01
Holiday is a guessing game
Allowances for part-timers and mid-year starters are worked out by hand, requests arrive by text and nobody is sure who's off next week.
Tailored HR software · Built in-house
Bespoke HR software, shaped around how your team works.
Off-the-shelf HR systems are built for thousands of companies at once, so you end up bending your processes to fit them. We build bespoke HR software for UK small businesses instead. You get your leave rules, your approval chain, your onboarding steps and your own terminology, with only the features you'll use.
Signs you've outgrown spreadsheets
When an HR system for your small business starts to make sense.
Spreadsheets and email work well for a while. These are the points where most growing teams start losing time, or start to worry about getting something wrong.
02
Records are scattered
Contracts in one folder, right-to-work copies in an inbox and emergency contacts on paper. Finding anything takes longer than it should.
03
Payroll means retyping
Hours, leave and sickness are keyed into payroll again each month, which takes time and is where mistakes creep in.
What it can include
Pick the modules you need. Leave out the rest.
Each platform is put together from the pieces your business will actually use. Start small and add more as you grow. Because our team builds it, the rules follow your HR policies rather than a vendor's defaults.
- Employee records. One secure home for staff details, contracts, key dates and emergency contacts.
- Employee self-service. Staff update their own details, check their allowance and book time off from their phone.
- Holiday & absence. Requests, approvals and allowances calculated your way, including part-timers, carry-over and sickness records.
- Onboarding & offboarding. The same checklist for every starter and leaver, with tasks assigned to the right people and right-to-work checks recorded.
- Performance. Objectives, one-to-one notes and review cycles that match the way you manage.
- Documents & acknowledgement. Policies and letters in one place, with a record of who has read and accepted each version.
- Rotas & timesheets. Shift planning and hours worked, if your team needs them.
- Reporting & people analytics. Headcount, absence trends and holiday liability at a glance, with deeper analysis through our data analysis service.
- Role-based access. Staff see their own information, managers see their team, and sensitive records stay restricted.
- Integrations. Most notably Xero Payroll, which we set up and connect, so approved leave, sickness and hours reach payroll without retyping. We can also connect other tools that offer a way in.
Optional feature
An assistant that answers staff questions from your own policies.
"How much holiday do I have left?" "What's the process if I'm off sick?" Questions like these take up a surprising amount of a manager's week. If it suits your business, we can add an assistant powered by Claude, made by Anthropic, that answers them from your handbook and your staff member's own records.
- Answers from your policies only. It works from the handbook and policies you've approved, and points to the section it used.
- Policies reviewed by people. The source material is written and checked by a person. The assistant doesn't make up new rules.
- Knows when to hand over. Sensitive matters such as grievances, health or pay disputes go to a manager rather than getting an automated answer.
- Respects access rules. Staff only get answers about their own records, using the same permissions as the rest of the platform.
- Entirely optional. Many teams don't need it. The platform works fully without it.
Tailored vs off-the-shelf
Which kind of HR system is right for you?
Off-the-shelf HR software is a good choice for plenty of businesses. It's quick to start and widely used. A tailored platform makes sense when the way you work doesn't fit a standard product, when you need it joined up with Xero, or when you're paying for modules you never use.
| Off-the-shelf HR software | MJ Hub tailored platform | |
|---|---|---|
| Features | Fixed modules and plan tiers | Only what your business needs, added as you grow |
| Fit to your processes | You adapt to the software's settings | Built around your rules, roles and workflows |
| HR expertise | Usually sold separately, if at all | Designed alongside your HR policies by our HR team, led by Jessica |
| Payroll and Xero | Whatever integrations the product offers | Connected to Xero Payroll, built to match your setup |
| Setup | You configure it, often from templates | We build it, load your data and show your team |
| Pricing | A subscription per employee, by plan tier | Per user per month, quoted for the platform you need |
| Time to start | Days | Weeks, depending on scope |
| Support | A helpdesk or ticket system | The team that built it, with a founder as your main contact |
If off-the-shelf software would suit you better, we'll say so, and we can still help set it up to match your policies.
How it works
From spreadsheet to platform.
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Map how you work
We go through your leave rules, approvals, onboarding steps and the records you keep, and agree what the platform needs to do.
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Fixed written quote
You get a list of the modules and integrations, a timeline and a fixed price in writing before we start.
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Build and test
Our team builds the platform in stages and shares each one with you. We move your existing records across and check them with you.
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Launch and look after
We show your managers and staff how it works, host it, keep it secure and add features when you need them.
How we price
Quoted for you. Priced per user, like most platforms.
Every platform is quoted individually, because a holiday tracker for eight people and a full system with rotas and Xero Payroll are very different builds. Like most HR platforms, it's charged per user each month; your quote sets out the per-user price and any set-up work, fixed in writing before we start, and 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. Ours is priced per user in the same way — the difference is that you only pay for a platform built around how you work, not for modules you never use.
After launch, changes to your platform are included in the per-user fee, so there are no extra bills for keeping it up to date.
Your data, handled carefully. An HR platform holds personal and sometimes sensitive information. We host it securely on our own systems and it's always accessible to you: view it at any time, or take a full export whenever you want one. We agree in writing how we look after it and who can access it.
Questions
Questions about bespoke HR software.
Who owns the data in our HR platform?
You do. You're the data controller for your employees' information, and we act on your behalf under a written agreement. You can ask for a full export of your records at any time, in a standard format you can take elsewhere.
How small a business is this for?
A tailored platform usually starts to pay off once you have enough people that holiday, absence and records take real time each month, or when you need it connected to Xero Payroll. For a very small team, good documents and a simple spreadsheet may be enough, and we'll tell you if that's the case.
Can it connect to Xero Payroll?
Yes. That's one of the most common reasons people come to us. Approved leave, sickness and hours can be sent to Xero through its API, so payroll uses the same figures as your HR records.
Can you move our records from another HR system?
Usually, yes. Most systems let you export staff records and history. We map that data into your new platform and check it with you before you switch over.
Does the AI assistant see all our staff data?
No. It only uses the policies you've approved and the records the person asking is already allowed to see. We use Claude on business terms, under which Anthropic does not use your data to train its models by default, and we only send what a question needs.
What happens if we stop working with you?
You get a full export of your data, and we'll help you move it to whatever comes next. The terms are agreed in writing at the start.
Tell us how your team runs today.
Describe your team and the spreadsheets or software you use now. We reply within one business day.