A North East HR support consultancy firm has started the year by doubling its team, beating its sales targets for the first two months of 2025 and adding key new services.
Durham-based Shrewd HR has welcomed four new team members in the past four months as demand for its expertise grows. And it’s planning to continue its recruitment drive over the coming months.
As the number of clients increase, the Belmont-based company has also announced new specialist services to help business owners and organisations navigate their HR requirements.
Shrewd HR launched in 2022 with Managing Director and HR specialist Martin Potts at the helm. His vision was to offer a new approach to HR support by providing bespoke, quick response services that could be accessed when needed.
He also wanted to focus on key areas of HR support, including helping businesses improve by growing a better culture and implementing new technology to improve automation around HR processes.
As the business began to grow, Martin recruited a commercial director and HR specialist last year. And with an increasing number of clients, it was clear that Shrewd HR needed to recruit to keep up with demand.
As well as hiring HR consultants and a business development researcher in the past three months, it has also welcomed an employment law and HR adviser, making Shrewd HR one of few HR companies in the North East to have a legal adviser as part of its team.
New services
As Shrewd HR has welcomed its new team members, it has also announced a range of new services for organisations across the UK to access. These include:
Private investigation to tackle workplace issues.
Drug and alcohol testing.
Mediation.
Occupational health.
People assessments and analytics.
HR software.
Training and development.
Health and Safety.
Martin said: “I am delighted to welcome such a strong team of professionals to Shrewd HR. When I launched less than three years ago, I had a vision to offer a HR service that broke the mould and offered a more cost effective, bespoke service which covered every aspect of HR and the employee life cycle”.
“We spent time listening to businesses about what they needed, and we quickly understood common frustrations which included not getting the support they were promised, speaking to different advisers having to repeat their situation each time, and having to wait around for support. Which is why our focus has been to ensure we deliver fast, effective support whenever our clients need us. Our aim is to retain every client, and to date we’ve managed to do just that.”
“This model has been incredibly successful and our client base began to grow rapidly last year. As a result we have recruited some very talented people.
“We are particularly excited to be able to add an employment law and HR adviser to our team. It’s rare for a HR support company to have access to such a legal expert on its team. This gives Shrewd HR a unique offer in the North East to support our fantastic team of HR consultants and specialists.”
He said that the additional services being added would also give clients access to a full range of requirements no matter what HR situation arose.
“Our services include private investigation to tackle workplace issues,” Martin explained. “We also offer Occupational Health services to support employees through and to protect businesses by implementing reasonable adjustments to get employee’s back to work and to help keep them in work.”
Drug and alcohol testing has been added to help clients who want alcohol and drug policies to ensure the safety of all workforce members.
“I always wanted Shrewd HR to be different, with a focus on adding value, not just around compliance which is why we offer bespoke HR services that are wrapped around each business we work with.”
Adding these extra services means Shrewd HR has truly become a one-stop shop for businesses of all sizes, in any industry and at any point of their business journey, from start-ups to established SME’s,” Martin added.
shrewd-hr.co.uk