As your business grows, HR becomes more than just admin—it’s about compliance, culture, and protecting your business and its people. So, what’s the smarter move: hiring an in-house HR manager or outsourcing to a specialist HR provider?

The truth is, it depends on multitude of factors: the size and type of business, your problems and ambitions, your culture and your challenges, the skillset in the business and the project!

Hiring in-house HR management in the UK means committing to a salary plus associated costs, whilst outsourcing can be more cost effective tailored to your needs and provider a wider breadth of skills for the projects at the time. Often though, it ends up being a good mix of both inhouse and outsourced HR as your business scales or you are dealing with a situation in front of you, such as investigations, training, employee relations matters, strategy planning.

Benefits of Building an In-House HR Team

Creating your own HR team gives you full control over how HR is delivered. Your team becomes embedded in your culture, understands your values, and can tailor policies and strategies to your business goals.

Here’s what you gain:

· Strategic Alignment: Your HR team works closely with leadership, helping shape long-term plans around talent, engagement, and retention.

· Immediate Access: On-site HR means faster responses to issues, better support for employees, and more agile decision-making.

· Confidentiality and Trust: Employees often feel more comfortable speaking to someone they know and trust internally.

· Tailored Solutions: Internal teams can build bespoke training, development, and wellbeing programmes that reflect your unique culture and needs.

Yes, it’s a bigger investment—but it’s one that can pay off in loyalty, productivity, and long-term growth.

Benefits of Outsourcing HR

Outsourcing HR isn’t just about saving money—it’s a strategic move that can transform how your business operates.

· Strategic Alignment: Outsourced HR providers bring a broad view of industry trends and best practices. They help align people strategy with business goals—whether that’s scaling, restructuring, or improving retention. External perspective can challenge assumptions and drive smarter, long-term decisions.

· Immediate Access: You get on-demand support from a team of professionals without waiting for internal capacity to grow. Whether it’s urgent legal advice, handling a grievance, or

updating contracts, outsourced HR gives you fast, reliable access to expertise when you need it most.

· Confidentiality and Trust: Reputable HR consultancies operate with strict confidentiality and compliance standards giving you peace of mind that your business is protected and your people are treated fairly.

· Tailored Solutions: Providers offer bespoke packages based on your sector, size, and goals—from recruitment and onboarding to performance management and wellbeing. You get the support you need, without paying for what you don’t.

Risks

With in-house HR, you’re reliant on one person or a small team. If they leave, you lose knowledge and momentum. You also carry full responsibility for legal compliance, which can be risky if you’re not up to date with UK legislation.

Outsourcing comes with its own challenges. You’re trusting a third party with sensitive employee data, so robust contracts and data protection measures are essential. Under UK GDPR, both you and your provider are legally responsible for safeguarding personal information.

So, What’s the Right Move?

Choosing between in-house HR and outsourcing isn’t just about cost—it’s about what your business truly needs to thrive.

Building an internal HR team means HR becomes part of your daily rhythm. It strengthens cultural alignment, enables tailored strategies, and gives you direct oversight of sensitive issues and employee relations.

If your business is scaling quickly, facing complex demands, or needs flexible, expert support without the overheads, outsourcing may be the smarter, more agile solution. It gives you access to seasoned professionals, strategic insight, and the ability to adapt as your needs evolve—without the long-term commitment of hiring.

The right HR setup should empower your business, protect your people, and help you move forward with confidence.

Do we need to choose between in-house HR and outsourcing?

No, it’s a timing, needs and size decision. You can have the benefits of both!

At ViewHR, we work alongside in-house HR professionals and teams all the time, whilst also working with scaling businesses to introduce their own in-house HR person.

Our key message is that as an employer, you need to ensure that you have the right skillset dealing with each people situation. Talk to us and we can help you work out what is best for your business, and provide you with bespoke services to support your business and those responsible for the people. Outsourced HR is not a competitor of in-house HR, it is a support and a friend!

Thinking about your next HR move? Get in touch today so we can explore what fits your business best.