Who we are

Karen is the owner of The HR Dept Basingstoke and Hart and opened the office in March 2010 having previously held senior HR positions for Global Manufacturing and Engineering companies.

Karen is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

There aren’t many employment situations that Karen hasn’t seen in her career having worked with such diverse workforces. She has an incredibly high level of employment law knowledge and advises managers and businesses owners in very clear, concise English.

Karen’s passion is supporting businesses to achieve their goals and objectives and therefore is very commercially focussed when providing advice to clients and believes there is a solution to everything.

Leigh has a wide and varied experience of management roles within Global Supply Chain companies with strong client relationship and project management skills.

Having been a manager for many years, dealing with a diverse range of HR issues, Leigh understands the clients need for high level HR support and clear, concise, simple processes and communications which enable you to deal with your people professionally and efficiently

Having recently completed a qualification course, Leigh is now an Assoc CIPD.

Andy joined the team in May 2018 as an HR Advisor and is CIPD qualified. Andy brings with him extensive experience of working in various management roles across the Financial Services and the Third sector, dealing with a host of workforce issues from recruitment, poor conduct through to managing capability.

Having operationally managed across various customer service contracts, Andy prides himself on clarity and meeting the client’s needs.

Sarah has been with us since 2017 and is responsible for maintaining the day to day smooth running of the office. She has a strong background in business administration, having previously worked in an accounting practice, and is the primary client contact for invoicing and billing queries.

Rochelle started her journey with us as a Summer Intern for an initial 6 week period in 2019. Having recently graduated with a Law Degree prior to joining the Company, she was unsure which direction to go in next. Fortunately for us, she discovered a passion for all things HR and decided to stay on as a full-time member of our Advice Line team. She has since become CIPD qualified and enjoys interacting day-to-day with our array of clients, ensuring they operate legally through identifying fair and practical people solutions to employee relations issues.

Chris joined us on a 6 month placement through the government Kickstart scheme. His video ideas and filming capabilities make everything he produces look and sound wonderful. We‘re so pleased that we have been able to provide him with a safe space to learn and experiment with the art of video and photography. All his videos are all available to watch on our YouTube channel.

Dan joined the team in March 2021 having previously spent most of his career in the Aerospace and Conveyancing sectors.

He brings with him a wealth of skills and experience, managing key clients, leading projects, and producing tenders. He is also our lead on the government Kickstart scheme and has been integral in maintaining communications between ourselves as a Gateway, the Kickstart clients and the DWP.

Dan has a real passion for continuous improvement and process management.

Emma is a fantastic addition to the Commercial and Recruitment division of HR Dept. She comes to us with loads of amazing experience in HR Recruitment and an extensive knowledge of the ins and outs of the candidate market, as well as plenty of new business skills. All that aside, she is also an exceptionally lovely person too.

Dan has an exceptional eye for detail and brings a really positive energy to the office and our clients. Coming from a quality control background he understands the importance of accuracy in all things HR and strives to make sure he services our clients to the highest standard.