Investigation

“I had the pleasure of engaging Karen and her team to work on resolving several very complicated cases.  I needed deep HR and employment law expertise.  Karen and her team conducted a robust investigation into very sensitive issues and their work was unparalleled to anything I had previously been involved in.  HSL’s approach meant we were able to see a complete picture of the situation, helping us to identify solutions very quickly and clearly. The most important part of this process was their independence of honesty – this is such a critical part of complex investigations, we need to know what has happened as well as why.  This helped us to accurately identify the root causes so we could then create the right solutions. Their approach also builds confidence and trust, demonstrating to those involved the level of seriousness that the organisation was taking the situation. Karen and her team led us to highly satisfactory conclusions, enabling us to minimise risk as well as overall cost, with the added benefit of giving us the platform to apply lessons learned so as a company we could engage in continuous improvement with our people management and development.”

Andrew Campbell-Critchley
HR Director
Socitm Ltd

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HR and People Support Services

Karen and the team at “Hornet Solutions Ltd” are more than an HR outsource company. Hornets’ commercial expertise, flexibility and commitment to BUK’s company Procedures, Vision & Mission didn’t go unnoticed. Karen's input and guidance focused and directed us to create a dual bottom-line culture where the traditional bottom line and the more focused people development were coequal in importance. Navigating us through all the change was like riding a bike during a hurricane! Karen and the team at Hornet Solutions guided and held my hand whilst ensuring that we got to where we needed to be in a safe, legal and profitable way and positioned us for growth. If you are looking for an external business consultant that is also a HR Guru, then I very highly recommend Karen and Hornet Solutions. 

Darren Mortiboy
Ex-Managing Director
BUK Ltd.

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 The HR team are great, professional, approachable, focused and driven. Very impressed with the support they gave in relation to assisting us with a redundancy programme. To come into the business at this very challenging time was not an easy task but with their guidance, advice and support they navigated us through this difficult time showing professionalism as well as empathy to the situation we faced.
You would never know that you are not their only client. Definitely go above and beyond. 

Carol Beacham
HR Manager
JRL  Modular Limited 

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HR Processes and Documentation

 What an excellent job the team at Hornet Solutions have done in assisting us with new contracts of employment and supporting handbook. This was a complicated matter and involved a lot of discussions with various people in the company. Any queries were dealt with swiftly and efficiently with full explanations given. 

Richard Plummer

Managing Member
Rhodda & Co. Solicitors

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HR Troubleshooting

‘I cannot recommend Karen and Hornet highly enough to anyone looking for peace of mind when dealing with HR matters.

I contacted Karen over 4 years ago when we had just 5 staff. I felt able to manage the day to day HR function but wanted to be able to call upon an experienced HR professional to guide us through more complex situations on an ad hoc basis. I knew if we got things wrong the consequences for the company could be huge and didn’t want to take that risk. Karen has surpassed my expectations. She has calmly and diligently steered us through redundancies, maternity leave, disciplinary hearings and a host of other issues which have arisen over the years. We now have 20 people and thanks in no small part to Karen’s input we were awarded Investor In People status last year. Karen is a great person to have on your team and an absolute pleasure to work with.’

  CEO 

International Telecommunications Company

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HR Coaching

 I am a Daycare Centre Manager for a busy care service for vulnerable adults. I have worked closely with Karen Woodbridge and her team at Hornet Solutions for 2 years now, and I have found their assistance in all matters HR to be invaluable. I know that if I have a staffing issue, I can contact Hornet and get a quick and helpful response to my concerns. I myself was new to HR when I first started at the Daycare Centre, and I have learned so much from them in how to manage and deal with tricky situations that can crop up with staffing through their advice and guidance. I would highly recommend this service. 

Claire Bark
Daycare Centre Manager
New Skill Centre

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 I am blown away by the impact HR has had, IIP included. Highly pro-active on all counts and I am very, very happy with the team we now have in place (including HR) and everyone’s performance, attitude and work. The atmosphere is 100% improved on where we were a year or so ago and looking back I now realise what a rough ride we’ve had and how much we relied on your absolutely brilliant efforts, consulting and guidance. Hornet solutions….BIG fan! 

S Alexander
Managing Director
Alexony Limited

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 'Such a pleasure working with you both! Was also thinking that you're the best example I've come across of working with a monthly fee/retainer. Lowers the threshold for asking questions and makes the whole process feel pleasantly frictionless.' 

L deToom
Director
Trendwatching

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 'Cleaning Solutions is a relatively small company and doesn’t have the benefits of its own Human Resources department. Hornet Solutions came highly recommended to me. Karen is professional, courteous and extremely knowledgeable. I pay a monthly amount and can ‘bank’ some hours for future use which works well for me as I don’t then have a big bill at the end. I have been continually impressed by the way Karen works and deals with problems.

I cannot recommend this company highly enough!' 

H Foy
Director
Cleaning Solutions Limited

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 'Karen and her team worked tirelessly as we kicked off a 30 day consultation period across the workforce to bring about a change in contractual working hours. Hornet came recommended to us for their breadth of experience across all employment matters. Many of the issues that we had to resolve were very emotive, while we were keen for an amicable outcome for everyone. Hornet went out of their way to understand our company ethos and for that we would use them again.' 

G Rix
Director
Stourgarden Limited

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 “…..thank you for all your help advice and support you have given the practice over the last 12 months. Always answering our questions concisely with confidentiality and professionalism you are without a doubt a fountain of information.
We would recommend you and Hornet Solutions to anyone who has any HR queries and/or issues that they felt they needed extra assistance with.
We look forward to working again with you in the future.” 

Practice Manager
GP Practice

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 'Karen was recommended to me, and I am hugely grateful for the introduction. At a challenging time, Karen was extremely responsive and consistently helpful. Her advice was commercially minded and practical, rather than narrowly legalistic. I've already recommended her to others, and will continue to do so.' 

Director
International trend publisher

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We have used Hornet Solutions on several occasions over the years and would thoroughly recommend them.  They are responsive, practical and offer sound advice from an employment law perspective, whilst being pragmatic and empathic towards employees.  We always know what our options are and the potential outcome for each situation.  Incredibly supportive whilst maintaining an objective view of the situation – worth every penny we have invested!

Gill Shimmon

Managing Director

Lighthouse (Training and Development) Ltd

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I received an exceptionally high standard of professionalism when I engaged the legal services of Karen from Hornet Solutions to assist with a complicated grievance issue.  Karen was efficient and knowledgeable in guiding me though the process providing sound legal advice in a straight forward manner.

Julie Thorpe

St Elizabeth Hospice

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