Handling Redundancies

Legal precision. Human understanding.

Redundancy is one of the most difficult exercises an employer can face, legally, operationally and emotionally. It demands not only compliance with complex employment law but also sensitivity, speed, and clarity of communication.



Watershed supports organisations through the full spectrum of redundancy programmes, from strategic planning to on-the-ground delivery.


Our approach combines technical legal expertise with a deep understanding of workplace realities. Whether you are making three roles redundant or 300, we help you act lawfully, decisively, and with integrity.

Planning for lawful change

Every redundancy process must be grounded in a legitimate business rationale and follow a fair procedure. We provide advice at the earliest stages, assessing business cases, advising on selection criteria, consultation obligations and contractual considerations.


We also identify potential risks, such as discrimination claims or failure to consult collectively, and help structure the process to withstand scrutiny.


This may include:

• Designing lawful selection and pooling processes

• Drafting consultation materials and scripts

• Advising on enhanced redundancy terms or settlement strategy

• Supporting communications with employees and stakeholders

• Managing relationships with recognised trade unions or employee forums

Delivery at scale

For large or fast-moving redundancy programmes, we do more than advise, we help deliver. Watershed regularly coordinates and resources full-scale consultation processes, assembling a team of experienced HR consultants to conduct meetings, produce paperwork, and respond to employee queries.


In one recent project, we facilitated over 600 individual consultations in under three weeks, minimising disruption, maintaining compliance, and supporting managers to stay visible and accountable throughout.


Our resourcing model allows organisations to move swiftly while ensuring the process is conducted with care and rigour.

Protecting your employer brand

Poorly managed redundancy processes damage morale, reputation, and, frequently, result in costly claims. We help organisations handle difficult conversations with consistency and professionalism, ensuring departing employees are treated with dignity and remaining staff feel informed and supported.


Importantly, we reinforce the role of line managers. We coach them to lead with clarity, to own the business rationale, and to avoid the disassociation that often arises when HR leads alone. In doing so, we help maintain internal trust and protect the employer brand.

Responsive, experienced, trusted

Watershed has guided clients through some of the UK’s most complex redundancy exercises. We work closely with leadership, HR and line management to ensure decisions are legally sound, commercially justified, and operationally viable.

Whether you need a sounding board, a strategy, or a full delivery team, we bring calm authority to what is often a turbulent process.