RSM acquires people consulting business Right Hand HR

RSM has picked up Right Hand HR for an undisclosed sum. The deal sees all of the company’s 26 staff transfer to RSM’s consulting business, with Right Hand HR’s managing director Steve Sweetlove becoming a partner at RSM.

Right Hand HR was founded in 1999 by Campbell Ritchie. In the intervening years the company has expanded its footprint from its headquarters in High Wycombe to include operations in London, Newcastle, Chester and Exeter. The company currently has a turnover of £1.3 million (FY15) and employs 26 professionals. The company provides a range of HR related services, including employment law compliance, payroll, recruitment, training, development, change management and health and safety. Right Hand HR also owns a proprietary cloud-based HR IT system application, designed to reduce administrative burdens and staff management costs, called PeopleLog.

RSM’s acquisition of Right Hand HR comes on the back of last year’s impressive consulting growth as organic and inorganic activity saw the division grow by 195%. The deal will see all of Right Hand HR’s staff join RSM, with Right Hand HR managing director Steve Sweetlove taking on a Partner role at RSM, while founder Ritchie and technical services director Glenn Phillips take on the roles of consultants. David Gwilliam, chief operating officer at RSM, remarks that Right Hand HR will complement RSM’s existing HR consulting capability “and provide our clients with a much wider suite of HR services.”

Steve Sweetlove, Right Hand HR managing director says: “This is a very exciting development for everyone at Right Hand HR. RSM’s reach will give us a huge opportunity to expand our HR consulting business and provide a people management ‘one stop shop’ to a greater number of UK clients.”