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HR consulting
Outsourced HR for businesses without an HR department: contracts, handbooks, recruitment, absence, performance, disciplinary and grievance, and keeping up with employment law.
HR & finance · Southampton, Hampshire & the UK
HR, finance and Xero support, built around your business.
Practical HR, finance and Xero support for small businesses, from one founder-led team. Jessica Williams, an Associate Member of the CIPD, leads your HR and finance work, and our team builds the HR platform and Xero integrations in-house, so your people, payroll and books all connect.
What we do
Three services that work better together.
Take one, or all three. Most small businesses start with whichever problem is most pressing: a contract that needs writing, holiday tracked on a spreadsheet, or a Xero file nobody quite trusts.
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Tailored HR software
Your own HR platform, built in-house around your rules and roles: staff records, holiday and absence, onboarding, documents, rotas and reporting, connected to Xero Payroll.
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Xero & integrations
Xero set up properly, from chart of accounts and bank feeds to payroll and reporting, plus custom integrations that send orders, bookings and HR data straight into Xero.
Why MJ Hub
Advice, software and the books, joined up.
Small businesses usually buy HR advice from one firm, HR software from another and get help with Xero from a third. Each one does its own part well, but nobody joins them up. You end up retyping holiday into payroll and keeping policies that don't match how your system actually works. Here's how the options compare.
| HR advice firm | Off-the-shelf software | MJ Hub | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | Templates, documents and an advice line | A set of standard modules and a login | HR support, a platform built for you and Xero set up properly |
| Fit to your business | Generic documents you adapt | You adapt to the software's settings | Policies and systems designed around how you work |
| Links to payroll and accounts | Not usually part of the service | Through whatever integrations the product offers | Built in-house, including custom Xero integrations |
| Pricing | Often a monthly retainer | Usually a subscription per employee | Fixed written quotes for HR and Xero work; the HR platform per user per month |
| Who you speak to | Whoever picks up the phone | A helpdesk | Mainly Jessica, who leads your work and knows your business |
To be fair to the alternatives: a large advice firm offers round-the-clock cover and insurance-backed services that we don't, and plenty of businesses run happily on off-the-shelf software. We'll tell you if one of those suits you better.
Xero specialists
Xero at the centre of your finances.
We specialise in Xero and in connecting it to the rest of your business. Because our team writes software in-house, we aren't limited to the apps in Xero's marketplace. When there's no ready-made connection, we build one using Xero's API.
- Setup and migration. Moving from spreadsheets or other software, with a chart of accounts and bank feeds that make sense.
- Xero Payroll (UK). Employees, pay schedules and leave set up properly, and fed from your HR platform if you have one.
- Online shop to Xero. Orders from your e-commerce website turned into invoices without retyping.
- Reporting and budgeting. Budgets and cash-flow views that come from your real numbers, with deeper analysis through our data & AI work.
- Training. Your team shown how to use the parts of Xero they need, and nothing they don't.
How it works
From a first conversation to things running smoothly.
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Review what you have
We look at your contracts, policies, spreadsheets, software and Xero file, and tell you plainly where the gaps and risks are.
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Fixed written quote
A clear plan of the documents, system features and Xero work you need, with a fixed price in writing before anything starts.
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Put it in place
Our team drafts your HR documents and processes, then builds the platform and integrations around them, led by Jessica and Marcel. You review each part before it goes live.
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Stay on hand
When something comes up, you talk to someone who already knows your business. We host and look after anything we've built for you.
How we price
Quoted individually. Fixed in writing. Nothing upfront.
A one-off contract review, a Xero migration and a full HR platform are very different jobs, so a single price list wouldn't be honest. We quote each piece of work individually and fix that quote in writing before we start. Nothing is due upfront.
For comparison, off-the-shelf HR software is usually a monthly subscription. Plans for very small teams start from around £20–£25 a month, and larger platforms typically charge per employee every month, often with extra modules and a set-up fee on top. Our tailored HR platform is priced per user in the same way, but quoted for what your business actually needs.
Changes to your HR platform are included in its per-user fee. For Xero integrations and other software we've built, changes after launch are charged at our published hourly rates: £50 an hour for jobs of an hour or less, and £30 an hour for anything longer.
Clear about what we don't do. We're HR consultants, not a law firm, and we're not accountants. We don't run a 24-hour advice line, represent you at tribunal or provide insurance against claims. We don't prepare statutory accounts or tax returns, and our financial guidance isn't regulated financial advice. We work alongside your accountant, and when something needs an employment solicitor, we'll tell you and help you brief one.
Questions
Common questions about HR and finance support.
Do I need all three services?
No. Plenty of businesses only need HR support, or only want Xero sorted out. The services are designed to connect, so if you add another one later, it fits with what's already there.
Who will I work with?
Jessica Williams leads HR and finance and is your primary contact. She's an Associate Member of the CIPD (Assoc CIPD), the professional body for HR in the UK; if she's unavailable at short notice, another member of our team is on hand. Our team builds the HR software, integrations and reporting tools, led by Marcel Mulders. You'll deal mainly with the founders, not an account manager. Read more about us.
Are you accountants?
No. We set up and connect Xero, help with budgeting and reporting, and train your team, but we don't prepare statutory accounts, file tax returns or give regulated financial advice. We're happy to work alongside your accountant, and many accountants welcome a client whose Xero file is tidy.
Are you employment lawyers?
No. We help you put sensible, well-documented HR practices in place and run them fairly. When a situation carries legal risk, we'll say so and help you brief an employment solicitor.
We already use HR software and Xero. Can you still help?
Yes. We can review how they're set up, connect them where they don't talk to each other, or plan a move to a tailored HR platform if your current system isn't working for you.
Do you work outside Southampton?
Yes. We work with businesses across Hampshire, in Bournemouth, on the Isle of Wight and anywhere else in the UK. All our meetings are video calls, at a time that suits you.
Let's talk about your team and your books.
Tell us about your business, your people and the systems you use today. We reply within one business day.