From kitchen table to million pound turnover – in just three years!

Charlotte Pitts, The HR Consultants, Woman Who Awards

A Stratford mum of two who turned her ‘kitchen table’ enterprise into a million pound business in just three years, is in the running for a national business award.

Charlotte Pitts, who owns The HR Consultants, is one of six finalists in the Business Growth category of the Woman Who Awards, being held next Friday (July 1st).

The business, which was established just a few months before the pandemic hit, provides outsourced HR support to business owners and HR Managers and has now marked its third anniversary with expansion, including a move to larger premises, in Broadway.

And it comes ahead of further growth for the company, including the launch of a new recruitment business The Recruitment Consultants as well as The HR Consultants Academy, an online programme helping other HR professionals to take the leap into the world of consultancy.

Charlotte, who walked away from the corporate world at the age of 35, is proud of her journey, but one which has not been without its challenges.

Charlotte Pitts, The HR Consultants, Woman Who Awards
The team celebrated its third anniversary recently

She said: “After a career climbing the corporate ladder, and becoming Group HR Director, I realised I was sitting in a role that I’d been working hard to achieve all my adult life, but that actually I wasn’t doing something I was passionate about.

“The corporate world taught me so much, but from a people perspective, achieving any significant culture change is extremely difficult and I’d had enough of box-ticking and working with ‘leaders’ who just didn’t understand why people were so important to the business.

“After having my two daughters, now aged 7 and 5, I decided it was time to scratch the itch I’d been trying to ignore for the last five years and there and then, The HR Consultants was born. The next six months saw work building steadily – and then the pandemic hit – what a time that was!

“Home schooling two small children, whilst trying to continue to grow the business; meant working between 5am – 7am before they woke up and then juggling every hour and piece of sanity I had.”

“That summer I realised I’d need to get some help and made the decision to hire my first team member – both terrifying and liberating!”

Today, The HR Consultants is run by a team of nine and has tripled its 2021 turnover. And the growth is set to continue after recently securing its first major private sector contract.

It marks the 7th year of The Woman Who Achieves Awards, run by Sandra Garlick MBE, recognising and celebrating the achievements of women in business. The winners from all 12 categories will be revealed at an awards lunch at Coombe Abbey Hotel in Coventry on July 1st.

Charlotte Pitts, The HR Consultants, Woman Who Awards

Charlotte’s business was also nominated in the Business Growth category at this year’s Business Success Recognition Awards, held last week.

Charlotte said: “We have been growing the team and that hasn’t been easy in a time when recruitment is difficult for all businesses. I am so proud of the revenue goals we have set ourselves, and continued to hit – when I started the business, I didn’t think this kind of revenue would be possible. But the rest of 2022 will be big for us – with the new revenue streams launching in the summer.”

Reacting to being a Woman Who finalist, Charlotte added: “I am incredibly proud of all my achievements. Women often don’t strive to achieve big things – we’ve been brought up to think that we can’t.

“My journey is living proof that if we dream big, plan big, work hard and get good people around you, you can achieve everything you want to, and I want more than anything for my two daughters – and all the other young girls out there – to see that they can do that too.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *