Swindon & Wiltshire News
Swindon’s HR Dept celebrate 15 years in business
The team behind human resources consultancy the HR Dept are marking a milestone by celebrating 15 years since their franchise was created.
The HR Dept Swindon, North Wiltshire and East Cotswolds was founded in 2007, and has grown to a five-strong team, working regularly with more than 70 businesses and many more on an ad hoc basis.
Peter Jones, who took over the franchise in 2009, said he was thrilled to see the company reach its first 15 years.
“The first 15 years have been great, and we have our fantastic team and clients to thank for that,” said Peter. “Our next goal is to grow our retained client numbers to 100, and to recruit more team members to help support them.”
When Peter took over the franchise he was based in offices in central Swindon, but to accommodate the growing team, the business relocated to Gemini House, Groundwell, in North Swindon.
The HR Dept supports clients in a range of sectors, including manufacturing, hospitality, finance, retail, leisure and professional services. It works with businesses across Swindon, Chippenham, Hungerford, Marlborough, Calne, Devizes, Burford, Lechlade and Carterton.
Peter heads up an experienced team at the HR Dept, including head of HR consultancy Remy Morland, HR adviser Helen Imbusi, recruitment specialist Geri Hardy and sales & marketing executive Drishya Dewan.
Peter himself has an extensive career in HR, and was HR director of a multinational engineering company, before stepping away to set up his own consultancy in 2008. In 2009, he bought the HR Dept’s Swindon, North Wiltshire and East Cotswolds franchise.
“I wanted to start my own business, so setting up an HR consultancy made a lot of sense. I ran it for a year, but when the opportunity came up to buy the HR Dept it was a no-brainer.
“What the franchise centrally were offering was far superior to what I could offer working on my own. Our clients still benefit from that differentiator, in that we are an independent HR consultancy, but with the backing of a much larger organisation.”
