MEET OUR TEAM

Senior HR expertise.

No overhead. No compromise.

Our Asssociates have built their expertise over decades — in organisations of all shapes, in situations of all kinds. They've sat in the rooms where the hard decisions happen. They know what good looks like. And they work with you as a genuine partner, not a visiting consultant who needs bringing up to speed every time.

This is how The HR Agency works: drawing on a collective of highly experienced, values-aligned specialists — deploying exactly the expertise your situation needs, when you need it, without the cost of building a full in-house team.

"We don't work with associates who are simply available. We work with people we'd trust with our own organisations — and with yours.

HOW THE MODEL WORKS

The right person for your situation. Every time.

There's a common assumption about associate-led consultancies: that you get whoever's free, rather than whoever's best. We work differently.

Every client engagement at The HR Agency is led by Will Cleare, our founder and Managing Director. He knows your business, holds the relationship, and ensures quality and consistency throughout. Where specialist expertise is needed — whether that's deep employment relations, a restructuring, a B Corp journey, or an employer brand build — he draws on the right associate for that specific challenge.

The result is a team that feels genuinely embedded in your organisation, with the breadth of a large firm and the personal accountability of a boutique one.

One consistent relationship

Will leads every client engagement personally. You're never passed around or handed off. The relationship — and the understanding of your business — stays consistent.

Specialist depth, deployed precisely

When your situation calls for a specific kind of expertise — ER, restructuring, sustainability, coaching, H&S — we bring in the associate who knows that terrain deeply. Not a generalist making it up as they go.

Values, not just credentials

Every associate shares The HR Agency's belief in being a force for good — commercially, for people, and for the planet. The work we do has to be right, not just legal. That's a non-negotiable for everyone in our team.

Flexible to your scale

Need one specialist for a defined project? Or a wider team across multiple workstreams? The associate model means we can scale up or down around what your organisation actually needs — without long-term overhead on either side.

Between us, there’s very little we haven’t seen.

COLLECTIVE EXPERTISE

Our associates bring experience across a wide range of disciplines, sectors, and situations. Here's a snapshot of what sits within the team — and what that means for you.

Employee Relations

Disciplinaries, grievances, restructurings — handled fairly, legally, and with humanity

Recruitment Strategy

Building teams, not just filling roles — across all sectors and hiring levels

Employer Brand & EVP

From candidate experience to onboarding — the full attraction and retention story

Career Coaching & Outplacement

NLP, DISC Strengthscope — supporting individuals through transitions and growth

Redundancy & Restructuring

Commercially sound, legally compliant, and managed with genuine care for individuals

Health & Safety

30+ years of practical Health & Safety and business continuity across diverse industries

Sustainability & B Corp

ESG strategy, Social Value, B Corp certification — for leaders who mean it

Leadership Development

Coaching leaders and management teams to grow beyond the day-to-day

Not just experienced.
Purposeful.

We could describe our team in terms of years of experience and CIPD qualifications. And those things matter. But what makes The HR Agency's associates genuinely different isn't their CVs — it's what they believe about the work.

Every person in our team shares the same fundamental conviction: that how organisations treat their people is not just an HR question, it's an ethical one. And that doing this well — with clarity, compassion, and commercial sense — is genuinely possible for every organisation we work with.

We understand that decisions have to work for the business. We also know they have to be right for the people involved. Our associates hold both.
We'll tell you what you need to hear, not what's easiest to say. Every associate in our team has the confidence to push back, challenge, and advise with candour.
Our work should be good for your business, good for your people, and — where possible — good for the planet and the communities around us. That's not a tagline. It's how we operate.
We're not here to manage your HR admin from a distance. We're here to understand your organisation, care about its health, and work as if it were our own.

Introduce yourself to the team.

Colin Barnett

CONSULTANT
Employer brand & recruitment strategy
Bringing 30+ years of experience, I partner with organisations to develop their recruitment strategy and employer brand; creating a compelling proposition that attracts, excites and engages potential employees, in line with the business development strategy.
This sees me working across the entire candidate to employee lifecycle - clarifying recruitment market positioning, salary and benefits competitiveness, how to target both active and passive candidates, compelling advert copy, a clear call to action and an engaging candidate experience right through to offer, a comprehensive onboarding and early days induction experience, aligned to the employer brand promise
Rebecca Gardner

CONSULTANT
Bespoke recruitment
I’m passionate about discovering exceptional talent and connecting them with businesses that value success, achievement, and growth. With a strong background in recruitment, I thrive on identifying individuals whose skills and ambitions align with the goals of forward-thinking companies.

For me, recruitment isn’t just about filling roles—it’s about building teams. I take pride in creating win-win partnerships where talented professionals can thrive, and businesses can reach new heights.
Alex Duggan

CONSULTANT
Business continuity & Health & Safety
I bring over 30 years of international experience in Health & Safety and Business Continuity.
Working across diverse industries, I provide practical, tailored solutions that keep businesses compliant, minimise risk, and strengthen long-term resilience.
From health & safety support to business continuity planning, I deliver clear insight and reliable service every time.

Katherine Howlett

CONSULTANT
ESG & Sustainability
I help businesses accelerate their sustainability journey through the Sustainability Accelerator Programme. I specialise in ESG, Social Value, B Corp, and sustainability reporting, supporting leaders to cut ESG risk, unlock efficiencies, and strengthen brand value - all without the cost of a full-time hire.
Nadine Fitzpatrick

CONSULTANT
Employee Relations
I’m a HR Generalist with 20 years of experience across all areas of Human Resources, managing the complete HR lifecycle.
My core expertise is Employee Relations (ER), where I ensure even the most challenging situations—like disciplinary processes, grievances, and restructurings—are resolved fairly, legally, and with empathy.
My greatest professional satisfaction comes from knowing these sensitive processes are managed compliantly and with the individual's well-being at the forefront.
Claire Spencer

CONSULTANT
Redundancy & restruture
While I’m a HR generalist, my specialism — and real passion — lies in redundancy and restructuring. I know how challenging these processes can be, and I’ve seen the difference when they’re handled well versus when they’re not. What matters most is combining a commercially minded approach with clarity, compassion, and compliance. I help business leaders and HR teams navigate change with confidence, protecting both their people and their reputation.
As an accredited career coach and mediator, I also support organisations and individuals through challenging transitions, ensuring outcomes that are fair, balanced, and sustainable.

Tanya Ces Maneiro

CONSULTANT
Outplacement support & career development
I’m an experienced and empathetic career coach, qualified in Coaching, NLP, Strengthscope and DISC Personality Profiling.
I previously worked in HR & Training for 10 years within a variety of international organisations. During this time, I handled several major recruitment drives, managed a number of redundancy programmes and delivered training courses to employees located throughout Europe and India.
Over the past 10 years I’ve enjoyed helping people reach their true potential through my work as a coach, specialising in career development and outplacement support.
Nick Simmonds

CONSULTANT
Performance coach
I’m an accredited New Level Results coach, helping organisations develop authentic leaders, resilient teams, and cultures where people and performance thrive.
Working as a professional coach since 2002, I support leaders, individuals, and teams across a wide range of organisations. I’ve worked with hundreds of clients, helping them overcome challenges, navigate change, and increase their effectiveness at work.
I believe we all have far more potential than we typically access in the workplace. My role is to support clients in accessing more of that natural potential — helping them build clarity, confidence, and stronger ways of leading, communicating, and performing.
Jill Golledge

CONSULTANT
Leadership Coach
I am an EMCC accredited leadership and self-confidence coach specialising in empowering introverted leaders to thrive in their professional journeys and step into leadership in a way that feels aligned.
With over 27 years’ experience in forensic science, I bring first-hand insight into high-pressure roles, complex organisational cultures and the impact that sustained performance demands can have on confidence and wellbeing.
I work with individuals and organisations to build sustainable confidence, strengthen leadership presence, and reduce self-doubt, without asking people to change who they are.

Our founder and Principal Consultant

Will Cleare

FOUNDER & PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT

I have a wealth of experience partnering with, and advising business owners and executive stakeholders to deliver positive results. Using an agile approach to driving forwards purpose-driven organisations. I bring energy and passion to the companies I work with.