Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Small business focus: Kim Hunter and her passion for outsourced HR and paddleboarding

small business focus
Kim Hunter, who runs her own HR business.

Each week, we ask small businesses key questions. Here we speak to Kim Hunter, owner/director of The HR Dept – Highlands.

How and why did you start in business?

I’ve been in human resources (HR) for more than 20 years, working with some amazing businesses. I always knew I would start my own one day and the stars finally aligned this year.

The HR Department is the largest network of industry professionals providing outsourced HR support to businesses throughout the UK. It works on a franchise basis.

I launched The HR Dept – Highlands in February. It has given me the opportunity to use all the experience I’ve gained from different sectors and international businesses to provide expert consultancy to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on a cost-effective, outsourced basis.

SMEs are my passion, and I’m delighted so many are choosing to work with the HR Dept – Highlands.

The drive, commitment, and dedication they have to succeed is really quite special and inspiring.

small business focus
Kim Hunter
How did you get to where you are today?

I’ve always worked in the “people” sector, starting in HR with the NHS, then specialising in talent acquisition, while working with external consultancies, before becoming part of in-house global HR leadership teams in the oil and gas, financial services and emergency services sectors.

Running my own business seemed like a natural career progression.

Who helped you?

I have a strong core of super-talented friends that I’ve developed throughout my career and they’ve all contributed massively in their own ways to my decision to start my own business.

My partner, Jon, has been a huge help and support too. He’s a search and rescue winchman paramedic, working on the Coastguard helicopter in Inverness, and his professional approach to problems has helped me tackle the challenge of starting my own business from a completely different angle.

The Federation of Small Businesses provided really useful practical guidance when I was setting up, and it will continue to do so as my business develops.

What has been your biggest mistake?

Not starting the business sooner. If you are sitting on the fence, wondering if and when to take the plunge and go it alone, I would do it.

It’s a little bit scary, but it’s also empowering and enormously gratifying.

What is your greatest achievement?

It’s still to come – but I’ve gained immense pleasure from completing large scale projects, winning business from important customers, achieving an MBA, running a marathon, completely redesigning a room at home and much more.

If you were in power in government, what would you change?

I would divert more funding into the NHS. Our medical specialists in the UK are true heroes, but the growing demands and challenges they face will never be met from current budgets.

In beautiful Copenhagen, where I worked for nearly 18 months, there is a real cycling culture, with six bikes for every car.

We could do the same sort of thing here, if only our government invested in essential infrastructure.

What do you still hope to achieve?

Business success and to be the go-to HR consultancy for SMEs in the Highlands.

What do you do to relax?

Hop on my mountain bike, run with our black labrador, Buddy, or take our SUP (stand-up paddleboard) on the nearest piece of water.

Paddleboards should be free and everyone should have one; the sense of freedom and calmness on the water is amazing.

What are you currently reading, listening to or glued to on TV?

I recommend The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. It’s a great, intriguing read from an awesome author who describes how someone’s life may have turned out if their decisions had been different.

Life without music would be unbearable and my playlist is very mixed, but I love Dermot Kennedy. I’ve been glued to The Mosquito Coast recently.

What do you waste your money on?

Books and red wine, and I have a sizeable shoe collection.

How would your friends describe you?

Loyal, sincere, generous, dependable and fun – and the go-to person for killer mojitos.

What would your enemies say about you?

My focus and relentless determination to get the job done might upset some, but I don’t know who.

What do you drive and dream of driving?

I’m not big on cars, much preferring to use my bicycle, but when necessary I drive a Fiat 500.

I do dream of riding expensive road bikes – Cervelos are my vehicle of choice.


Anne Esson went from receptionist to sales job and then running her own firm in Aberdeen

Emma Paterson’s journey to self-employment started with a flight to Warsaw

Highland business owner Helen puts every fibre of her being into wool