Squish Supply

Squish Supply Ltd are a juice manufacturer and supplier which began in 2017. The small business has grown quickly, now boasting around 15 employees, and supplying some major names in the hospitality & leisure sector. Dan Harrison, Managing Director tells us a little more about the business:

“We were originally a fresh fruit and vegetable supply business. We started juicing and realised there was a better market for that. We closed down the fruit and vegetable side and started up the juicing business in 2017.

“We’re based in London and we supply some of the most famous bars and hotels, including the Ritz and the Savoy.”me they call the advice line too.”

“The business runs 24 hours a day because we have to pack and deliver products. That means there’s always someone working—this can be quite challenging to manage from an HR perspective. We didn’t have anyone with any real HR experience in the business so I was managing HR on an ad-hoc basis.

“I have a good relationship with my employees, but I think they understand that I have to look after the interests of the business. Because of this understanding, I’d address any conduct issues informally. We’d discuss their behaviour and work out a resolution. This usually worked, but it did mean I wasn’t doing anything by the book, which left us exposed. Unfortunately, you can’t just rely on being a good guy to protect you from people taking advantage or worse.

“We didn’t really have a process that ensured people sign the right contracts and provide the full information needed when they start with the business. The reality is, as the business grows in scale, we need to take a more professional and structured approach to HR and health & safety. And, we needed to build HR from the ground up. Which is where Croner come in. Our investors suggested we use the helpline.”

“Croner told us what we needed to include in our contracts, and what information we needed to collect when people are first employed. This really helped us start off on the right foot.

“It’s only in the last six months or so that we’ve really started to lean on the advice line more heavily. The advice we receive really useful and reassuring. Now, our default approach when we need to raise an issue with a member of staff is to call Croner first. That way we can be sure we’re following the right procedure.

“We’ve also had a consultant come out to review and update our documentation. Employment law is always changing, so we wanted to add a few new clauses in to protect ourselves and Croner have done that for us.

“We’re really happy with the service, it just gives you that reassurance that you’re covered when dealing with HR and employment law issues. I think even those trained in HR can benefit from Croner’s advice. I’ve spoken to HR representatives from neighbouring businesses and they tell me they call the advice line too.”