The deal maths works.The people maths is where it breaks.
Fifteen-plus integrations across the UK, Ireland, the US and Europe. Employment liabilities found before completion, consultation run to the right timetable, and the people you bought still there in month six.
Book a call →People risk turns up late and expensive
Deal teams are thorough about revenue, contracts and IP. People tend to get a folder in the data room and a quick skim. Then completion happens and the bill arrives: contracts never issued, holiday accrued and never paid, a bonus scheme nobody documented, three employees who were never actually employees.
And the failure nobody sees coming →
Consultation starts too late, so the timetable dictates the deal. Terms get harmonised without a plan and land as a pay cut. And nobody thinks about who the acquired team’s real leaders are until two of them resign in month three, taking the knowledge you paid for with them.
What is HR due diligence?
HR due diligence is the review of a target company’s people and employment position before a transaction completes. It covers contracts and who is actually on them, employment status and contractor risk, pay and benefit disparities, pension and holiday liabilities, restrictive covenants, and any live grievances or claims, each quantified so it can affect the price rather than surface afterwards.
Risks with numbers attached
Diligence, integration, then the first hundred days
01People due diligence
Data room review, employment liabilities quantified, status risk, comp disparities, covenants, live disputes. A risk register with numbers attached.
02Integration design
Target operating model, org design, reporting lines, what harmonises and when.
03TUPE and consultation
Timetable, representatives, measures letters, employee liability information, meetings run properly.
04Comms
Day one messaging for both sides, manager briefings, and the questions you’ll be asked before you’re asked them.
05Retention
Who matters, what keeps them, what it costs. Agreed before completion, not after the first resignation.
06First 100 days
Systems, payroll, policies, benefits and the cultural work that decides whether this actually landed.
Stages, not weeks
Transaction timetables are set by the deal. What matters is starting the people workstream early enough that consultation isn’t the thing holding up completion.
Scoped to the deal
- People and employment due diligence with a costed risk register
- Employment status and contractor risk review
- Compensation, benefits and pension comparison across both entities
- TUPE consultation planning, timetable and documentation
- Employee liability information and measures letters
- Day one employee and manager communications
- Org design, harmonisation and key-person retention
- Multi-jurisdiction: UK, Ireland, US and EU
I work alongside your employment solicitors rather than instead of them. The legal advice is theirs; the plan, the process and the people work are mine.
What buyers and founders ask
When should HR get involved in a deal?
Earlier than most people think. A short people risk scan before heads of terms costs very little and occasionally changes the price.
How long does TUPE consultation take?
It depends on numbers, whether representatives need electing, and what measures are proposed. The mistake is usually starting the clock too late.
Can we harmonise terms after a transfer?
Not freely, and this is where buyers most often get caught out. The routes are narrow and need planning from the start.
We’re acquiring a team in Ireland. Different?
Yes. Irish transfer regulations, notice and statutory entitlements differ from the UK. Assuming UK rules apply across the island is a reliable way to create a problem.
What if we’re the ones being acquired?
Then the work is preparation. Clean contracts, documented schemes, tidy data and no surprises in the room. Sellers who do this get fewer price adjustments.