Most businesses only think about HR when something goes wrong. The smart ones don't wait that long.

By the time people problems feel serious, they usually already are.
Zero 2 One HR gets the right foundations in place – so you can spend your time building the business, not firefighting.

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Growing from 10 to 50 people is one of the most vulnerable stages of a business.

THE CHALLENGE

In the early days, founders handle everything themselves. Hiring is fast, decisions are informal, and relationships are built on trust rather than process. That works… until it doesn't.

As a business grows, something shifts. People issues become more complex. Legal exposure increases. And before long, founders are spending more time managing people problems than growing their business.

The 10–50 stage is where culture becomes harder to maintain, systems start to break, and compliance risk quietly accumulates. Without the right support, even well-intentioned decisions can create serious problems.

What is at stake without support

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What is at stake without support ?

Most business leaders at this stage are firefighting – dealing with issues they care about but were never trained to handle. The risks of getting it wrong are real

  • Situations that could have been managed early escalate into formal processes or employment tribunal claims.

  • Without strong people foundations, high-performers leave – and the best candidates choose not to join.

  • People problems consume the time and energy that should be going into running and growing the business.

  • How a business treats its people becomes part of its identity – for better or worse.

  • Employment law applies from day one. Without the right foundations, businesses are more vulnerable than they realise.

WHAT WE DO

Zero to One HR is not a distant consultancy or a policy factory. It's a trusted specialist embedded in your business – understanding your culture, knowing your team, and there when you need them.

With the right foundations in place, businesses can scale confidently, protect their culture, and build a team that grows with them.

Employment law & compliance

Reducing legal risk and ensuring your practices are sound from day one.

The frameworks your business needs without unnecessary bureaucracy.

HR policies & structure

Processes that attract the right people and set them up to succeed.

Hiring & onboarding

Work With Us 
AREAS WE COVER

Resolving conflict, managing grievances and protecting the business.

Employee relations

Support through difficult conversations and formal processes.

Performance management

Protecting what matters most as your business grows.

Culture & leadership

Who we are

let's talk

Ingrid Maher Roberts

Senior Partner and HR Consultant

Ingrid is a senior HR consultant and MCIPD-qualified people leader with over 20 years of experience working with founders, leadership teams, and scaling businesses.

She has a particular specialism in helping organisations build their HR function from the ground up – she has been the first dedicated HR professional in more than one business, joining at a critical point of growth and putting the foundations in place to allow those businesses to scale with confidence.

She has extensive experience of navigating businesses through periods of rapid growth, building robust people processes at pace without losing the culture that makes a business successful in the first place – resulting in the businesses she has worked with being recognised as Best Employer finalist at the Entreconf Awards 2024 and winner of the Bath Life Award 2025.

Her expertise spans the full employee lifecycle: culture, performance, employee relations, recruitment, wellbeing, and HR strategy. She has worked across the UK and US, supporting leadership teams in different regulatory and cultural environments, and has coached boards and senior leaders through complex people challenges and organisational change.

Practical, commercially minded, and genuinely invested in the businesses she works with – Ingrid brings the kind of HR experience that makes a real difference at the moments that matter most.

LET'S TALK

If your business is growing and people are becoming more complicated, let's have an honest conversation before it becomes a crisis.