Commercial HR Support That Helps SMEs Grow With Confidence ●

We combine commercially sensible advice with a people-centred approach. That means taking time to understand your business, giving clear and pragmatic guidance, and helping you reach outcomes that are fair, workable and aligned with your commercial objectives.Sarah Wilkinson

FAQs

Where are you based?

S. Wilkinson HR Consulting Ltd is based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, and supports clients locally, nationally and remotely. We work with businesses across a range of sectors and partners with solicitors nationally where independent HR expertise is required. Our associates work remotely within the UK.

What are your working hours?

Our usual working hours are Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. We understand that urgent people matters do not always arise at convenient times, so retained clients may be able to access support outside of these hours by prior agreement.

Do you support businesses with the Employment Rights Act 2025?

Yes. The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces significant changes for employers, with measures being implemented in phases across 2026 and 2027. We can help you understand what the changes mean for your business, review your contracts, policies and processes, and prepare your managers for the practical impact of the new employment law landscape.

Can you help with complex employee relations issues?

Yes. We regularly support businesses with sensitive and complex people matters, including grievances, disciplinaries, performance concerns, sickness absence, restructures, redundancies and difficult working relationships. Our approach is pragmatic, commercially aware and people-centred, helping you manage risk while treating people fairly and respectfully.

Do you carry out independent workplace investigations?

What size businesses do you work with?

We mainly support SMEs, but Sarah has experience working with growing businesses, multi-site organisations, national companies and global teams. Support can be tailored depending on your size, structure and internal HR capability.

Do you offer retained HR support or one-off project work?

Both! Some clients work with us on a retained basis for ongoing HR advice and support, while others come to us for a specific project or issue. This might include a complex employee relations matter, a restructure, policy review, employment contract update, investigation, people strategy project or management training.

Can you help if we already have internal HR?

We have experience working alongside internal HR teams where additional senior support, independent input or specialist capacity is needed. This can be particularly helpful for complex cases, investigations, change projects, policy reviews or periods of increased workload.

What is Insights Discovery and how can it help my team?

Insights Discovery is a personal profiling tool that helps individuals and teams better understand communication styles, strengths, preferences and the impact they have on others. As an Insights Discovery practitioner, Sarah uses it to support leadership development, improve team dynamics and encourage more constructive working relationships.

Can you help us improve management capability?

Yes – we support managers to handle people matters with greater confidence, consistency and clarity. This can include coaching, practical guidance, management training and support with difficult conversations, performance management, absence, conduct, recruitment and team development.

Do you provide employment contracts, handbooks and policies?

We can review, update or create employment contracts, staff handbooks and HR policies to make sure they are practical, compliant and aligned with the way your business operates. This is particularly important as employment law continues to change.

Specialist Support Includes:

Complex employee relations
Independent workplace investigations
Restructures and redundancy
HR strategy and organisational development
Management coaching and capability
Contracts, handbooks and policy reviews
Insights Discovery and team development

Have another question?

If you are not sure what support you need, or you would like to talk through a people issue in confidence, please get in touch. We will be happy to have an initial conversation and point you in the right direction.