HR for the factory floor.

Manufacturing brings a distinctive set of HR demands: shift patterns that run day and night, machinery and serious health-and-safety obligations, skills shortages, and a hands-on workforce that may be partly unionised. Production cannot stop, so absence, conduct and capability all have a direct operational cost.

We work with manufacturers and engineering firms to put the right shift contracts, safety policies and processes in place, manage absence and performance on the line, and handle restructuring and consultation properly when volumes change. Practical advice, fixed fees, and someone who understands a production environment.

Where a workforce is unionised, recognition and collective consultation shape how change happens, and automation and shifting demand mean redeployment and reskilling are live issues. We help you manage change and consultation properly, so the floor keeps running and relationships stay intact. And when a site reorganises, a line is automated, or demand forces short-time working or lay-off, we make sure it is handled lawfully and explained to your people clearly.

The HR challenges in manufacturing.

The issues we see most often with the manufacturing employers we support.

Shift patterns and working time

Continental shifts, nights and overtime bring complex working-time, rest-break and pay obligations. We make sure your shift contracts and rotas are compliant.

Health, safety and machinery

A hands-on environment means safety, lone-working and machinery policies have to be watertight and built into how you manage people. We make sure they are.

Skills, apprenticeships and retention

With skills in short supply, apprenticeship agreements, training-cost clauses and retention all matter. We help you protect the investment you make in people.

Absence, capability and restructuring

Absence and capability hit production directly, and volume changes mean restructures. We give you fair, defensible processes and guide you through consultation.

Apprenticeships and training clauses

Apprenticeship agreements and training-cost recovery protect your investment in skills. We make sure they are set up properly and lawfully.

Drug, alcohol and safety conduct

Safety-critical environments need clear drug, alcohol and conduct policies. We build them in and support you when they are tested.

How we work with Manufacturing businesses.

Retained HR support

Day-to-day HR for your team. Disciplinaries, sickness, contracts, the lot. Email and phone access to me. Priced on your team size.

See retainer details

HR compliance audit

One-off review of your contracts, handbook, policies and processes. Written report. Priority fix list. Priced on a call.

See audit details

HR Compliance Programme

Six-month fixed-fee programme to put your HR foundations in place from scratch. Priced on your team size.

See the programme

Why Beagle HR.

We are a founder-led HR consultancy serving SMEs across Surrey and the wider UK. You deal with Dan and the Beagle HR team directly, not a call centre and not a different adviser every time. Advice comes in plain English, fees are fixed and agreed up front, and because we only take on a limited number of businesses at once, you get a partner who genuinely knows your sector and your team.

It starts with a free 15-minute review, where we listen, tell you honestly what you need and what you do not, and agree a fixed fee before any work begins. No hourly clock, no lock-in on the ongoing retainer, just a clear plan and someone who picks up the phone.

We work across many sectors, so the advice you get is grounded in how businesses like yours actually operate, not generic theory. Whatever lands on your desk, an awkward grievance, a tricky exit, a restructure, or simply a question you are not sure about, you get a straight answer, a clear next step, and the documents or process to back it up.

Common questions from manufacturing employers.

Manufacturing HR FAQs

Yes. We guide you through individual and collective consultation, selection and the process when volumes change, so restructures are handled lawfully.
Yes. We build compliant shift, night-work and overtime arrangements into your contracts so working-time and pay rules are met.
We price on your team size and what you actually need, not a one-size package, and we agree the fee with you on a free review before any work begins. You are not paying for support built for a business twice your size.
No. The ongoing retainer is rolling, so you can leave whenever you like. The only fixed term is the six-month HR Compliance Programme, if you choose that route to get set up.
Book a free 15-minute review and we will scope the work on the call. For straightforward retainers we can be set up within 7 days.

Sorting HR for your manufacturing business?

Book a free 15-minute review. We will tell you what to do, and quote a fixed fee if you need our help. We take on a limited number of businesses at a time.

Book your free HR review