Who We Are

Our trusted humans

Shelley Vaisey

Founder and Managing Partner

25 years focused on people, their career journey and enabling each business I worked with to grow and enjoy financial success (resulting in MBO, Acquisition or sale). I listen, learn and guide. I am ambitious and driven. I hope to make every people story a good one, even though merger, aquisition, redundancy and challenging times. People matter to me, so we founded Human Matters to ensure the humans we support have the best experience possible.

Jiten Patel

Conscious Inclusion Specialist

Jiten is a recognised Conscious Inclusion thought leader, an award-winning Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion strategist and practitioner, a published author and blogger about maximising Inclusion through diversity. He has developed specific expertise in the fields of Consciously Inclusive Leadership, race and anti-racism, cognitive biases and microaggressions, stereotype threat, structural privilege, consciously inclusive strategic planning, and operational implementation.

He is the author of Demystifying Diversity which went into a second edition in July 2020. Two more books are currently underway. He set up his own EDI Consultancy in 2001 through which he has worked within a broad range of sectors and with clients of all sizes, Blue Chip companies through to small local charities.

Balvi MacLeod

MA Human Resources Management

With over 30 years in talent development across tech, retail, and leisure, Balvi excels at coaching and supporting new managers by creating management programmes that actually get results. She enjoys working one-on-one to help others boost their confidence and self-esteem, and loves teaming up with groups at all levels to run team events that build trust and improve collaboration. She is passionate about yoga and mindfulness, and brings a calm, focused, but dynamic energy to every interaction she has.

Ellie Lowther

FRSA, Wellbeing & Inclusion Consultant, Entrepreneur

Ellie Lowther FRSA delivers highly regarded training, consultancy and wellbeing initiatives around the UK and is excited to partner with us at Human Matters. Ellie partners with Human Matters on all things related to Employee wellbeing & support and brings her own unique style to the world of diversity and inclusion.

Making a real difference wherever she delivers. Considered a visionary that promotes the radical middle road where the understanding of intersectional inclusion takes us to the next level!

Matt Drinkwater

Technology Recruitment Specialist

Spanning a career of 20 years and having enjoyed the experience of leading teams of tech recruiters, being the primary account manager to multiple SME, and FTSE 100 clients, Matt took the leap into starting his own business in 2023.

Hirefinity is a recruitment company with a partnership-first mentality. That translates to a service that saves companies time, money and resource. They’re a well-recognised name in the tech community, hosting free monthly events These showcase the talent of thought-leaders, who share their wisdom with people with a passion for tech.

The business is centred around it’s core values of honesty, providing expert advice and service excellence.

They provide Contract and Permanent hiring services with a core focus covers Testing, Software Development, DevOps and Cloud.

This can sometimes involve scaling from 0, by placing CTOs and Founding Engineers. Additionally, Hirefinity also get involved in building entire squads deployed into more established businesses.

Simon Bond

Employment Lawyer

After 20+ years as a Solicitor in private practice specialising in employment law, contracts, handbooks, disciplinary, redundancies and advising about employee disputes, Simon Bond now runs a private legal consultancy specialising in independent HR investigations for businesses, universities, charities and not for profit organisations.

Pro bono lawyer of the year in 2012 for his service to the Citizens Advice Bureaux, Simon has spent much of his extensive legal career serving on boards and committees. He spent 10 years as a member of the Law Society’s Employment Law Committee, with a large focus on Government responses to changes in employment law up to 2020.

Partnering with Shelley exceeded our expectations in relation to the 6 month retained people as a service solution that was designed to meet our growing business needs.

Jason Betteridge

Managing Director - Circyl

Shelley was a breath of fresh air to deal with when she recruited me into Oxbotica in 2019, honest, straightforward, and reassuring. Throughout I felt like I was joining a family – Shelley seemed to care so deeply about people and culture, and maintaining good fit with this – and naturally painted a picture of the environment I’d be joining so well, really selling it to me without even trying. Once I onboarded, joining socials and all hands meetings in particular, you could see that Shelley had had a big part to play in that open, comfortable, fun, nurturing environment we were in and still enjoy now. Coming from a very different background, and at the time perhaps not selling myself as well as I could, if it wasn’t for Shelley’s ability to see the potential and her belief in me, I doubt I’d even be in this industry that I have learnt so much in and enjoy so much – so thank you Shelley. Those who you cross paths with professionally are very fortunate indeed.

Matt Baines

Senior Solutions Engineer @ Oxa (formerly Oxbotica)

I’ve known Shelley for over 20 years and she has always been a trusted source of advice and guidance on people and process. She initially placed people with me and always found excellent and well prepared candidates and was a supplier who always went above and beyond. We then spent many years as colleagues and initially she focused on identifying outstanding candidates to join our fast growing business. She then expanded her influence to take full control of our HR function and processes which contributed significantly to our ability to attract and retain great people. Shelley has a passion for people that is infectious and she will be an asset to any organisation looking to find, on-board and keep great people.

Paul Meadows

Strategy Consultant

Working with Shelley has always been a pleasure. She is one of those suppliers that goes the extra mile to ensure that her customers are happy. She is very organised, contentious and tenacious. Aware that not everyone have the same level of knowledge on the products that she does she communicates effectivly to both technical and non technical staff. Her approach to projects is methodical but at the same time she sees the benefits in being as flexible as the end users requires. I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending Shelley or hiring her services again in the future.

Sara Newman

Director, Securys l CISA CIPP/E MBCS

I’ve worked with Shelley at Oxa (formerly Oxbotica) in her role as Global Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Director. Shelley has been inspirational in setting up and helping to sustain our internal voice groups, and is excellent at ensuring things get done, not just talked about. She has helped facilitate a range of voice groups, encouraging participation and giving space to many people to be able to improve the way we work and help us understand each other. She does all this thru her range of skills, including coaching, mentoring and facilitating.

Ric Cooke

Director Zebraflow

Case Studies

Retained People as a Service - Circyl
Click Here

Our Story

Why partner with us

People are our business.

Many small and scaling businesses don’t have the resources to employ a full-time HR team meaning that they need specialised services to ensure they remain compliant and prevent HR mishaps.

We can provide you with an objective unbiased perspective on all things people related, that is more cost-effective than hiring a full-time HR or recruitment team. Using our people as a service model or outsourcing specific HR or team member projects also means that we can save you time, freeing up internal staff to concentrate on other tasks.

We will help support your business with navigating change and transformation effectively as you grow.

In addition to the services and solutions that our Managing Partners deliver, we also retain specialist human services, ensuring we can provide fully compliant and comprehensive people solutions. Let us guide, support or take the strain completely, all the while ensuring your vision, goals and culture remain central to everything People related in your world.

Focusing our efforts on startup, spin out and scaling businesses, with between 2 and 150 team members means that we can tap into over 50 years collective small business experience, understanding first-hand the nuances and needs of a growing organisation.

Contact us today to discuss how we can optimise your Talent and HR processes, elevate your brand, values, talent acquisition and overall employee experience.

Our Values

These guide our decisions, actions and the way that we behave

We are Authentic

What you see is what we are.

We are Bespoke

Every client is individual and receives an individual service.

We are Creative

We actively seek new and innovative solutions to your people challenges

We are Dynamic

We move at pace whilst keeping on top of the detail.

We act as Owners

Your people are our people. We behave with honesty and integrity which drives our actions.

How it works

Retained People as a Service

Retained people services provide ongoing, proactive people support to businesses through a fixed fee agreement. Payable in 6-month cycles, billable on a monthly basis, unlike our pay-as-you-go or project-based services, our retained services offer a long-term partnership where a dedicated Consultant or team becomes an extension of your organisation. It’s like having a dedicated HR department, but outsourced. This ongoing relationship allows your dedicated human to deeply understand your business, culture, and specific needs, providing more strategic and tailored solutions.

There are 3 levels of service that we provide within our People as a Service offering.

Following on from a discovery and insights session, a roadmap with clearly defined deliverable is provided. Regular check ins and progress updates are shared where we work with stakeholders to deliver against your goals and the roadmap.

Go

£250 + VAT per month

12 hours of HR support per year*(terms and conditions apply)
Initial audit of your existing processes and documents
Essential legal requirements (Contract of Employment Template plus Discipline and Grievance Policies)
People well-being health check
Systems advice including discounts with our chosen people platform partners
Discounted additional HR Support Hours at £150 per hour as and when you need them
1 virtual structured check in per month

Grow

£375 + VAT per month

24 hours of HR support per year*(terms and conditions apply)
Initial audit of your existing processes and documents
Essential legal requirements (Contract of Employment Template plus Discipline and Grievance Policies)
People well-being health check
Systems advice including discounts with our chosen people platform partners
Discounted additional HR Support Hours at £125 per hour as and when you need them
6 bespoke policies or charters
1 masterclass for up to 6 delegates in person within the UK
Humans by design action plan

Pro

£450 + VAT per month

36 hours of HR support per year *(terms and conditions apply)
Audit of your existing processes and documents plus enhancement advice
People well-being health check with enhancement advice
Systems advice including discounts with our chosen people platform partners
Discounted additional HR Support Hours at £100 per hour as and when you need them
6 bespoke policies or charters in addition to a bespoke contract of employment and your Discipline and Grievance Policy
2 masterclasses for up to 10 delegates in person within the UK
Humans by design action plan

Pay as you go People Services

Expert Support for Challenging HR Situations

£150 per hour

We understand that employment issues can arise, even in the best-run organisations. Our most senior team members offer specialised support for complex grievances and disciplinary matters. We'll support you with the entire process, from initial consultation to resolution, ensuring legal compliance whilst protecting your business interests.

Fixed Priced People Projects

When you need help with seeing a specific people project come to life OR if you want us to design and deliver that project in its entirety, our experienced team can guide you through every stage of the project, from planning to implementation through to communication tips and hints. We'll ensure compliance, best practices, and stakeholder alignment for a successful outcome.

Each project is as unique and individual as your business, so project pricing is tailored to your specific needs.

Got a people related challenge
or a simple query?

Then why not book a FREE no obligation 15-minute meeting to discuss your challenge. We will share our thoughts on how to resolve it. Curious to find out more