HR Advisor

Brewers Decorator Centres; Milton Keynes; Hybrid; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company car

33 days holiday

Pension plan with company contribution

Employee Assistance Programme

Virtual GP service

Medicash reimbursement

Staff discounts

Induction Programme

Job summary

Brewers Decorator Centres is seeking an experienced HR professional for a 12-month Fixed Term Maternity cover. You will provide vital hands-on support to the People Team and Operational Managers across the business on a range of HR matters, including attendance, probation, grievance, disciplinary, ill health and performance capability.

Working alongside another People Advisor, you will support the Senior People Business Partner and the wider team with HR cases across our branches.

Qualifications

• Experience in HR advisory role across a busy business.
• Able to advise managers on HR policies and procedures.
• Strong communication and people-centric approach.

Responsibilities

• Provide advisory HR support to People Team and managers.
• Handle attendance, probation, grievance, disciplinary, ill health and performance matters.
• Attend meetings, prepare correspondence and generate HR reports.
• Support Occupational Health matters and analytics across branches.

Skills

HR advisory experience

Stakeholder influencing

Communication skills

Job description

HR / People Advisor

Hybrid role covering East Anglia, Midlands, North of England and parts of Central England

12 month Fixed Term Maternity cover contract

37.5 hours per week Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5pm

Competitive salary

We are a fourth generation family business who leads the UK marketplace, supplying decorating materials to both trade and DIY consumers. Operating from over 250 Decorator Centres nationwide, we also have several healthy and developing ecommerce businesses.
Ranked again in The Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2026, we are the largest independent supplier of decorating materials across the UK. We are proud of our wonderful heritage of over 120 years in our industry and our nationwide growth.
Like any organisation, it’s our people who make us who we are. We are truly a family business when it comes to our people, with our mantra being to ‘help one another succeed’. We want to see all our people flourish in their roles and reach their full potential, to support our customers in developing their own businesses. To find out more about working with us visit https://jobs.brewers.co.uk/working-here

What is the role we are looking for?

We are looking for an experienced HR professional on a 12 month Fixed Term Contract to cover a period of Maternity leave. You will provide vital hands on support to the People Team and Operational Managers across the business on a variety of HR matters. These will include but not be limited to employment relations processes such as attendance management, probation, grievance, disciplinary, ill health and performance capability.
Working alongside another People Advisor you will support the Senior People Business Partner and the wider team with active cases across our branch network. You will also work closely with Operational Managers and their teams across the business, to provide an all round HR support on a range of matters as they arise.
The support you will offer will include attending meetings in an advisory capacity or by note taking, preparing and producing correspondence and tailoring it to individual situations, giving advice to colleagues on a variety of policies and supporting them with these processes including Occupational Health matters and working with the team to compile and produce reports and analytics on HR topics.
You will be able to communicate effectively at all levels and always maintain a people centred approach that is empathetic to the colleagues involved in any HR processes. You will use a wide range of HR knowledge, commercial acumen, and empathy towards colleagues to quickly establish your knowledge and credibility in this role. You will be confident in influencing and advising stakeholders at varying levels.
We are looking for someone based local to the area the role covers to enable us to provide support to colleagues in person as well as remotely via Teams, however you may be asked to attend other locations and branches when needed. This is a hybrid role covering branches throughout East Anglia, the Midlands, North of England and parts of Central England (Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire). You will be required to support with meetings on location, so it is essential that you are able to drive - a Company car is included. On occasions there may also be overnight stays.
The successful candidate will have previous experience and a strong background in an HR Advisory role. You will preferably have experience working in a retail environment, but this is not essential.
We understand that Neurodivergent candidates or candidates with a disability may need adjustments or extra support in the application or interview process - we are committed to providing every candidate the opportunity and environment in which to succeed and we will support any reasonable request where we can.

What do we give in return?

• Competitive financial package and a Company car
• 33 days holiday (inclusive of bank holidays)
• Pension plan with company contributions plus a life assurance scheme
• Stream - a money management app that gives you access to a percentage of your pay as you earn it
• Employee Assistance Programme accessible to colleagues, partner/spouse and dependants
• Virtual GP service for yourself and dependent children
• Medicash - an optional funded scheme where you can claim money back for the most common routine healthcare treatments
• Discounts and rewards with selected partners - major high street brands, supermarkets etc
• Generous staff discounts
• Comprehensive Induction Programme

Please note that applications are reviewed on a regular basis. The advert may be closed before the application end date, if we receive sufficient applications we wish to progress to interview.