Built for founders running their own HR.
We're the path through the middle — between templates that leave you guessing and lawyers that cost a fortune. A guided studio that teaches as you build, with CIPD consultants on hand for the moments you'd rather ask a human.
For founders hiring their first UK employee, whether you're in London or Lisbon.
Where HR expertise, business reality and smart technology meet.
HR Launch Box was built from hands-on experience across HR systems, automation, strategic HR and the practical realities of helping businesses hire properly.
HR Launch Box was developed by Kinnin Technologies Ltd as a practical HR technology product for founders, startups and growing UK businesses.
The idea grew from the journey of our Lead Consultant and was shaped by wider legal and employment expertise. That journey began in computing and technology, supporting HR teams and business systems before deepening that experience through CIPD Level 7 HR expertise, strategic HR, business partnering and people strategy.
Over time, that work expanded across different industries and senior leadership teams from HR systems, automation and process improvement to business consultancy and wider business planning. That combination created a clear view of both sides of the challenge, what businesses need operationally and what employees need from clear, well-managed people processes.
The problem HR Launch Box solves is simple. Founders need to hire properly, but the market often gives them two extremes — free templates that leave them unsupported on one side and expensive HR or lawyer fees on the other.
Founders, startups and overseas businesses setting up in the UK often need to hire quickly, but they may not yet understand UK employment law, employment contracts, onboarding requirements or the people processes they are putting in place. They are often happy to do things themselves and learn as they go, but they do not have time to piece together employment law from multiple websites, guess what should go into a contract or rely on a free template that may not reflect how their business actually works.
At the same time, many early-stage businesses are not ready for a full legal project, a long HR retainer or a subscription they may barely use. They need a smarter starting point, clear documents, plain-English guidance, transparent pricing and access to human support only when the situation needs it.
HR Launch Box was created to fill that gap. The Studio is designed to teach as it builds, giving plain-English guidance at each step so users understand the choices behind their documents, not just the final file. It helps founders and growing businesses create more tailored documents, build repeatable hiring processes and start with better people foundations from day one.
The result is a smarter starting point than a static template, HR expert-led guidance, ACAS-aligned best-practice thinking, technology shaped around real UK hiring workflows and consultant support available when the situation needs a human view.
Consultant support is delivered remotely by our network of UK-based, CIPD-qualified HR consultants, with Lead Consultants also delivering services where deeper review or strategic guidance is needed.
Free templates, fillable forms, lawyers, lock-in retainers —
and where HR Launch Box fits.
We don't think the alternatives are bad — they're built for different jobs. Here's an honest read on each and where we sit.
- ✓ Cheap and immediate
- ✗ No personalisation, you fill it in
- ✗ No guidance on what to write
- ✗ No jurisdiction-switching
- ✗ No support if you get stuck
- ✓ Fillable forms
- ~ Some basic branching
- ✗ Limited explanation
- ✗ Generic clauses, not jurisdiction-aware
- ✗ No human support included
from £149.99 a pack
- ✓ Guided Personalisation Studio
- ✓ Branching questions, adaptive clauses
- ✓ Educational microcopy on every question
- ✓ Jurisdiction-aware (England, Wales, Scotland, NI)
- ✓ Optional Consultant Review add-on on your on-demand non-premium document or pack
- ✓ Optional on-tap CIPD consultant support, 12-month validity
- ✓ Qualified, bespoke advice
- ✓ Best for complex/contentious cases
- ✗ Slow from days to weeks
- ✗ Overkill for a standard offer letter
- ✗ Expensive at scale
HR Launch Box price shown is the UK New Hire Starter Pack (offer letter + contract + checklist, PDF). Individual documents from £19.99. Figures shown for the other three columns are typical UK-market reference ranges in pounds sterling. HR Launch Box prices throughout this site display in your selected currency.
A path through the middle —
between free templates and expensive lawyer fees.
HR Launch Box is built for the people who actually run their own HR for the first 1–20 hires. If one of these is you, you're in the right place.
You're hiring your first employee.
You've never written an offer letter before. You don't know what a probationary period should be. You need it done right, this week.
You're hiring your second or third employee.
You did the first hire on instinct. You've got a handbook. You don't want to start from scratch every time, you want consistent contracts and a repeatable process. Without paying a lawyer for each one.
You're setting up UK operations from abroad.
You know how to hire in your country. The UK system, Right to Work, statutory notice, holiday entitlement, DBS checks, isn't already in your head. You need a tool that explains while it builds.
The other options weren't built for you.
We were.
For most UK founders, getting an employment contract sorted is a choice between three options. Template sites assume you already understand UK employment law and most first-time founders don't. Employment lawyers assume you can afford £400 for one document and a week to wait. Big-name HR retainers assume you want to sign a three to five year contract and pay £200–£400 every month, whether you call them or not, for advice you mostly won't use in your first year of hiring.
None of these were designed for the founder running their own HR for the first time. The founder who needs to hire a developer this week, who's never written an offer letter, who doesn't want to learn employment law from scratch, but doesn't want to get it wrong either.
HR Launch Box is built specifically for that founder. A guided studio that asks the right questions, explains why each one matters and produces a personalised document at the end. CIPD-qualified consultants available the moment you need a real human, without the lock-in. Pricing that respects you're a startup, not an enterprise procurement department.
Not a template.
A guided studio that builds the document around you.
Every HR Launch Box document is generated by the Personalisation Studio — a guided question-and-answer flow that branches based on your business, your hire and your jurisdiction. The Studio writes the document around your answers, not the other way around.
Questions that branch.
The Studio shows different questions based on your earlier answers. Pick "zero hours" and the working-pattern questions change. Pick "remote" and the location questions change. You only see what's relevant to your hire.
Clauses that adapt.
Clauses aren't just included or excluded, they're rewritten based on your answers. Notice period, probation length, working pattern, hours, holiday entitlement all flow through to the wording. The end document reads as a single coherent contract, not a Frankenstein of toggles.
Jurisdiction-aware.
Hiring in Scotland? The document references Disclosure Scotland, not DBS. Hiring in Northern Ireland? You'll see DVA for driving licence checks, not DVLA. The right statutory references and terminology flow through automatically, whether you're hiring in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Educational by design.
Every question carries brief context such as why we're asking, what each answer means for your business and where UK best practice sits. We don't teach you UK employment law in full, but you'll finish the Studio knowing more than when you started and you'll know what each answer means for your hire.
Defaults built on best practice.
A handful of clauses are yours to opt in or out of such as restrictive covenants, collective agreements, post-employment terms. The rest are included automatically based on UK best practice and your answers. You don't have to remember to add a diversity clause. It's already there.
Built and tested by humans.
Every document type has been tested across dozens of business types, role types and jurisdictional combinations. Offer letters and employment contracts alone have been tested against over 150 scenarios. The Studio is reviewed and updated whenever UK employment law changes.
The Studio is only as accurate as your answers.
The Personalisation Studio writes your document around the information you provide. If a role is described as salaried, full-time and 40 hours but is actually a zero-hours arrangement, the document will reflect what you told us, not what is true in practice. For most first-time hirers, the Studio's branching questions and plain-English guidance help catch the obvious mistakes before they happen. For complex or unusual roles, a CIPD consultant can sense-check your draft before you rely on it.
Hiring in Scotland?
The document knows.
A real differentiator most template sites skip. Our Studio reflects the UK jurisdiction you select, England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, including terminology, statutory references and practical checks where they differ. Your document needs to reflect where your hire actually works, not just "the UK". Here's some of what changes automatically when you pick your jurisdiction in the Studio.
England
- Right to Work: Home Office RTW + share codes
- Criminal record checks: DBS
- Driving licence checks: DVLA
- Statutory references: Employment Rights Act 1996 framework
Wales
- Right to Work: Home Office RTW + share codes
- Criminal record checks: DBS
- Driving licence checks: DVLA
- Statutory references: Employment Rights Act 1996 framework
Scotland
- Right to Work: Home Office RTW + share codes
- Criminal record checks: Disclosure Scotland
- Driving licence checks: DVLA
- Statutory references: Employment Rights Act 1996 framework
Northern Ireland
- Right to Work: Home Office RTW + share codes
- Criminal record checks: AccessNI
- Driving licence checks: DVA
- Statutory references: Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996