HR support Edinburgh
Guiding North HR is an HR consultancy for owner-led and growing Edinburgh businesses. Derek Carter provides outsourced HR support - contracts, policies, onboarding, probation, employee relations, redundancy and ongoing advice - for employers who need experienced guidance but do not have an internal HR department.
Most Edinburgh businesses do not call an HR consultant because they want HR. They call because something needs a decision. These are the five areas Derek is asked about most.
Edinburgh employers often grow faster than their paperwork. If contracts were copied from a template years ago, or policies exist only in the owner's head, Derek rebuilds them around how the business actually runs.
Employment contracts and HR policiesA new employee's first ninety days set the tone for everything that follows. Clear role definition, a structured induction and recorded probation reviews stop small doubts becoming difficult conversations later.
Onboarding and probation supportWhen conduct or capability becomes a worry, the risk usually comes from acting too quickly or waiting too long. Derek helps Edinburgh managers establish the facts, choose the right route and handle the process fairly.
Disciplinary support for employersRestructuring a small team is a serious decision with reputational consequences in a city where word travels. Derek provides the business case structure, consultation planning and documentation to do it properly.
Redundancy support for employersGrowing Edinburgh businesses often need senior HR thinking long before they need an HR department. Ongoing partnership gives you an experienced adviser who already knows your business when something happens.
Ongoing HR partnershipWorking with Derek
Derek has decades of practical HR experience, including extensive work with construction and site-based organisations where decisions have to be made quickly and defended later.
Edinburgh clients tend to value the same things: a straight answer, a route through the problem, and someone who understands both the commercial pressure and the person on the other side of the conversation.
Read about Derek's experienceYes. Guiding North HR provides HR support to small and growing businesses across Edinburgh, from first hires to established owner-led firms without an internal HR department. Support can be delivered remotely or in person for meetings, manager sessions and sensitive conversations where being in the room matters.
HR support in EdinburghYes. Many small and growing businesses outsource HR rather than employ an HR manager. Outsourced HR gives you access to experienced advice, documentation and process support when you need it, and nothing when you do not. Guiding North HR offers both defined packages for specific pieces of work and ongoing support for businesses that want a regular HR partner.
Explore outsourced HR supportFractional HR support means using an experienced HR professional for part of their time instead of employing one full time. You get senior HR thinking on strategy, structure, risk and difficult decisions, scaled to what the business actually needs. For growing businesses in Edinburgh and Midlothian, this is often the step between managing HR yourself and hiring an internal HR team.
Ongoing HR partnershipIdeally before there is a problem. The most useful moments are when you are employing someone for the first time, when the team grows beyond the point where the owner knows everything, when a probation or performance concern appears, or when you are considering restructuring. Early advice is almost always cheaper and calmer than advice sought after a decision has already been made.
Small business HR supportThe defined packages are priced openly: The Employee Prenup is £1,000, The Employer Foundations Package is £2,000, The First 90 Days System is £2,500, The Fair Process starts at £2,500 for systems and documentation, and The Redundancy Roadmap starts at £3,000. Ongoing HR partnership is tailored following an initial conversation, and live case support is quoted after a short review.
See all packages and pricesGuidance last reviewed: 14 August 2026. This page is general information, not individual advice - contact Derek about your own situation.
Describe the situation and Derek will tell you honestly what he would do. Also serving Midlothian and businesses across Scotland.
Contact Guiding North HR