We’re on a mission to make HR simple and fair for everyone.
Most HR support is sold on fear. Fear of tribunals, of getting it wrong, of the thing you might have missed in the contract. And yes, those things matter. We’ve spent decades helping businesses navigate them. But fear isn’t a strategy. It’s a way of selling you something you didn’t understand you needed.
So rather than just telling what to do, without you understanding why, Acorn Support works differently. We start with your business, your people, where you are, and where you want to be. Then we help you plot the journey to get there. We don’t do one size fits all. We have three, fully customisable ways of working with you, and the right one depends on what you need right now.
We work with SMEs across the West Midlands. Manufacturers. Professional services firms. Growing businesses with brilliant people and real HR challenges. Businesses that want to get it right, both for the company and for the people who show up every day.
Associate
Expert HR support, right when you need it
Something’s happened. Or you’ve realised it could. A team member has raised a grievance. Someone isn’t performing and you’ve been avoiding having a difficult conversation. Your employment contracts are from 2017, and you’re not sure they’re still fit for purpose. You need to make someone redundant, and you can’t get it wrong.
That feeling – the one where you’re not quite sure what the right move is – is exactly what Acorn Associate is for. The Acorn team in your corner: 90+ combined years of HR experience, CIPD qualified, straight-talking and completely focused on getting you to the right outcome. Not the quick and easy outcome, but the one that’s right for your business and the people involved.
No retainer, no long-term commitment. You get the support you need, handled properly, and you leave with the confidence that it’s been done right.
What we help with:
- Employment contracts and offer letters
- Staff handbooks and HR policies
- Disciplinary and grievance procedures
- Absence and sick leave management
- Settlement agreements
- Redundancy
- Ad hoc HR and employment law guidance
Who is this for?
If you’re growing quickly and need to get the foundations right, we’ll be the eyes on your HR. If you’ve been handling HR on instinct and you’re starting to realise you need proper support, we’ll give you a structure. If you’re facing a complex situation, like a disciplinary, a grievance, or a tricky exit, we’ll be with you every step of the way.
Advocate
Build a workplace your people don’t want to leave
You’ve got the basics in place. Contracts, policies, compliance – all sorted. But you’ve begun to realise that sorted isn’t the same as good. The team is fine, but it could be better. Managers are doing their best, but they’re not really being developed. You know “culture” is important, but you’re not entirely sure how to build it deliberately rather than hoping for the best.
Acorn Advocate is where we get into the work that actually determines whether your best people stay, whether your managers lead well, and whether the people in your business feel they belong there.
This is where our equity-led approach comes into its own. We’ve been doing this work for over three decades – long before it had a three-letter acronym and a corporate strategy document. Our approach is practical, grounded, and built on genuine conviction that fair workplaces are better businesses. Better commercially. Lower turnover. Higher performance. Stronger teams.
What we help with
- EDI strategy – honest, practical and actually embedded (not a shelf document)
- EDI training for leadership teams and managers
- Employee wellbeing – addressing root causes, not sticking plasters
- Management development – using training and coaching to develop your managers leadership skills
- Performance frameworks that managers use and people find valuable
- Bias-free recruitment – finding the best people, not just more of the same
- Onboarding design – so your great new hire doesn’t leave in month three
- Culture and engagement – understanding what’s really going on
Who is this for?
Advocate is for businesses where the foundations are in place, but the culture hasn’t quite caught up with the ambition. For leadership teams that want to take equity seriously – not because it’s the right thing to say, but because they genuinely believe it makes a difference. For organisations where people are staying, but not always thriving. For founders who know that how they treat their people is one of the most important commercial decisions they make.
If you’ve been with us on Associate and the experience has changed how you think about HR, this is the next step.
Accelerate
Strategic HR at board level – your Fractional HR Director
Here’s a question worth asking: how many of your major business decisions have a people dimension? Probably most of them. Restructures, acquisitions, leadership changes, growth plans – all of it involves people. And yet for most SMEs, HR isn’t in the room when those decisions get made. It’s called in afterwards to sort out whatever went wrong.
Acorn Accelerate changes that.
As your Fractional HR Director, Claire becomes part of your leadership team. Not on the end of a phone when something goes wrong – actually at the table, in the conversation, helping you think through the people dimension of your most important decisions before you make them.
That’s a different kind of HR. And for businesses that are scaling, going through change, or preparing for a significant transition, it’s transformational.
Claire has the commercial sharpness to sit alongside MDs and CEOs and have the conversations that matter. She’ll show you the numbers you didn’t know to ask for. She’ll flag the risk before it becomes a problem. She’ll challenge the quick decision that feels right but creates a bigger issue six months down the line. And she’ll do it straight – because that’s the only way she knows.
What’s included:
- Fractional HR Director – embedded in your leadership team
- People and culture strategy, built around your business goals
- Succession planning – so you’re never dependent on one person
- Leadership development – building the next generation from within
- Organisational change and restructuring
- HR due diligence for acquisitions, mergers and sales
- TUPE and complex workforce transitions
- Workforce planning – the right people, in the right roles, pulling in the direction you’re going
- Board-level people reporting
Who is this for?
Accelerate is for ambitious businesses across the West Midlands that are scaling fast, navigating significant change, or preparing for a transaction. For leadership teams that are making serious decisions and want serious HR thinking at the table. For MDs and CEOs who are tired of HR being reactive and want it to be a genuine advantage instead.
Not sure where to start? That’s fine.
The honest answer is: start with a conversation.
Claire will tell you what she actually thinks – not what sounds most impressive, and not what costs the most. Here’s a quick steer:
Associate is probably right if:
- You’ve got a specific situation you need to deal with right now
- You’re building proper HR foundations for the first time
- You want expert support without committing to a retainer
Advocate is probably right if:
- You’ve got the basics in place and you want to build something better
- Your managers need development and your culture needs attention
- EDI and equity are things you want to take seriously, practically
Accelerate is probably right if:
- You’re scaling fast or going through significant change
- You want strategic HR thinking at the table when decisions get made
- You’re ready for HR to be a competitive advantage, not just a function
Still not sure? No problem: just book a call. Fifteen minutes with Claire and you’ll know exactly where you are.