My name is Martin Lett, and I am a HR and health and safety consultant. I work across Kent, Medway and London for Peninsula UK.
I went to Loughborough University where I studied Management Sciences. Modules included sales management, finance, marketing and human resource management.
Early Career – policies and PQQs
After university, I started an operations manager role at a printing company in south east London. Before long, my remit widened to include sales and marketing. One of my biggest challenges was writing policies and documentation for tender submissions. One of the pre-requisites on the PQQs (pre-qualification questionnaires) was to have policies on things like H&S, equal opportunities/discrimination and the environment.
Health & Safety and HR
After I became a company director, I realised that my responsibilities increased. Strong policies and procedures were important for external use in tenders. However, they were also critical for the day to day running of a safe business. As a company director I was now subject to criminal law for any major health and safety failings.
Like many small businesses the HR function wasn’t carried out by a HR professional. It was covered by our finance manager. As sales and marketing director I took responsibility for new hires in sales. From own research I knew the importance of getting a job specification right. Not only was it our sales pitch to prospective candidates, but we had to avoid accidental discrimination. I learnt that a word like ‘energetic’ could potentially discriminate against older people, and a better word was ‘enthusiastic’.
The cost of no in-house expertise
Throughout my 12 years at this business policies and procedures improved immensely. However, this did not mean we didn’t have the occasional employment dispute. Two spring to mind, costing thousands on solicitors just to represent us. One of the other on-going headaches was trying to keep documents up to date as legislation changed. Above all, communicating changes to the staff was tricky, being a 24hr business.
For a few years I worked as an independent consultant. I worked with SMEs on sales, marketing, outsourcing and customer service projects. This gave me the opportunity to see how other SMEs tackled their H&S responsibilities and HR requirements.
Health and Safety Consultant
I now work for Peninsula, the UK’s leading provider of outsourced HR and health and safety support services. I work across Kent and London as a HR and H&S consultant. By listening to the requirements of SME owners and directors I tailor a package of support to best meet their needs. I have found my years of experience dealing with HR and H&S as a company director have set me up well to be able to offer empathetic advice and guidance to prospective customers.
If you would like to find out how Peninsula can help you, get in touch now. Whilst I support businesses in Kent and London, I have colleagues who can visit you across the country. So if you are looking for a HR consultant in Essex or a H&S advisor in Newcastle send me your details and one of my friendly colleagues will get in touch.
