What kind of contracts are available to me as a contractor engaged through Hunter Adams ?

We work with clients offering a range of contract types, including:

– Generalist/BAU HR support – Maternity Cover, Sickness Leave, etc. – from HR Advisor through to HR Director level

– Change/Transformation Projects

– Mergers & Acquisition / TUPE Projects

– Restructuring or Redundancy Support

– HRIS Implementation

– Reward projects such as Gender Pay Gap Reporting, implementation of Job Grading and/or Job Evaluation structures, Benchmarking

– Setting up a new HR function as part of a UK expansion or business scale-up

– Setting a DEI strategy

What should I charge as a day rate?

The Hunter Adams Recruitment Team will be able to advise on market competitive and role appropriate rates during our initial conversation and provide guidance tailored for each opportunity.

As a general overview, this will depend on a number of factors including:

– Your level of expertise

– The complexity of the role and assignment

– Industry benchmarks

– Location, working pattern (office based/hybrid/remote), travel requirements and length of assignment

What can I expect from your recruitment process?

In relation to interim and consultancy roles, we are continually expanding our network of potential associates and would like to manage your expectations by providing transparency about our process.

In response to your initial enquiry, we will email you a copy of our Skills Inventory and would appreciate if you could complete and return at your earliest convenience. This provides us with a skills database which is useful for assessing suitability for assignments. We understand that no one candidate has every HR skill set as it is such a broad discipline, typically most candidates have particular strengths in one or two key areas.

A member of the recruitment team will be in touch once your details are matched to any suitable opportunities – or if you’d like to request a time to chat (In person/Teams/Mobile) to discuss your experience in some more detail, we’d be happy to arrange this.

In advance of being presented to a client for an interim or consultancy opportunity, a Skills Interview with a member of our Senior HR Team will be arranged. This will be via Teams and will be a competency based interview in relation to your experience and the key experience required for any identified assignments.

You will remain in contact with the Recruitment Team until you have successfully secured an assignment.

What support will I get from Hunter Adams as a contractor?

At Hunter Adams, we provide our clients with interim support via our Managed Interim Service or Consultancy Project Support.  From a candidate perspective this means that when working on assignment with us, you have access to:

– Ongoing contact throughout your assignment with a member of our Internal HR Team through regular one to ones, any peer reviews and any ad hoc support required.

– As an extension of the Hunter Adams Team, you will also have access to our back office suite of template letters and policies and also access to the wider team where their specific experience may align to your current assignment or in relation to general questions involving market research.

Suitability for future opportunities will be identified based on the recruitment process set out above.  .  We will review the skills and experiences required to fulfil the assignment and will present the client with a pre agreed number of candidate profiles from our own Hunter Adams employee team, known associates and any new associates that may meet the requirements.

At the point in which an assignment is secured, you will be provided with an Associate Liaison contact (see below for further details).

If I am contacting Hunter Adams for the first time, how likely is it that I will be considered for a consultant or interim opportunity?

Last year, 48% of opportunities were filled by new associates that were unknown to Hunter Adams prior to the recruitment process laid out below.

Typically, our priority will always be to use our own Hunter Adams employee team, if they are available and have the right experience for an assignment. When the right expertise isn’t available internally, we’re proud to work with our trusted network of associates – however  we’re always open to connecting with new professionals whose skills align with the specific needs of a role and current market demands.

With offices in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Manchester and London, Hunter Adams provides HR consultancy services across the UK – supporting clients from Sutherland to Kent, Exeter to Caithness…and everywhere in between!

Do you have Part Time opportunities?

Yes, we have a number of Associates who support our clients on a part time basis – either to allow them a better work/life balance, or so that they can continue to support other clients alongside any assignment they secure through ourselves.

Some contracts do however require full time availability and exclusivity, so this is something that we will discuss with you during our recruitment process to understand your circumstances.

Many of our Associates look forward to transitioning into a new contract upon completion of an assignment, but there is no obligation to do so.  If you would prefer to work over certain months, or take time out during the year, we are happy to keep in touch and work to your availability.

I’m open to considering both permanent and interim opportunities – is this something that you can help me with?

Yes, the Hunter Adams Recruitment Team can support you with both Permanent, FTC, Interim and Consultancy opportunities.

How does IR35 impact HR contractors?

IR35 legislation affects the type of contract that our Associates can work to and for each assignment, our clients will assess whether the scope of role falls Inside or Outside IR35.

IR35 status is determined by the nature of the engagement, not job title.

– Inside IR35: Treated like an employee for tax purposes. You’ll pay income tax and National Insurance through PAYE.  For opportunities that are deemed inside IR35 we would engage contractors through an Umbrella Company.  Individuals may have a preferred Umbrella Company that they wish to use or we can provide options when we discuss the assignment with you.

– Outside IR35: You can operate through a Limited Company or Sole Trader contract

Should I set up a Limited company?

You can operate as a Ltd Company contractor for opportunities that are assessed as outside IR35 however for a contract inside IR35, where off payroll working rules apply, we will not be able to process a contract via Ltd Company.

I notice that you offer HR interim and consultancy opportunities – what is the difference?

 These terms are interchangeable within the marketplace however within Hunter Adams, we typically define them as follows:

– Interim: Involves short to medium term assignments where you are embedded within a business to cover BAU work, maternity cover, or transformation projects. This tends to be set days/hours over an agreed duration. Typically, these will be more likely to fall inside IR35 however there are opportunities that do fall outside of IR35.

– Consultancy: More strategic and often project based fractional support. You may be brought in to solve specific business challenges or lead transformations, often doing an initial scoping assessment to provide an estimation on number of days. Typically, these will be assessed as outside IR35 but this will be determined by the client as the end user.