A trusted adviser on hiring and growing your team, for owner-led businesses.
Together, we find great people to help your business grow.
Most growing, owner-led businesses don't have anyone whose job is hiring. So it falls to the owner, or to an agency that doesn't know the business. Either way, good people slip through.
Bring me in as part of your team, for a single role, or for advice on a hiring decision you're weighing up.
Part of your team on a monthly fee, covering all your hiring as the business grows.
Individual roles on a fixed fee, not a percentage of salary. I run the search from brief to start date and speak to every candidate myself.
A second opinion from someone who has seen how other businesses do it, before you commit to a hire.
You always know where each role stands. You make the final decision on every hire.
We start by asking whether the role is needed at all, or whether a different role would serve the business better. Then we agree what success looks like in the first 90 days, the must-haves and the salary range.
I go directly to the market and speak to every candidate myself. You get a short, well-screened shortlist with my notes, not a pile of CVs.
I help you structure the interviews, gather feedback quickly and keep candidates warm, so the good ones don't drift away to someone faster.
I manage the offer and the back and forth, and stay in touch with your new starter until day one.
My fee isn't a percentage of salary, so if the answer is "don't hire yet" or "hire a different role", that's what I'll tell you.
Fees are agreed before any work starts. No percentages, no surprises when the offer goes out.
I prepare, you decide. Nobody is contacted on your behalf and nobody progresses without your say-so.
I'm Harry Palmer, founder of HK Palmer Consulting. I work as an embedded talent partner for growing, owner-led businesses across London and the South East.
I've worked in recruitment since 2011. I spent my first ten years as a 360 recruitment consultant, winning clients and finding the people to match them, including running my own agency. Most of that work was in energy, alongside HCM software, IT, finance and professional services.
In 2021 I moved in-house, embedding with businesses as their talent partner across energy, private equity, financial services, policy and advocacy, legal, security systems, HSE and environmental services, and industrial and engineering services. I've hired everyone from C-suite and directors to field service engineers and warehouse operatives. So I've seen hiring from both sides of the table.
I set up HK Palmer Consulting because the businesses that most need good hiring support are often the ones least able to afford an in-house team, or an agency fee on every role. I give owners a better option: someone who gets to know the business, fills roles directly and leaves a better process behind. In several businesses I've cut agency spend by 80%, saving some of them hundreds of thousands of pounds a year.
Most of my clients are owners or senior leaders, and they treat me as a trusted adviser. Sometimes that means advising them not to hire: waiting for the right person rather than settling for someone who will cause problems later, or reshaping a role based on what I've seen work in other organisations.
Away from work I'm married with two children and a cockapoo, which is as calm as it sounds. I love my sport: football, NFL, rugby and golf.
Hire well. Grow well. Together.
An agency is paid a percentage of salary when someone starts, so it's rewarded for placing people quickly. I'm paid a fee agreed in advance and I work on your side of the table: on the brief, the process and the decision, as well as the search.
Owner-led SMEs, typically where the owner or managing director is still close to hiring decisions and the next few hires will shape the business. If you've got one role to fill or a growth plan that needs several, either works.
I'm a generalist. Technical, operational, commercial and professional roles across a range of sectors. If a role is highly specialist, I'll say so and help you find the right route.
It depends on whether you need one role filled or ongoing support. Fees are fixed and agreed upfront, and the first conversation is free. Get in touch and I'll give you a straight answer.
I'm based in Kent and work across London and the South East. Most work happens on site with you and remotely with candidates, so distance is rarely a problem.
Or the growth plan that depends on people you haven't hired yet. I'll come back to you within one working day to set up a call.