About us | Kane HR

The Company

Founded in 2000 by Janice Howell, we have enjoyed remarkable growth, gained almost exclusively from the recommendations of existing clients and fellow professionals, including employment lawyers and accountancy firms.

Using strategic partnerships and collaboration we provide our clients with reliable, consistent and trusted HR advice, support and guidance that is tailored and adapted to meet the needs of their business. We are passionate about people, strive for excellence, accountable and can be relied upon and trusted to carry out communications on our client’s behalf with the utmost respect and tact.

Meet the team

All of our HR Consultants are CIPD qualified, with experience gained across a wide range of industries. This gives KaneHR the tools and knowledge required to deliver expert, credible and professional HR advice that will deliver improved performance and results for your business.

Janice Howell | Founder and Managing Director

Janice is the founder of KaneHR. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and is highly regarded as a Board-level HR professional, with a track record of achieving results, even in the most challenging of circumstances.

Prior to embarking in the world of consultancy Janice held a number of senior HR roles across electricity supply; fresh foods, dairy and manufacturing; and private healthcare. In October 2000, Janice left her role as HR Director of a top 10 consumer PR company in London and decided to start her own HR consultancy.

Janice has been instrumental in building a highly regarded, credible, and professional team at KaneHR; from those starting out on their careers in HR to those are now senior leaders and consultants, who are highly valued by our clients and considered experts in their field. Above all, every team member shares the same passion for providing their clients with exemplary service in the ‘Kane Way.’

Aside from leading the wider team Janice provides direct support to clients. Janice is known for her practical, ‘hands-on’ approach and has successfully led a number of major change initiatives for both UK and overseas registered companies. This has included successfully managing large-scale and often contentious, company restructuring projects. Janice is also widely known as a TUPE expert and has led a number of IT related offshoring projects, being the UK HR project lead for various global businesses.

Aside from leading large change initiatives, Janice is equally at home being hands-on with our SME clients. Her ability to make an immediate impact and lead clients to achieve their desired results through the minefield of employment legislation has been highly valued.

Janice has significant experience of dealing with complex disciplinary and grievance matters, including those relating to senior executives. A number of leading employment lawyers regularly engage Janice to independently chair hearings and appeals on their clients’ behalf.

Janice is a Fellow of the CIPD with over 30 years’ experience. She started Kane HR in October 2000, having previously been HR Director for a top 10 consumer PR company.

Janice is often recommended by lawyers and is an expert in managing complex employee relations cases, company restructures and TUPE.

Laura Chidwick | Managing Consultant

Laura is one of our longest serving members of the team. She joined us as a Senior HR Advisor and has quickly progressed through Kane and now sits on our internal senior leadership team.

Laura works with a large range of clients across various sectors, including healthcare, construction, hospitality, education and professional services. She is embedded as the “go to” senior HR professional within the leadership teams of many of our clients and is highly valued for her direct approach in achieving results, particularly in contentious situations.

Laura started her HR career in 2007, initially working in a demanding manufacturing organisation, where she managed disciplinary and grievance cases as well as day to day HR matters. She also assisted with a large-scale closure and redundancy programme, guiding managers through all stages of the process and actively participating in the employee consultation stages. After nearly six years here, Laura moved into the healthcare sector where she led an HR team in a large private mental health facility. She had responsibility for all aspects of HR, including dealing with some challenging employee relations cases. The Hospital underwent a full CQC inspection during her time with them, which included a review of the HR Department, and Laura is proud that her department achieved a 100% pass rate!

Laura also has experience of recruitment, including up to Medical Consultant level within the healthcare sector, and leading a consultation exercise to change the working hours of the multidisciplinary team.

At Kane, Laura has led on many complex disciplinary and grievance cases, including those at Director level. She has provided assistance and coaching to clients, as well as leading the process as an independent third party. Having led a complex grievance investigation for a large NHS Healthcare Trust, with their internal Head of HR in attendance as an HR Representative, Laura’s ability to deal with difficult conversations was described as “second to none”.

Laura enjoys upskilling managers and has written and presented bespoke training courses on topics such as effective interviewing, equality & diversity, and disciplinary & grievance processes.

Laura regularly visits client sites to provide general day to day support or to lead on specific projects, which include large scale, complex redundancy and TUPE consultations, and right to work checks.

Laura is fully CIPD qualified; a trained Mental Health First Aider; and qualified Thomas International TEIQue Assessor.

Laura is fully CIPD qualified and started her HR career in 2007, working within manufacturing and private mental health. She joined Kane HR in January 2016 and advises clients on all HR matters, including right to work compliance, disciplinary and grievance cases, performance management and redundancy processes.

Robert Burden | Managing Consultant

Rob is a Managing Consultant and member of our senior leadership team with a wealth of experience advising businesses and senior executives with commercial solutions to navigate HR related issues.

With a history of supporting businesses in the hospitality and leisure sector, start-ups, fintech and manufacturing, as well as companies in the logistics and technology sectors, Rob is accomplished at providing commercial and pragmatic advice to leading organisations in their field.

Rob is commercially astute, with an aptitude for problem solving. He takes pride in helping clients achieve their goals, however challenging they may be from an HR perspective! In doing so he will always take care to ensure he understands his client’s aims and potential risk areas at the outset so that strategies can be developed to obtain the best outcome possible.

As an experienced HR professional, Rob’s expertise ranges from advising on large scale changes to terms and conditions of employment, discrimination and harassment allegations, termination of contracts and dismissals, the enforcement of post-termination obligations, transfer of undertakings on acquisition and disposal of businesses, as well as restructuring and redundancies.

Rob also has an astute practice for working with clients on both a domestic and international level, collaborating with senior executives from across North America, EMEA and APAC.

Most recently, Rob has guided clients through large-scale restructures to deliver in-year cost savings and will frequently lead on high-level casework including disciplinaries, grievances and appeals to provide a cost-effective resolution for clients.

In 2017, Rob was recognised as a “HR Rising Star” in the Hospitality Industry. Later, in 2018, Rob was inaugurated into the prestigious Acorn alumni and awarded by the Institute of Hospitality “Aspiring Manager of the year.”

Rob is a qualified Thomas International practitioner and is able to facilitate feedback for both Personality Profile Analytics (PPA) and Trait Emotional Intelligence (TEIQue) psychometric assessments.

Rob is a member of a number of professional associations, including the Institute of Hospitality and HR in Hospitality Forum, serving as a committee member since 2017.

Rob has a wealth of experience predominately within Hospitality, Catering and Events businesses in the UK. As a fully CIPD qualified professional, Rob adopts a logical approach to HR in a proficient manner. With his commercial background, Rob is able to provide prompt and expert HR guidance to support businesses in achieving their goals.

Ashleigh Pinto | Senior HR Consultant

Ashleigh recently joined KaneHR and brings with her extensive experience providing commercial HR advice and practical support.

Having previously worked in internal HR roles, Ashleigh has spent the last 7.5 years working as an HR consultant providing advice and guidance to a variety of companies, ranging from smaller ‘owner managed’ business through to large US corporates. Having closely partnered with employment lawyers, payroll professionals, tax advisors and auditors, Ashleigh has a strong knowledge of how people strategies interact with the whole organisation and therefore where value can truly be added.

Ashleigh’s personable and tailored approach to HR strategy has enabled her to support on high profile projects alongside delivering on all aspects of HR compliance and best practice. Her experience extends to disciplinaries, grievances, TUPE’s, redundancies, due diligence, policy creation/review, change strategies, organisational restructures and complex employee relations cases.

Ashleigh understands the impact good HR practices have on the effectiveness of an organisation and prides herself on being a trusted advisor to senior leadership. Her efficient handling of employee relations issues and proactive approach to people strategy, enables her clients to focus their valuable time on the future success of their business.

Ashleigh has worked across a variety of sectors with longstanding clients in hospitality (inc. Hotels), Retail (UK & Global), Manufacturing, Ecommerce, NHS and Private Healthcare, as well as Charities and Trusts. Ashleigh has specific experience working with international ‘start ups’ advising on all aspects of compliance when setting up in the UK, combining HR requirements and payroll needs.

Ashleigh is a Chartered Member of the CIPD and has previously contributed to the HR Magazine.

Ashleigh recently joined KaneHR and brings with her extensive experience providing commercial HR advice and practical support.

Ashleigh is a Chartered Member of the CIPD and has previously contributed to the HR Magazine.

Nicola Millard | Senior HR Consultant

Nicola recently joined KaneHR as a Senior HR Consultant and brings with her a wealth of experience in leading on and providing pragmatic and commercial HR advice across an array of complex HR matters.

Having previously worked as a HR Consultant at senior level for the past 9.5 years, Nicola has provided comprehensive advice and guidance to a wide-ranging portfolio of clients, including public and private sector organisations. With extensive HR consultancy experience, Nicola has acted as a trusted advisor to help organisations achieve positive business outcomes and drive strategic people agendas forward effectively. Partnering closely with public sector organisations, Nicola also brings extensive experience with unionised workforces. Working closely with recognised unions to achieve positive outcomes for both the organisation and its union members.

As an experienced HR Professional, Nicola has gained substantial experience in undertaking complex consultancy projects on behalf of clients by acting in the capacity of Investigating Officer and advising senior managers and board members at complex disciplinary, grievance and pay appeal hearings; ensuring that all matters are effectively handled in line with Acas guidance and best practice.

Nicola prides herself on her ability to problem solve and provide stakeholders with tailored and concise advice. This support spans from simple day-to-day HR matters such as maternity, flexible working and pay concerns through to leading on more challenging matters including grievances, collective redundancies and gross misconduct dismissal procedures. Her experience also extends to reviewing policies and contracts to ensure that they are fit for purpose and in line with business strategies.

Nicola is an Associate member of the CIPD and has gained a BA Honours in Leadership and Management with the Open University.

Alice Jones | HR Consultant

Alice joined us as an HR Assistant in 2016 after obtaining her CIPD qualification and MSc in Human Resource Management from Cardiff University. Since joining, Alice has progressed within KaneHR to become one of our highly valued HR Consultants and is a trusted HR Partner to a number of our clients.

Alice prides herself on her ability to quickly integrate herself into businesses quickly; establishing credible, positive relationships and reflecting the clients’ needs in her approach to HR. With many of her clients Alice has become an extension to their internal management team, being the ‘go to’ person for employees as well as managers and playing a lead role in conducting annual appraisal schemes and graduate recruitment programmes.

Alice provides commercial advice to business leaders and senior managers on a day-to-day basis, supporting them with both simple and complex HR matters, particularly in respect of grievance, disciplinary, performance and redundancy cases. Alice breaks down what can be viewed as complex HR processes, into simple steps and gives stakeholders the confidence and support required to reach a successful and desired outcome. Alice is able to adapt her HR advice to client needs across differing sectors including Media, PR, National Retail, Youth Charities as well as IT and Cloud Solutions.

Alice is adept at delivering projects in line with clients’ HR strategy and she has more recently led on the implementation of HR systems and benefits packages, the creation of bespoke appraisal processes, as well as the introduction and coordination of employee engagement tools as part of a wider retention strategy. Alice has also owned the introduction of a sponsorship licence for several clients and regularly advises clients on challenging right to work queries.

Alice delivers exceptional bespoke HR documentation and is meticulous in her attention to detail. She ensures consistently professional standards and is an expert in tailoring HR documentation, including policies, contracts of employment and handbooks, towards a range of industries in line with their HR needs. Alice also takes a proactive role in training KaneHR’s newest team members to instil these excellent standards throughout the Company.

Alice is a trained Mental Health First Aider and uses this knowledge to actively support her clients’ wellbeing strategies and improve their overall culture.

Alice is fully CIPD qualified and joined our team as a recent graduate in 2016.

She is our expert on bespoke HR documentation and advises clients on all HR matters as well as acting as a notetaker for complex cases.

Charlotte Rawlings | Senior HR Advisor

Charlotte is a CIPD qualified HR Professional, with a BSc degree in Psychology. She started her professional career within the Healthcare sector, with responsibility for over 7,000 employees. She then moved to a facilities management company where she was the first point of contact for all HR related queries for 700 employees and quickly built a meaningful rapport with managers at all levels across the business. Charlotte’s previous roles have included responsibility for employee relations, recruitment, induction and TUPE.

After three years in facilities management, Charlotte moved into the leisure industry, providing a proactive approach to advising and guiding managers on all HR related matters, including absence management, disciplinary and grievances.

During her time with KaneHR Charlotte has quickly established herself with a variety of clients. She regularly provides support on disciplinary and grievance processes as well as managing recruitment projects for clients. She is also our go to person for updating client policies and procedures.

Charlotte’s experience has involved working across various fast paced, multi-site environments which has enabled her to adapt to different management styles, along with providing advice in a timely, commercial and efficient manner.

Charlotte is a CIPD qualified HR Professional, with a BSc degree in Psychology, and started her professional career within the Healthcare sector, with responsibility for over 7,000 employees. She then moved to a facilities management company where she was the first point of contact for all HR related queries for 700 employees and quickly built a meaningful rapport with managers at all levels across the business. Charlotte’s previous roles have included responsibility for employee relations, recruitment, induction and TUPE.

Tara Prangley | HR Advisor

Tara has recently joined Kane after several years working within HR in the hospitality industry. Having studied International Hospitality Management BSc at Oxford Brookes University, Tara pursued a career within HR for international and UK based luxury hotel chains. Whilst undertaking her degree, Tara worked in the US for one year at a Forbes rated hotel as a Front Office Intern.

During her last role, Tara’s key responsibilities included employee relations, induction training, recruitment, engagement initiatives and providing on-site HR assistance for internal stakeholders. Having quickly established rapport with colleagues and managers of all levels, Tara became the key point of contact for areas throughout the employee lifecycle. At the same time Tara also completed her CIPD Level 5 qualification.

Having worked in the hospitality and retail sector, Tara has experience working within a fast-paced environment with time limited deadlines which has allowed her to develop an efficient and detail-oriented approach to her work.

Maddie Robertson | HR Advisor

Having initially joined us as our first intern in 2021, Maddie returned to us once she had completed her degree and spent four months travelling Southeast Asia and has now progressed to the role of HR Advisor whilst undertaking her level 5 CIPD.

Maddie has her own portfolio of clients as well as supporting those of the wider team. She provides day to day HR support across all stages of the employee lifecycle, including the management of employee administration processes and participating in disciplinary and grievance hearing and investigations, either on behalf of a client, or note taker. Maddie has also led a number of research initiatives, including those relating to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion; and ‘Living with Covid in the Workplace.’

Outside of KaneHR Maddie is a keen sportswoman and has played elite level football.

Interesting fact about Maddie: She achieved black belt in Karate at 10 years’ old!

Outside of KaneHR Maddie is a keen sportswoman and has played elite level football.

Interesting fact about Maddie: She achieved black belt in Karate at 10 years’ old!

Laura Ireland | HR Assistant

Laura has recently joined our team at KaneHR, taking on the role of HR Assistant. She brings with her a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology.

Prior to joining us, Laura ventured into the energy and logistics sectors following her graduation from university, before finding her calling in HR at KaneHR.

Her experience in diverse industries has honed her communication and customer service skills, which she now brings to support our clients at Kane.

Beyond her professional endeavours, Laura’s interests extend to the realms of literature, where she finds solace in the pages of books, and to the heartwarming moments spent with her family, including their cherished companions – five adorable dogs.

Laura has recently joined our team at KaneHR, taking on the role of HR Assistant. She brings with her a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology.

Prior to joining us, Laura ventured into the energy and logistics sectors following her graduation from university, before finding her calling in HR at KaneHR.

Her experience in diverse industries has honed her communication and customer service skills, which she now brings to support our clients at Kane.

Gemma Willis | Executive Assistant

Gemma joined Kane HR in August 2014 and has been an invaluable member of the team since the day she arrived. She is the person responsible for making sure all of the administration and accounting sides of our client relationships run smoothly and is the first point of contact for clients if they have any queries.

Gemma has a wealth of administrative and organisational experience gained largely in the construction industry, an expert in all the software packages.

Gemma is the person responsible for making sure all of the administration and accounting sides of our client relationships run smoothly and is the first point of contact for clients if they have any queries.

Why use us?

We know that you are spoilt for choice with many HR consultancies to choose from, so here’s how we stand out from the crowd and why you should choose us to deliver your HR services.

In-house HR experience

Our team of consultants have worked in companies of all sizes from global corporates to SME’s and independents.

In doing so we have probably dealt with every type of issue that you may come across. We will happily help fix your issues which may include a disciplinary, grievance, absence management, poor performance, employment terminations or redundancies. Our team have also held strategic business-focused roles up to Board level, so although we are all qualified HR professionals, we understand the need for business solutions that are relevant, practical and cost-effective.
Bespoke support

We will adapt to work in the way that best suits your needs, offering HR Services tailored the needs of you and your business.

If you are just looking for us to be at the end of the phone to offer support and advice, that’s fine. If you are looking to have someone on site to take care of HR related matters for you, that’s fine too. Or perhaps you are looking to fully outsource your HR function including HR administration, payroll processing and employee relations. Whatever it is you are looking for, we’ve got it covered and are happy to help.
Business Improvement

We will help to evolve and improve your business with proactive, and reactive, HR support.

Our approach is to identify what processes and systems are working well and build upon them to improve efficiencies and business operations. The fundamentals may already be in place; however, the needs of your business may have changed.

We can help you with contracts and policies, employee development, as well as HR Strategy and Structure.
Great to work with!

We feel this is not only true, but also important. We understand that you may be facing stressful situations that you are experiencing for the first time and we make it our main priority to make our clients feel comfortable with us as quickly as possible.

Our goal is to build strong relationships by giving our clients full confidence in our ability, demonstrating that we know what we are doing and we do it with good humour and a sunny demeanour.

Whether you need help keeping up-to-date with changes in employment law, on-site support, HR training or simply just an advisor to call when HR issues arise, Kane HR is there for you. Our advisors and consultants will be your greatest resource.

I have used the excellent team at Kane HR on a retained basis across three businesses. Kane deliver an exceptional HR service which is 100% business focused and more cost effective than having our own team in-house. Janice and her team offer practical and simple solutions for complex HR problems, in a language you can understand. Kane have met our HR needs by assisting with administrative tasks such as developing staff handbooks, policies and procedures, through to providing expert advice on complicated employee relations issues, redundancies and TUPE transfers. The team offer a fully comprehensive client-focused approach, delivered in a professional yet personal style. Nothing is ever too much trouble for Janice or the team, who are always on hand to manage any issue, however large or small.

CEO and Non-Executive Director of various Hospitality businesses

Our Partners

Many aspects of our business advice can cross-over into other service sectors that would not normally be covered by HR consultancy and therefore third party support is sometimes required.

To service this need we have built up a network of trusted professional partners such as solicitors, accountants, training and recruitment consultants, and payroll and software providers.

Whilst we are always willing to introduce our partners to our clients in appropriate circumstances, we are equally more than happy to work together with a clients’ existing professional advisers. Indeed this is how we have come to forge some of the strong relationships we currently enjoy.

Join Us

We’re investing in ambitious growth plans and always on the look out for new HR talent who are, self-motivated individuals with a strong team ethic, a passion for delivering high quality HR solutions and creating client relationships.

If you work for us you will enjoy...

A dynamic & friendly team
Professional development training
Multiple-industry sector experience
Varied & rewarding work
Expert mentoring
Working with exciting, leading-edge clients

We look for…

Full or partial CIPD qualification (or equivalent)
Extensive HR experience, ideally in a client-focused role
The confidence to influence and advise at all levels, right up to Senior Executive level

The Company

Founded in 2000 by Janice Howell, we have enjoyed remarkable growth, gained almost exclusively from the recommendations of existing clients and fellow professionals, including employment lawyers and accountancy firms.

Meet the team

All of our HR Consultants are CIPD qualified, with experience gained across a wide range of industries. This gives KaneHR the tools and knowledge required to deliver expert, credible and professional HR advice that will deliver improved performance and results for your business.

Janice Howell

Laura Chidwick

Robert Burden

Ashleigh Pinto

Nicola Millard

Alice Jones

Charlotte Rawlings

Tara Prangley

Maddie Robertson

Laura Ireland

Gemma Willis

Nicky Morris

Why use us?

We know that you are spoilt for choice with many HR consultancies to choose from, so here’s how we stand out from the crowd and why you should choose us to deliver your HR services.

In-house HR experience

Bespoke support

Business Improvement

Great to work with!