MANAGING DIRECTOR
Managing Director, Harrington Raine
Around 14 years’ experience building, operating and advising within HR and employment law consultancy businesses.
As Managing Director of Harrington Raine, I bring together commercial leadership, practical employer experience and long-standing exposure to HR and employment law. My focus is on helping employers understand the real risk, make informed decisions and move forward with confidence.
14 years
HR & employment law consultancy
Business operator
Co-founder and director
Academic background
Law · Psychology · Commercial
COMMERCIAL EXPERIENCE
Employment decisions do not happen in a legal vacuum. They affect cash, productivity, management time, morale, operational delivery and sometimes the wider reputation of the business.
My experience has been built not only around HR and employment law, but around actually running and growing businesses. That means I tend to look at employee issues through both lenses: what is legally defensible, and what makes commercial sense for the employer dealing with it.
The technically safest option is not always the most sensible one. Equally, moving quickly without understanding the risk can create far greater problems later. Good advice should recognise both.
That thinking sits behind Harrington Raine’s approach: understand the outcome the employer is trying to achieve, assess the genuine legal and commercial risk, and recommend a route that is proportionate to the business receiving the advice.
"A decision that is proportionate for a large organisation may be completely wrong for a smaller business with limited cash, management time or operational capacity"
Commercial advice requires context.
The right answer depends on the organisation, the people involved, the available resources and the consequences of getting the decision wrong.
BUSINESS & LEADERSHIP
For much of my career, I have worked at the intersection of professional advisory services, business development and operational leadership.
That has included helping grow established businesses, co-founding new ones and taking responsibility for the commercial decisions needed to turn an idea into a sustainable operation.
2014 - 2018
Business Development Director
During my time with William B. Rose, the business grew from approximately 20 clients to around 250, with turnover reaching approximately £1 million.
I held the role of Business Development Director and was responsible for business development as the company expanded.
~250
~£1m
CLIENTS
TURNOVER
2018 - 2026
Co-Founder & Commercial Director
I co-founded Neathouse Partners and played a central role in building the business from launch.
My responsibilities covered sales, client acquisition, marketing, commercial strategy, budgeting, operational delivery and wider business performance.
By early 2026, the business had grown to approximately 900 clients, with turnover approaching £3 million.
~900
~£3m
CLIENTS
TURNOVER
2023–present
Co-Founder & Director
I co-founded Corporate Wellbeing Solutions, which provides Occupational Health reports and Employee Assistance Programme services.
I remain a board director, contributing to the commercial direction of the business.
2026–present
Founder & Managing Director
I founded Harrington Raine to combine technical expertise, personal ownership and commercial judgement in a professional advisory model built around the needs of employers.
Today, I am responsible for the firm’s commercial direction, proposition and continued development.
WHY HARRINGTON RAINE
Over the years, I have seen first-hand how different HR and employment law advisory models work in practice — and where they can fall short.
Some give employers fast access to advice, but little continuity. Others build strong one-to-one relationships, but create delays when everything depends on a single adviser. And some models can become so focused on protecting an insurance position that the commercial objective of the business gets pushed into the background.
I believed employers deserved a better balance.
Harrington Raine was built to combine personal ownership with wider-team capability. Clients have a named Primary Advisor who understands their business, without support becoming dependent on one person being available.
The advice itself should also go further than explaining the law. Employers need to understand the real risk, the realistic options and what we actually recommend they do next.
01 — PERSONAL OWNERSHIP
A good advisory relationship should build context over time. You should not have to explain your business, your people and the history behind an issue every time you need support.
02 — WIDER-TEAM CAPABILITY
Your Primary Advisor owns the relationship, but Harrington Raine is built around a wider advisory team. Straightforward matters can move quickly, while complex or higher-risk issues reach the right expertise.
03 — COMMERCIAL JUDGEMENT
Employers need clarity. We explain the legal position, assess the commercial consequences and recommend the quickest defensible route towards the outcome the business is trying to achieve.
Personal ownership. Wider-team capability.
Employment-law expertise. Commercial judgement.
COMMERCIAL, NOT RECKLESS
The same employment decision can carry very different consequences for two different businesses.
A large organisation with substantial financial resources, experienced management and the capacity to absorb litigation may reasonably take a position that would be inappropriate for a smaller employer with limited cash, management time or operational resilience.
That does not mean ignoring employment law. It means understanding the law properly, assessing the real exposure and putting that risk into the context of the business making the decision.
I have never believed that good advice means eliminating every conceivable risk. In practice, that can leave employers unable to make decisions at all.
The adviser’s job is to explain the position clearly, identify the realistic options and recommend a route that reflects both the legal risk and the commercial objective.
what should actually be considered?
What level of exposure can the organisation realistically absorb?
What would delay, legal cost or an adverse outcome mean in practice?
What is the employee issue doing to the wider business today?
How much time and internal resource can realistically be committed to the process?
What is the employer actually trying to achieve?
How much uncertainty is the organisation reasonably prepared to accept?
“Good advice should explain the risk, recommend a route and help the employer make an informed commercial decision.”
PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE
My experience in HR and employment law has not been limited to commercial leadership or working alongside advisory teams.
Over the years, I have been directly involved in workplace investigations, disciplinary and grievance processes, employee hearings and other difficult employee-relations situations. I have also worked closely with qualified employment solicitors throughout much of my career.
That practical exposure matters. Employee issues rarely arrive as neat legal questions. They involve incomplete information, conflicting accounts, difficult personalities, management pressure and decisions that can affect both individuals and the wider business.
01
Chairing and conducting meetings, considering evidence and helping employers move towards a reasoned outcome.
02
Establishing the facts, interviewing those involved and producing a clear factual record before decisions are made.
03
Working through underperformance, expectations, management intervention and the point at which informal management needs to become a formal process.
04
Supporting employers where absence creates operational pressure, while recognising the legal and human issues involved.
05
Experience of difficult employment endings, including dismissals, settlement discussions and the commercial considerations surrounding them.
06
Handling situations where there is no single tidy answer and the employer needs judgement, structure and a practical route forward.
Sometimes an employer needs more than advice and paperwork. They need someone experienced to take control of the process itself.
Harrington Raine also provides HR Consultancy & Meeting Support, where an experienced HR professional can conduct, chair or participate directly in internal workplace processes.
Explore HR Consultancy & Meeting Support →
BACKGROUND
My background combines psychology, law and commercial study, alongside more than a decade spent building and operating advisory businesses.
That mix has shaped how I approach workplace issues. They are rarely just legal questions; they involve people, judgement, risk, management and the wider commercial circumstances of the business.
ACADEMIC BACKGROUND
Manchester Metropolitan University
Staffordshire University
Staffordshire University
Staffordshire University
PUBLISHED & FEATURED
Over the years, I have contributed commentary on employment, workplace and business issues to a number of recognised HR and regional business publications.
The subjects have ranged from workplace conduct and employee relations to social media, intellectual property and the growing impact of AI on HR teams.
Commentary on workplace and employment issues including social media risks, protecting intlectual proerty, swearing at wort, workpleace viloence, and AI-assited grievances.
Swearing at work: is it always abuse? →
Legal strategies for protecting intellectual property →
Social media in the workplace: the legal pitfalls →
AI-assisted grievances pile pressure on people teams, survey finds →
Employer and workplace commentary across practical HR and employment topics.
Business coverage relating to the growth of Neathouse Partners and my role as a co-founder.
OUTSIDE HARRINGTON RAINE
I live in Chester with my partner and our three cats — Ragnar, Loki and Freya. Away from work, sport has always taken up a fair amount of my time.
These days, that mostly means golf. I play at Carden Park Golf Club off a 8 handicap — although, as with most golfers, that number occasionally feels more aspirational than accurate.
Before golf took over, cricket was the main obsession. I played first-team cricket for a number of years and later served as both first-team captain and chairman of Weston Cricket Club.
Football fills whatever sporting space is left. I’ve supported Crewe Alexandra for as long as I can remember, while Arsenal account for a fair amount of the rest of my footballing attention.
EMPLOYER GUIDANCE
Practical guidance for employers dealing with workplace issues, employment-law decisions and the day-to-day realities of managing people.
Each resource is written to explain the position clearly, identify the practical decisions an employer needs to make and help turn that understanding into action.
A practical employer guide to dismissing a short-service employee, covering unfair-dismissal qualifying periods, automatically unfair reasons, discrimination, notice, probation and the process employers should consider.
A practical employer guide to what an employment contract should contain, including statutory written particulars, core contractual terms and additional clauses that may protect the business.
A practical employer guide to responding to an Employment Tribunal claim, including the ET1, ET3, response deadline, evidence, Tribunal procedure and preparing a defence.
READY TO TALK?
Good employment advice should reflect the business receiving it — its objectives, pressures, people and appetite for risk.
If you need practical HR or employment-law support, Harrington Raine can help you understand the position, decide what to do next and move forward with confidence.
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