relations, we take care of the time-consuming administrative tasks that pull you away from your core business.

Free up valuable hours each week that you can reinvest into strategic growth, customer relationships, and revenue-generating activities.

Stay Compliant

Keep up with ever-changing employment law without the stress. UK employment legislation is constantly evolving, and non-compliance can result in costly tribunal claims and reputational damage.

We monitor legal changes and ensure your policies, contracts, and practices remain compliant, giving you confidence that you're meeting your legal obligations.

Reduce Risk

Minimize tribunal risks with expert guidance and documentation. Employment tribunals can cost businesses thousands in legal fees, compensation, and management time, even when you win.

Our proactive approach helps you handle difficult situations correctly from the start, with proper documentation and processes that protect your business.

Expert Support

Access experienced HR professionals without full-time costs. Hiring a full-time HR manager can cost £35,000-£50,000+ per year, plus benefits and overheads.

With outsourced HR services, you get senior-level expertise on demand, paying only for the HR support you need when you need it.

Best Practices

Implement proven HR strategies that work for small businesses. We bring years of experience working with SMEs across various sectors, understanding the unique challenges you face.

From recruitment and onboarding to performance management and employee engagement, we help you build HR foundations that support sustainable growth.

Peace of Mind

Sleep better knowing your people matters are handled properly. Employee issues can keep business owners awake at night, worrying about saying or doing the wrong thing.

With expert HR support just a phone call away, you can handle any people challenge with confidence, knowing you have professional guidance to navigate even the trickiest situations.

HR Health Check Services

Not sure where your HR stands? Take our check, so you know what level of HR support your small business needs.

Free HR Health Check

Quick assessment to understand your HR setup

FREE
Employment contracts review
Policy and handbook assessment
Compliance audit
Risk identification
Actionable recommendations
No obligation consultation
Take the Quiz

Get your scorecard in minutes

Premium Service

People Management Audit

Comprehensive validation with detailed report

From £499

£499 (Team) • £999 (Director + 2hrs with Kate)

Comprehensive validation of all HR documentation
In-depth review of contracts and policies
Detailed compliance assessment
Gap analysis and risk evaluation
Professional written report with recommendations
Priority action plan for improvements
Full Employee Personal records check (+£45 per employee)
Book Your Audit

Independent service • Professional report included

Monthly Outsourced HR
Support Plans

Choose the right level of HR support and consultancy for your UK small business. All plans include expert guidance and ongoing support from our New Forest and Hampshire HR consultancy.

HR Advice Line
Quick, expert HR advice when you need it most
From
£175/month
  • Up to 2 hours per month
  • Phone or email support
  • Case-by-case guidance
  • Unlimited employees
  • Ideal for existing HR teams
More Info
HR Protect
Perfect for small businesses hiring their first team
From
£299/month
+ £795 setup fee
  • Up to 10 employees
  • Core contracts & handbook
  • Key templates
  • Monthly law updates
  • BreatheHR setup (self-managed)
  • Quarterly 1-to-1s
  • Email & phone support (2hrs/month)
More Info
Popular
HR Excel
Everything in Protect, with more hands-on support
From
£499/month
+ £795 setup fee
  • Up to 10 employees
  • Tailored contracts & handbook
  • Drafted and checked letters
  • 5 bespoke policies
  • BreatheHR fully managed
  • Whistleblowing service
  • Bi-monthly 1-to-1s
  • Email & phone support (4hrs/month)
More Info
HR Business Partner
Your outsourced HR department with strategic guidance
From
£799/month
+ £795 setup fee
  • Up to 10 employees
  • Full annual audit
  • Any required policies
  • Bespoke onboarding
  • KUHR-managed HR system
  • Managed recruitment
  • Monthly 1-to-1s
  • Extended support time (10hrs/month)
More Info
Fractional HR Director
Board-level HR expertise without the full-time cost
From
Price on Application
  • Strategic people planning
  • Board-level representation
  • Complex HR investigations
  • Independent advice
  • Support for in-house HR teams
  • Tailored to your needs
More Info

Not ready for a service plan? Try our on-demand HR support

People & Performance

  • Performance Management
  • Engagement
  • Culture
  • Training & Development

Hiring & Onboarding

  • Recruitment
  • Screening & Right to Work
  • Onboarding
  • Offboarding
  • Succession Planning

Employee Relations

  • Disciplinary
  • Grievance
  • Investigations
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Redundancy
  • TUPE
  • Tribunals Support

Compliance & Documents

  • HR Audits & Compliance
  • Employment Law
  • Employment Contracts
  • Policies & Handbooks
  • Settlement Agreements

Operations & Wellbeing

  • Payroll
  • Pensions
  • HR Systems & Reporting
  • Absence & Holidays
  • Wellbeing & Mental Health
  • Occupational Health

Our Training Services

Our Hub is more than just a platform; it's a dynamic resource centre designed to foster a thriving and engaged workforce. Whether you're an employee seeking information, a manager navigating HR processes, or a team member eager to learn more, you've come to the right place.

Our Learning Management System (LMS) offers a range of features designed to enhance the training experience. It can create quizzes and tests to assess employee knowledge and comprehension, track training progress to ensure all employees are completing the required modules and send reminders for updates or additional training as needed. This comprehensive approach ensures that your workforce remains compliant and well-trained, contributing to the overall success and safety of your organization.

Statutory Training

We focus on providing statutory training courses that all companies should be providing to their employees

Bespoke Training

Company and sector-based learning that follows your SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures). We create the training with you

Specialist Training

Working with partners we can also source specialist training tailored to your industry needs

Simplified Learning

Our training platform stands out for its simplicity, ensuring a user-friendly experience that streamlines the learning process. Our transparent approach provides clear insights into progress, fostering trust and confidence in the learning journey.

Unleash Potential

By equipping individuals with a robust set of resources, we enable them to focus on honing their expertise and unleashing their full potential, allowing them to perform at their absolute best.

CPD Accredited

We are partnering with Open CPD to provide our learners with the ability to earn Continuous Professional Development (CPD) points easily as they enhance their professional skills.

KUHR Training Platform

Access our full Learning Management System with statutory and bespoke training courses

Visit KUHR Training

Areas Covered

We provide HR consulting services for small business owners across the UK, including:

Hampshire (Andover, Basingstoke, Fareham, Portsmouth, Southampton, Winchester), New Forest, London, Dorset (Bournemouth), Surrey (Guildford, Farnham)

Quick Links

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Resources

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  • Book a Call
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  • Terms & Conditions

Quick Contact

  • Kate Underwood HR & Training

    32b, New Forest Enterprise Centre,

    Chapel Lane, Totton,

    Southampton SO40 9LA

  • 02382 025160
  • hello@kateunderwoodhr.co.uk

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© 2025 Kate Underwood HR & Training. All rights reserved.

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The Employee Lifecycle

From first hello to final goodbye — HR done properly.

Employee lifecycle diagram showing HR process
More Info

AI and Your Business - The Future is Here

How can AI help transform your business by empowering your team, while making sure you keep secure and compliant? Provide the tools and technology to increase your team's productivity.

We help HR teams and business leaders use AI to cut admin, reduce risk, and improve the employee experience. We start with HR processes such as hiring, onboarding, absence, case management, policies, and learning. The same approach can extend to finance, sales, and operations. Our work covers training, process mapping, and practical delivery, with a focus on safe use of data and clear governance.

AI Training

Give your HR and leadership teams the confidence to use AI safely and effectively.

  • •Training programmes for HR, people managers, and cross-functional teams
  • •Foundations of AI for HR and people operations
  • •Practical use of ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude for HR tasks
  • •Prompt engineering tailored to HR workflows
  • •Advanced tools for video, audio, and multimodal uses
  • •Sector-specific modules for HR, sales, accounts, and operations

Process Mapping

A clear picture of how your HR processes run, and where AI can save time and reduce risk.

  • •Document current processes end to end, from recruitment to exit
  • •Show exactly where automation or AI agents help
  • •Visual workflow diagrams, current state and optimised state
  • •Written audit report with ranked opportunities and compliance notes
  • •Effort versus impact analysis to guide next steps

AI Implementation

From plan to practice, we embed AI in your HR stack.

  • •Secure AI platforms with role-based access, data protection, and audit trails
  • •Pre-built prompt libraries and templates for HR tasks
  • •Workflow automations that connect with your HRIS, ATS, CRM, or finance systems
  • •AI agents trained on your policies and FAQs to handle routine queries
Powered byKate Underwood HR & Training logo
Kate Underwood HR & Training logo by Kate Underwood, HR Consultant in Southampton
Weekly Podcast

Buzzing about HR

Join Kate each week as she unpacks the latest HR trends, simple tools, and real workplace stories that help you build a happier, more productive team that keeps your business buzzing. The podcast is recorded from the office of the Kate Underwood HR consultancy in Southampton, Hampshire.

  • Practical HR advice for small businesses
  • Real workplace stories and solutions
  • Latest employment law updates
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View All Episodes

In the Press

Recent media coverage and expert commentary

View all
Daily Express faviconDaily Express

Labour's 'working people' spin shows just how out of touch they are

Labour claims to be the party of working people - but who among us fit into their narrow definition?

Read article
Newspage faviconNewspage

Amazon Web Services outage 'exposes critical flaw' in business continuity

Barclays, Lloyds Bank, Halifax, and more banks experienced significant disruption due to the outage

Read article
Newspage faviconNewspage

Pizza Hut 'stuck in the middle' as UK dine-in arm collapses

Pizza Hut's UK dine-in restaurants enter administration amid rising costs and shifting consumer habits, with experts blaming a 'brutal market squeeze'.

Read article
View all press coverage

What Our Clients Say

Don't just take our word for it. Here's what small business owners say about working with us.

Victoria Vickery - Founder & Marketing Director at All Star Marketing Club

"I was introduced to the World of HR Systems by Kate and having the team set up on a system makes running a business sooooo much easier when it comes to managing staff. What Kate doesn't know about HR Tech is probably not worth knowing."

Victoria Vickery

Founder & Marketing Director

All Star Marketing Club

Andy Heather - Director at Tonic Analytics

"Kate Underwood HR has proved to be the perfect HR Partner for our rapidly growing business. Whether it's been helping to initially establish our HR processes or policies, selecting and configuring our online tools or providing ongoing HR advice and support."

Andy Heather

Director

Tonic Analytics

Partnerships & Accreditations

We work with industry-leading partners to deliver the best HR solutions for your business.

Hri accreditation badge - HRi Gold Accredited Member
Breathe accreditation badge - Breathe HR Gold Certified Partner
Cipd accreditation badge - CIPD
Hireful accreditation badge - Hireful Official Partner
Sensehr accreditation badge - SenseHR Certified Partner
CIPD Qualified
10+ Years Experience
100+ Businesses Supported

Latest from Our Blog

Practical HR advice, tips, and insights to help you manage your team effectively.

Kate Underwood, HR Consultant discussing Autumn Budget 2025 implications for small businesses
20 Nov 2025
12 min read
Autumn Budget 2025: What it really means for small businesses
Rachel Reeves has gone hard on tax and 'fairness'. On the surface, it sounds pro worker and pro growth. Underneath, if you run a small business, you're looking at higher wage bills, higher NI, more compliance, and a bit of sugar sprinkled on top.
legalRead more about Autumn Budget 2025: What it really means for small businessesRead More →
Two professionals in business suits at a disciplinary meeting, illustrating the importance of choosing appropriate companions
21 Oct 2025
7 min read
Who Can Accompany an Employee to a Disciplinary Meeting in the UK
Find out who an employee may bring to a formal disciplinary hearing in the UK, what the legal rights are, and how to handle companions, support persons and witnesses fairly.
legalRead more about Who Can Accompany an Employee to a Disciplinary Meeting in the UKRead More →
Professional woman on phone call making verbal job offer in UK office setting
21 Jan 2025
8 min read
Are Verbal Offers of Employment Contractual in the UK?
Can a verbal job offer form a legally binding contract? Learn what makes a verbal offer enforceable, when you can withdraw it, and how to protect your small business from costly mistakes.
legalRead more about Are Verbal Offers of Employment Contractual in the UK?Read More →
View All Articles