info@howlettbrown.com
+44 (0)20 3758 6720Advisory
Advisory overview
In the fast-moving world of work, people challenges do not come in neat categories and neither does our advice. We bring together deep expertise in HR strategy, culture, employee relations, conflict resolution, privacy, governance, and commercial law to help employers and service providers move forward with confidence and clarity.
Whether our services are needed by the founder building their team from the ground up, or an established business navigating complexity, we are their trusted thinking partner and critical friend, combining people intelligence, legal precision, and a human-first lens.
HR People & Strategy
- Culture transformation and culture activation
- Employee relations frameworks and capability building for HR teams
- HR reviews and audits, assessing the status of people practices and support in addressing gaps
- HR structure and strategy for scale-ups and SMEs
- Integration and strategy support post-acquisition or merger
- Pay gap reporting, analysis, and support
- Performance frameworks and policy development
- Reward and performance strategy
- Talent, wellbeing and leadership support
- Workforce planning and role design
Precedents & Toolkits
We provide ready-to-use, lawyer-reviewed packs for busy founders, HR teams, and COOs. From hiring templates and performance frameworks to template policies. Our resources are smart, simple, and ready to deploy.
- HR precedent packs which include contracts, letters, policies, and checklists built for real-world use
- Legal startup packs which include founder agreements, NDAs, shareholder frameworks, and more
Fair Outcomes. Lower Risk. Stronger Relationships.
Disputes are inevitable but how you handle them defines your culture. Resolve Routes supports employers and service providers with clear, impartial pathways to resolution that protect people, minimise disruption, and manage reputational and legal risk.
Employee Relations & Conflict Resolution
- Anti-discrimination and anti-harassment practices and strategies
- Managing and advising on issues of absence management, ill health, and capability
- Mediation and informal conflict resolution support
- People advisory support, including employee grievances, complaints, disciplinaries and performance issues
- Reviewing, implementing and managing performance management processes
- Social media, safety, and wellbeing
- Workplace and staff reductions, consultations, including assessing bias and impact from an equality and inclusion perspective
Legal Advisory
- Commercial agreements and founder/shareholder support
- Cross-border employment advice and practice reviews
- Employment contracts, handbooks and HR policies, assessing policies from a best practice, culture, anti-harassment, bias and anti-discrimination standpoint
- Facilitating visa, right to work or sponsorship requirements, processes and procedures
- Policy negotiation and consultation with employee committees and works councils
- Preparation and review of employment contracts, workplace codes of conduct and policies
- Risk management in hybrid and remote environments
Privacy, Governance & Compliance
- Assessing and reporting data breaches
- Board-level governance support
- Employment risk audits and compliance reviews
- Guidance and support on achieving data privacy compliance
- Managing and processing Data Subject Access Requests (DSAR)
- Whistleblowing, ethics and accountability
Commercial
- Client services, product, and reputational advisory support
- Commercial and service contracts
- Confidentiality agreements (NDAs)
- IP ownership and licensing clauses
- Legal health checks for scale-ups and SMEs
- People and cultural due diligence regarding sale and purchase processes
- Terms and conditions for service providers (B-to-B / B-to-C)
Fair Outcomes. Lower Risk. Stronger Relationships.
Disputes are inevitable but how you handle them defines your culture. Resolve Routes supports employers and service providers with clear, impartial pathways to resolution that protect people, minimise disruption, and manage reputational and legal risk.
TRUSTED SERVICES
We host an independent complaint line called Trusted, which operates as an additional and alternative method to raise concerns outside of HR for our clients. This alleviates pressure on internal HR teams in triaging and addressing concerns. In this service we:
- Coach staff and managers to address concerns themselves
- Provide monthly reporting and trends to our clients
- Track culture checks from staff
- Triage complaints and recommend a course of action (such as mediation or investigation)
We triage and impartially assess cases and concerns raised (including anonymous complaints) and assess whether it is possible to diffuse or mediate the concerns raised without formal process, applying our Resolve Method and HR best practice. Where required we investigate those concerns in line with organisational policy and best practice based on our expertise. We will assess risk and maintain oversight of cultural tensions or emerging themes that HR should be made aware of with recommendations and advisory support to mitigate issues as and when they arise.
RESOLVE ROUTES
Our strategies turn tension into traction. Conflict is not the end—it is the start of progress. Resolve Routes help employers and service providers harness disagreement, transform it into dialogue, and drive forward with meaningful purpose.
We approach dispute resolution as more than just managing conflict. It is an opportunity to build trust, reinforce culture, and create lasting change. Our services are grounded in empathy, expertise, and deep understanding of the human dynamics at play.
Whether it is navigating employee complaints or resolving interpersonal tensions, we provide clear, fair, culturally aware and legally-sound guidance. We support HR, legal, and leadership teams to address issues early, manage risk effectively, and uphold organisational values. From mediation, informal facilitated discussions and other unique strategies, we meet those involved where they are and work with them in finding resolution.
Our process is rooted in discretion, psychological safety, and insight, ensuring that people feel heard, processes are transparent, and outcomes are constructive. In every resolution, we help employers, service providers and those involved to learn, adapt, and grow stronger.
Our services include:
- Conflict prevention frameworks and proactive issue identification
- Facilitated discussions between employees or teams to reach resolution
- Guidance on the appropriate dispute resolution approach (mediation, arbitration, etc.)
- Mediation follow-up and outcomes tracking
- Mediator training for HR teams or internal mediators
- Neutral third-party mediation services for internal conflicts
- Personalised conflict resolution sessions for leaders and managers
- Risk assessment and mitigation planning for workplace conflicts
- Tailored dispute resolution strategy development
Fair Outcomes. Lower Risk. Stronger Relationships.
Disputes are inevitable but how you handle them defines your culture. Resolve Routes supports employers and service providers with clear, impartial pathways to resolution that protect people, minimise disruption, and manage reputational and legal risk.
