HR Support for Charities and Purpose-Led Organisations in Manchester
Senior HR leadership for charities, social enterprises and purpose-led organisations . Without the cost or commitment of a full-time hire.
HR Support for Charities and Purpose-Led Organisations in Manchester
Greater Manchester has one of the largest and most complex VCSE ecosystems in the country. The 2021 State of the Sector report identified over 17,400 voluntary organisations across the city-region, employing more than 75,000 people and supported by nearly half a million volunteers.
The infrastructure is substantial. Macc supports the VCSE sector in the city of Manchester itself. Across the ten boroughs, local infrastructure organisations including Bolton CVS, Action Together in Oldham and Tameside, Salford CVS, and Sector 3 in Stockport provide borough-level capacity building. The GM VCFSE Leadership Group and the Greater Manchester VCSE Accord have formalised the sector's relationship with the Combined Authority and integrated care system.
This is a sector that's been asked to do more, deliver more, and integrate more closely with statutory services, all while navigating tightening funding, rising delivery costs and the practical consequences of National Minimum Wage increases and employer NI changes.
The HR challenges specific to Greater Manchester's VCSE sector
The scale and complexity of the GM ecosystem creates people challenges that are different from those in smaller cities.
Contract delivery pressures and the flight from public service commissioning. The Third Sector Trends 2025 report found that participation in public service contracts among larger charities has fallen significantly, partly because tender values aren't covering rising delivery costs. For Manchester charities still in the commissioning space, this creates workforce planning headaches: uncertain funding timelines, TUPE obligations when contracts change hands, and the need to scale teams up or down at short notice.
Employer cost pressures hitting the sector disproportionately. The increases in employer National Insurance and National Minimum Wage have a compounding effect on labour-intensive charities. Manchester organisations running social care, supported housing, youth services and community outreach are having to make difficult decisions about pay, headcount and service scope. These decisions need proper HR guidance, not just financial modelling.
Multi-site, multi-borough complexity. Many GM charities operate across several boroughs, each with different commissioning relationships, safeguarding boards and partnership structures. Managing a dispersed workforce across this landscape requires clear people policies, consistent management practice and senior oversight that most smaller organisations don't have in-house.
Board capability and governance under scrutiny. With four in five charities nationally reporting board vacancies, and over a third lacking financial expertise on their boards, the governance pressures are real. In Manchester, where the Accord and integrated care structures expect VCSE representation at decision-making level, trustees need assurance that the charity's people management is sound.
How we support Manchester organisations
We work with charities and social enterprises across Greater Manchester from our base in Sheffield. The work is primarily remote, with on-site visits for board meetings, investigations, workshops and the moments where being in the room matters.
We provide fractional Head of People services, ongoing retained HR advisory, and scoped strategic projects. The common thread is senior-level expertise applied to your specific situation, not a helpline or a template.
Three services. Each one built for where you are right now.
Fractional Head of People
Your organisation needs a Head of People but can't justify — or fund — a full-time hire. We embed as your senior people leader on a part-time, ongoing basis. Attending board meetings. Building your people strategy. Handling the complex ER cases. Giving your CEO back the headspace to focus on mission delivery. This is our lead service for charities that are growing, going through change, or simply past the point where the CEO can keep doing it all.
HR & People Advisory (retained)
Ongoing access to senior HR advice on a retained basis. Not a helpline — a named, dedicated advisor who knows your organisation, your people, and your context. For charities that need consistent, reliable HR support without the overhead of a fractional appointment. Covers employee relations, compliance, policy, manager coaching, and the steady stream of people questions that don't stop coming.
Strategic People Projects
Defined-scope projects with a clear beginning and end. Restructures. TUPE transfers. Handbook and policy builds. Employment law readiness, including the Employment Rights Act changes rolling out through 2026 and 2027. Pay and reward reviews. Investigations. The one-off pieces of work that need senior expertise and proper process.
We don't just work with charities.
We understand how they work.
Most HR consultancies list "charities" as one of fifteen sectors on a dropdown menu. We've chosen this sector deliberately because the people challenges here are different, and they deserve an advisor who genuinely understands them.
Governance matters more. Trustees carry legal responsibility for how a charity manages its people, but most boards don't have HR expertise around the table. We bridge that gap, providing the board-level assurance that employment decisions are sound, proportionate, and compliant. We've sat on charity boards ourselves.
Funding shapes everything. When income depends on grants, contracts, and donations, workforce planning can't follow a standard corporate model. Restructures happen when funding shifts, not when strategy says so. TUPE transfers are common when contracts move between providers. We've managed these situations and understand the pressure they create.
Safeguarding is non-negotiable. Charities working with children, young people, or vulnerable adults operate under additional employment obligations — DBS frameworks, safer recruitment, Charity Commission reporting. Getting this wrong doesn't just create legal risk, it puts people in harm's way.
Mission and management pull in different directions. Purpose-led organisations attract people who care deeply. That's a strength — until it means poor performance goes unaddressed because everyone's too kind to have the conversation, or a grievance escalates because the CEO doesn't want to seem heavy-handed. We help you manage people with both compassion and clarity.
The experience behind the advice.
Jason King — Chartered MCIPD, MSc in Human Resource Management, 15+ years of senior HR leadership across charities, financial services, care, manufacturing and regulated environments. Experience of being a Board trustee at two Yorkshire charities, the Children's Heart Surgery Fund and Age UK Sheffield.
That trustee experience isn't a CV line. It means we understand Charity Commission expectations, governance tensions, safeguarding obligations, and the reality of volunteer-led boards from the inside, not as observers.
Becky King — co-founder and operational lead, with a decade of leadership experience across not-for-profit and hospitality sectors.
We're based in Sheffield and work across the UK.
Why this sector. Why it's personal.
Our daughter Amelia was seriously ill as a young child. During that time, the Children’s Heart Surgery Fund provided support to our family that we didn't know we needed and couldn't have asked for. It changed how we understood what these organisations actually do, not in the abstract, but when it matters most.
That experience is part of why we chose to focus King HR Advisory on charities and purpose-led organisations. Not as a niche to fill, but because we've seen first-hand what happens when these organisations work well. We want to help them stay that way. The people behind the mission are where that starts. Your people strategy isn't separate from your impact. It's what makes it sustainable.
