Absolute Works, an award-winning outsourced HR consultancy’s partnership with Peppermill Interiors, a leading stockist of quality domestic, bar and restaurant furniture, restores the Directors faith in outsourced HR services. Fiona, Owner and Director can now sleep much easier at night and spend more time out of the business knowing that the HR for the business is in safe hands.
The client:
Peppermill Interiors is a family owned business set up by Scott and Fiona Humphreys over 20 years ago and they currently have circa 40 employees. They understand the importance of service and have a dedicated and knowledgeable team who help and give first class advice to customers. With over 20 years’ experience in the business they have a great insight into what their customers want and need. With customer satisfaction as their top priority, they source furniture, cutting out the middle man thereby reducing the price for their clients.
The challenge:
Absolute Works met with Fiona, joint Owner/Director who was spending more and more time on employee related issues which was taking up too much of her time and she was having sleepless nights worrying about whether they were dealing with these situations correctly. Because she had previously worked with a national outsourced HR company, which she was extremely disappointed with, she was very hesitant to appoint another company.
She had a real dilemma, it was important to her that they were treating employees fairly whilst ensuring that the Directors were complying with employment legislation. She also wanted hands on support and advice on sensitive issues that were giving her sleepless nights.
She was told about Absolute Works, and after meeting with them she realised that the service they deliver is far more personal and that they become an extension of their client’s business. This gave her the confidence to appoint them and trust them to take on all of the HR administration, along with providing employment advice to the senior management team.
The success story:
Absolute Works are now an integral part of their business, they have taken on all the HR administration tasks in addition to the support and advice. They reviewed all handbooks and contracts, they complete and issue all the offer letters, contracts, variations, disciplinary etc., all of which are then loaded onto the HR Portal for senior managers and directors to view. Absolute Works provide Fiona and her management team with their own dedicated client support team member and in the event that they are not available, there are always other team members that will be familiar with their business and able to assist and give expert advice instantly. Absolute Works processes ensures effective communication regarding their client’s cases throughout their team. Due to the success of the HR partnership, Fiona then appointed Absolute Works to take on outsourced Health and Safety, which includes, compliance visits, advice and training.
Fiona now has the peace of mind she was looking for and she is able to enjoy more time away from the business without worrying about any employee issues that may arise. She is confident that with the support from Absolute Works her management team are able to deal with this for her. She receives regular reports from Absolute Works summarising all relevant HR information which ensures she is always up to date with all HR administration and challenges. Peppermill Interiors management do not get bogged down with the day to day HR administration anymore, this is taken care of by the team at Absolute Works. Furthermore, any employee issues are dealt with promptly and effectively resulting in positive outcomes and as and when required Absolute Works will attend meetings to support management every step of the way. They do not need to employ their own dedicated HR manager or administrator as this is taken care of by Absolute Works and is far more cost effective than recruiting their own team.
Recommendation / Testimonial
Absolute Works can help you to grow your business and take it to the next level effectively and efficiently, taking away the pressure, safe in the knowledge that your company complies with legislation. They can help you to reduce costs for your business whilst at the same time supporting you to grow your business quickly. They will provide you with the skill, expertise and knowledge that may otherwise be too costly, and you can receive all these services by making one phone call or email. You will have your own dedicated account manager (or team, depending upon the size of the project) and you will not have any worries about covering holidays or sickness. You do not need to keep any paperwork in your office, Absolute Works take care of all of that, however, it is available for you to access through the HR portal at any time. You don’t need to worry about managing employees in an HR department, you don’t have the recruitment costs, you don’t have the costs of office space and equipment and you have the flexibility of service as and when you require it. Absolute Works is a one stop shop for any small business needs across all sectors delivering a first-class service and a fraction of the cost of your own inhouse HR. Each Partnership is unique so if you are looking for a different type of partnership, then look no further as Absolute Works can offer a bespoke service for your needs. Absolute Works are adaptable and flexible in their approach and support businesses across all sectors helping them to navigate areas with which they are unfamiliar.
Services that Peppermill Interiors currently access:
• HR advice and administration
• Training, which includes eLearning
• Recruitment
• Health and Safety
Client Quote:
“Absolute Works have hit the nail on the head, have been lovely to work with. Absolute Works will hold your hand every step of the way and at worst will come and deal with it for me. They give you the best and worse outcomes of situations so you can decide how you want to play it. I’ve had a couple of very awkward situations that probably would have been very messy if they had not been involved. It is valuable having peace of mind with regards to sensitive issues and I really appreciate it.” Fiona Humphreys, Managing Director
