Human Resources Advisor in London

Location: Petersham Nurseries, Richmond

Working arrangement: 24 hours, 4 or 5 days per week (on-site)

Salary: up to £45,000 pro rata

Petersham Nurseries is looking for an experienced, approachable and people-focused HR Advisor to join our team in Richmond. This is a hands-on role at the heart of our business, responsible for ensuring our people have access to a strong, supportive and trusted HR function. Working closely with the Operations & People Director, the HR Advisor will help foster a positive, inclusive and engaging workplace culture, with an open-door approach that encourages communication, supports our managers and ensures our teams feel listened to and well supported.

The role is 24 hours per week, ideally spread across four or five days to provide regular HR visibility and accessibility across the business. We understand that part-time working needs to work for both parties, so we can offer flexibility around the structure and days worked for the right candidate.

As a people-led hospitality and retail business, we believe HR is most effective when it is visible, accessible and connected to our teams. This is therefore an on-site position and is not offered on a hybrid basis.

The Role

• Support the full employee lifecycle, balancing day-to-day HR administration with proactive people support and guidance to managers across the business.
• Act as an approachable and trusted first point of contact for employees and managers on HR matters.
• Work in partnership with the Operations & People Director to support a positive, inclusive and high-performing workplace culture.
• Provide practical HR advice and guidance to managers, including employee relations, performance, absence, probation and wellbeing matters.
• Manage core HR administration across the employee lifecycle, including contracts, onboarding, probation reviews, changes to employment and leavers.
• Support holiday and absence management and ensure accurate employee records are maintained.
• Coordinate recruitment administration and support managers through effective recruitment and onboarding processes.
• Work alongside the finance function to support accurate and timely payroll processing, ensuring employee changes, hours, absence and other relevant information are correctly captured.
• Support employee relations processes, including investigations, disciplinary and grievance matters, with guidance from the Operations & People Director where appropriate.
• Help ensure HR policies, processes and employment practices remain compliant with UK employment legislation and are applied consistently across the business.
• Identify opportunities to improve employee engagement, communication, retention and the overall employee experience.
• Maintain appropriate confidentiality and discretion across all people matters.

About You

We are looking for someone who enjoys being part of the day-to-day life of a business and who understands that a successful HR function is built on relationships as much as process. You will be confident working independently, comfortable advising managers and employees, highly organised and able to balance the administrative requirements of HR with the human side of the role. Previous HR advisory experience is essential, and a CIPD qualification would be advantageous. You will have the support of an external HR advisory for complex issues, but day-to-day HR should be managed within the HR advisor role. A good working knowledge of UK employment law is important, and experience supporting payroll processes would be preferred. Above all, we are looking for someone who is approachable, pragmatic and visible; someone our teams feel comfortable speaking to, and our managers trust to provide balanced, commercially minded advice.

Working Pattern

24 hours per week, ideally across four or five days. We are flexible regarding the precise working pattern and are happy to discuss arrangements that work for both the successful candidate and the business. Regular on-site presence throughout the working week is, however, an important part of the role.