Rangebourne Pet Care of Devizes

Since 1977 the pet shop has specialized in canine and feline nutrition and even have their own brand called Diggie’s Own Choice. The pet shop employs 7 staff and had not used an employment law consultancy service like Croner before, until a serious HR situation prompted them to take action.

“The biggest challenge we experienced was when a member of staff went on long term sick leave for six months, says the pet shop’s owner and founder Andy Sheppard.

“When it came to the end of the statutory period they made accusations of bullying on social media, from other members of staff.

"We were flummoxed with how to approach it as we found out we were responsible, due to the fact we had no social media policy in place.

“Our main worry was that the legal ramifications were imminent and it could progress to an employment tribunal.

"You can’t be flippant about these sorts of things and it was giving us sleepless nights, so we started to look for help and Croner approached us.”

Following the meeting, Andy bought Croner’s Simplify Complete services, which are a one-stop-shop cloud-based software, 24/7 helpline access, legal expenses insurance and on-site support.

Andy said: “Croner said they could help if the case did move to a tribunal. Thankfully that didn’t happen and the employee in question resigned.

“Following what happened we have used Croner’s services to introduce employment and health & safety policies and procedures, including ensuring all of our employees sign a social media policy.

Croner helped us get everything up-to-date : contracts, risk assessments, it’s great having someone behind us looking after HR and ensuring we are now fully compliant.

“I took on the arrangement as an insurance policy, as all of the time I’m taken away from the shop floor costs us money, as we have to employ someone else to cover me.

"So it’s important to have someone come in to help with our human resources.

“I find Croner very professional and I have had support with ensuring many different aspects of my business are compliant. When I call up I know there is someone there to give me the right advice when I need it.

"I use the sailing analogy, when the weather is fine you sail along until a sudden storm appears and comes upon you like thunder. With the Croner helpline we now have peace of mind that we are fully compliant and prepared if a situation arises again.”