Atkinson HR

Helping values-led organisations become ever better employers.

We’re a strategic HR consultancy working exclusively with the voluntary sector, partnering with charities, social enterprises, students’ unions and hospices to help them become even better employers. Our team of values-driven consultants support organisations to make change happen, drive high performance and transform their approach to people, management and leadership. We’re proud of the work we do and were delighted to win the 2019 CIPD People Management Award for Best HR / Learning & Development Consultancy.

We help with people strategy, HR and people management frameworks, senior recruitment, leadership development and complex employee relations, either through individual projects or as an ongoing HR partner. Your organisation’s values are what make working for you unique, and they are the foundation of everything we do. We don’t offer an off-the-shelf approach; we design tailored solutions that reflect your values and context so we can work with you to deliver long-term, sustainable outcomes.

What we do

Strategic HR and organisational development

Most of the organisations we work with are dealing with the day-to-day firefighting and trying to get the basics right while also trying to improve things and plan for the future. We get alongside you to help with HR strategy, building internal HR capability, restructures, pay and reward, leadership development and culture. Whatever the project, we start by understanding you and your needs so we can create the right solution.

Executive and Senior Leader Recruitment

Appointing a new CEO or trustee can shape an organisation for years to come. We help you design a recruitment process that reflects your values, from an employer brand that stands out in a busy market to a candidate experience that is inclusive and leaves people feeling valued, whether or not they get the job. We look for the skills you need alongside a real connection to your purpose, and we always advertise CEO and trustee roles through ACEVO Jobs.

Learning and talent development

We work with teams, managers, boards and individual leaders to co-create learning that develops the skills you need most and continues to make a difference long after the session ends. That might be a leadership development programme, board and trustee development, training on HR and people management topics, one-to-one coaching and mentoring, or tools such as Lumina Spark psychometric profiling and 360-degree feedback.

Change and transformation

Change in values-led organisations works best when your people come with you and the organisation stays true to what it stands for. We support change strategy and planning, stakeholder engagement, organisational design, managers leading their teams through change, and evaluating the impact once you’ve been on the journey.

Employment relations, investigations, and policies

We help you develop people policies that bring your values to life. When things get difficult, we offer leaders pragmatic advice and carry out complex investigations, including those involving the board or chief executive, with care, rigour and discretion. We also support with absence and attendance, and with performance and capability management.

Monthly retainer packages

If you want ongoing support rather than one-off consultancy, our monthly packages give you access to a named HR Business Partner, discounted rates, premium tools and templates, and a range of additional perks.

Packages start from free with our AHR Community tier, through to AHR Essentials (£205/month), AHR Core (£730/month), and AHR Strategic (£1,885/month).

Why Atkinson HR

Over the years we have supported more than 200 values-led organisations and leaders across the UK and Europe and were recently shortlisted at the 2026 CIPD People Management Awards for our pay and reward work with Newcastle University Students’ Union.

When you work with us, you work with experienced consultants who are qualified members of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). They bring significant HR and senior leadership experience from the not-for-profit, public and private sectors. Our Operations Coordinators look after the detail, and we also have a team of associate consultants who bring specialist expertise when a project needs it.

We are an independent, founder-led consultancy with no big overheads and targets to chase, so your money goes into the work that matters to you. How we work together is up to you. Some organisations bring us in for a particular challenge, while others want a longer-term partner to help them build up their own HR skills over time. Either way, we’ll shape our support around what will be most useful to you.

Free Resources & Community

Join our free community and you’ll get access to webinars, templates and guidance, as well as our Resource Hub, where you will find blogs and articles from our team, associates and trusted partners. Here is a selection of insights from our team that we think you’ll love:

• Becoming CEO: lesson I wish I’d known at the start
• Don’t Fix the Generation, Fix the Work: Rethinking How Hospices Attract and Keep Early-Career Talent
• Leading Through Uncertainty
• Trustees: How to get the best from your most expensive staff member

Community members also get our monthly e-newsletter on leadership and people management. You can also follow us on LinkedIn to stay up to date with our latest thinking.