East Midlands HR provides a full range of HR support – from one-off projects to fully managed, retained consultancy support. They help organisations to reduce the time they spend on people admin by up to 30%, supporting data-driven decisions and helping companies to meet their goals. Founded by Nicky Buckley – an experienced and CIPD-qualified HR practitioner with 15 years’ industry experience – East Midlands HR works with SMEs across every sector to deliver people expertise. 

What challenge did East Midlands HR face? 

Founder Nicky launched East Midlands HR alongside her day job, but as the business expanded and became her full-time focus, it needed funding to grow – particularly to support activities which would increase its client base. 

How did SEMLEP provide support? 

Nicky heard about SEMLEP through an event run by the University of Northampton. She had explored grant opportunities in the past, but many of these schemes were based on matched funding which the business couldn’t support at such an early stage. However, Nicky discovered that the SEMLEP Recovery and Resilience Grant matched their needs perfectly: 

“This is it. This is brilliant. This is absolutely perfect. Just perfect for what I was looking to do at this stage.”

East Midlands HR successfully applied for and received a grant of just under £3000 from SEMLEP, using this funding to engage professional social media support and to revamp their website. This has not only provided a more professional look and feel for the brand, but it has helped to boost online visibility and power growth – Nicky has welcomed 3 new retainer clients following the business investment. She describes the impact the funding has had: 

“I think it’s given me an overall more professional business appearance, it looks – rather than me cobbling stuff together – like a much more business-led organisation.”

Nicky worked with SEMLEP business advisor Neil Smith throughout the funding application, describing it as “a straightforward process” with Neil always there to answer any questions and guide the way. After such a positive experience, she would encourage local businesses to consider local funding opportunities and is planning to do the same as East Midlands HR continues to grow. She explains: 

“I just really encourage anybody to look it up, keep a track of what funding is available, and try and use the funding that is there to improve services.”