Specialist HR, health and safety, finance and back office support for small businesses in Kent, across the South East and throughout the UK. All of the expertise. None of the salaries.
Or call 01227 743345
The Idea
Large companies have a boardroom. Most small businesses have one person doing everything.
Act Now puts a team of outsourced experts around your table, one seat at a time, for as long as you need them.
75%
of UK businesses employ no one but their owners.
Your Team
Built for owner-managed businesses, from builders and electricians to cafés, studios and consultancies. Take one seat, or fill the table.
Year-end accounts tell you where you have been, often months after the event. Management accounts and cash flow forecasts show you where you are heading, and what each decision will cost before you make it.
Backed by a Chartered Global Management Accountant
From 1 January 2027, employees can claim unfair dismissal after six months’ service, with compensation uncapped. Our outsourced HR support makes sure your contracts, policies and procedures are ready.
Led by a CIPD-accredited HR adviser
Every employer needs competent health and safety advice, and from five employees your policy and the main findings of your risk assessments must be in writing. If that expertise is not in your team, it can be ours.
Led by an IOSH-certified health and safety professional
Nobody starts a business for the paperwork. Our back office support takes it off your desk, so your time goes where it earns the most.
Run by our team in Whitstable
Why Act Now
A full-time hire is one of the biggest commitments a small business can make. Outsourcing to a specialist team gives you the same expertise, there when you need it, without the fixed cost.
Choose the seats you would otherwise fill. Each uses an example salary, plus the employer costs that every hire brings.
Every year, in-house
£195,530 a year
Before recruitment fees, holiday cover, equipment and desk space. With Act Now, none of these costs apply: you pay only for the seats and services you choose.
Get Your QuoteExample salaries for illustration. Employer’s National Insurance at 15% above £5,000 and the minimum 3% employer pension on qualifying earnings, at HMRC and DWP rates for 2026/27, before any Employment Allowance.
£132,000+
What a poor hire at mid-manager level, on £42,000, can cost a business. With us, there is no hire to get wrong.
40.1m
Working days lost to work-related ill health and injury in Great Britain in 2024/25. Sound HR and safety keep your team at work.
| What you are comparing | A Full-Time Hire | Act Now |
|---|---|---|
| Getting Started | Months of advertising, interviews and notice periods | Underway once you approve our quotation |
| What You Pay | A full salary, in busy months and quiet ones | Only the seats and services you choose |
| Employment Costs | National Insurance, pension and recruitment fees | None of these |
| Expertise | One person’s experience | A team of specialists, each an expert in their field |
| Flexibility | An employment contract, with every obligation employment law brings | You stay in control. Need more help? We do more. Need to dial back? We flex with you. |
How It Works
Four steps, entirely at your pace.
Tell us where the gaps are. We will tell you honestly what you need, and what you can do without.
A written quotation sets out the seats and services you choose, the cost and the initial 12-month term, before any work begins.
We work as part of your business, reporting to you and fitting around the way you work.
As your business changes, your support changes with it, year after year.
About
Act Now is part of the Achieving Clarity network. Our headquarters is in Whitstable, and we support small businesses in Kent, across the South East and throughout the UK.
Since 2011 the network has grown to more than 600 clients without a penny spent on advertising. Every one came to us through a recommendation or a review.
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
Our HR advice comes from a CIPD-accredited adviser, in line with the Acas Code of Practice.
Institution of Occupational Safety and Health
Our health and safety work is led by an IOSH-certified professional, on site and on paper.
Chartered Institute of Management Accountants
Our finance work is backed by a Chartered Global Management Accountant.
Across Our Network
Questions
You get experienced HR support without employing anyone. We look after your contracts, policies and staff matters, and you call on us whenever something comes up.
For most small businesses, yes. It removes the fixed costs of employment: salary, employer’s National Insurance, pension and recruitment fees. You pay only for the seats and services you choose.
By law, every employer must have competent help with health and safety. If that expertise is not in your business, an outsourced consultant is the simplest way to provide it. From five employees, your policy and the main findings of your risk assessments must also be written down.
Everyone you employ needs a legally compliant employment contract from their first day. Clear disciplinary and grievance procedures, usually set out in a staff handbook, protect you when difficult conversations arise.
Our headquarters is in Whitstable. We work with businesses in Kent, across the South East and throughout the UK.
Your price is based on the seats and services you choose, and confirmed in writing before any work begins.
Yes. We ask for an initial 12-month commitment, because putting the right strategies, systems and paperwork in place takes planning and time. Within that year, your support can flex up or down as your business changes.
Yes. Start with the seat you need most and add others whenever you are ready.
How quickly do you need us? We can start as soon as you approve your quote.