- Nearly 25 years in HR
- CIPD qualified
- Major retailers to family SMEs
- Based in Yorkshire
- Working across the UK
- Founder, The HR Goddess
- Creator, The HR Mastermind
My story
How I Got Here
I've spent nearly 25 years in HR — from major high-street retailers to family-run businesses with a handful of staff. I've handled everything from mass redundancy programmes to that awkward "someone keeps stealing lunch from the fridge" conversation. Nothing phases me. Honestly, nothing.
Along the way, I noticed a pattern. The businesses that needed HR support most urgently — the small ones, the growing ones, the ones where the owner is doing everything — were the ones who couldn't get it. Big consultancies were too expensive and too generic. Online templates were too risky. And Google, and now AI? Don't get me started.
So I set up The HR Goddess to be the thing I wished existed when I was working with SMEs: practical, straight-talking, affordable HR support from someone who actually gives a damn about your business.
I'm based in Yorkshire, I work with businesses across the UK, and I tell it like it is. If you want someone who'll nod along and tell you what you want to hear, I'm probably not your person. But if you want someone who'll steer you safely through the messy stuff and fight for your business like it's her own? That's exactly what I do.
How I work
What I'm About
Straight-talking
No jargon, no waffle. I explain things clearly and give you honest advice — even when it's not what you were hoping to hear. You'll always know exactly where you stand.
Practical first
Everything I do is designed to be usable today. Templates you can pick up and use. Advice you can act on immediately. Not 40-page reports that gather dust on a shelf.
Commercially aware
I understand that you're running a business, not a charity. Every recommendation I make is balanced against what's realistic, affordable, and proportionate for a business your size.
In your corner
When things go sideways with staff, you need someone calm, experienced, and firmly on your side. However messy it gets — that's me. I've seen it all, and I'm not going anywhere.
Everything I offer
How I Can Help You
Whether you need someone on call for an urgent situation, want to build your HR foundations properly, or are ready to get your whole team up to speed — there's a way to work with me that fits.
HR Consultancy
Retained or ad hoc HR support for when you need an expert on call. Crisis support, grievances, absence, restructures.
Find out more →Recruitment
Hands-on help finding and hiring the right people for your business — from writing the job ad to making the offer.
Find out more →Career Coaching
Developing your managers and high-potential people so they stay, grow, and take more off your plate.
Find out more →The HR Mastermind
A 90-day group programme for SME owners who want to sort HR properly, once and for all. Small groups. Real results.
Find out more →What clients say
Don't Just Take My Word For It
The HR Mastermind has allowed me to recruit better staff first time and given me the tools to recognise the possible red flags at an early stage and deal with them effectively.
Warren Coates
General Manager, Leodis Stair Lifts
The HR Mastermind was so good that I have put other members of my team through it as well. That's how good it is.
Pippa Ridley
etempa
Emma gives you straight answers, no flannel. She knows her stuff inside out and makes what feels complicated seem completely manageable.
Simon Robertson
SME Business Owner
Having Emma on hand means I sleep better at night. Whatever comes up, there's someone I can call who'll tell me exactly what to do.
Judith Mawtus
Business Owner
Emma Armytage — The HR Goddess
Based in Yorkshire. Working with businesses across the UK.