Spotlight Session: Lisa Sourbutts, Cube HR

From Compliance to Culture: How Cube HR Helps Businesses Grow the Right Way

In this edition of Around the Chair: Spotlight Sessions, Jonathan Barnes, Vice Chair of the CORE International Ecosystem, speaks with Lisa Sourbutts, Founder of Cube HR, about creating workplaces where people can thrive, the importance of getting strong HR foundations in place early, and why joined-up specialist support is invaluable as a business grows.

With over 20 years of HR experience across small businesses, large corporates and international organisations, Lisa brings both practical employment law expertise and a genuine passion for making work a better experience for people. Her message is clear, compliance matters, but businesses that truly invest in their people are better placed to retain talent, develop strong managers and scale successfully.

“Not every business in the UK has to be a good employer. We want to work with businesses that want to be a good employer, and we will get them there.”

Lisa Sourbutts, Founder, Cube HR

From Corporate HR to Cube HR

Jonathan: Lisa, tell us a little about your background and what led you to start Cube HR.

Lisa: “I’ve worked in HR for over 20 years. I’ve worked for small private companies, huge multinational and international large corporates, and held many different HR positions.

“My last big corporate role was in HR operations, and I just fell a little bit out of love with profit before people. I decided to leave without a job to go to and set up on my own. That was almost nine years ago, so Cube was born.”

Lisa’s interest in HR began in a manufacturing business that was working towards Investors in People accreditation. She saw first-hand how listening to employees, investing in careers and seeking people’s opinions could have a positive impact on operational success.

Lisa: “I saw the impact that asking people for their viewpoint had on the operational success. I thought, that’s just a no-brainer, asking everybody for their opinion. That’s a mantra that has stayed with me ever since.”

Cube HR began as a one-person business, supporting clients with handbooks, contracts, policies and employment law advice. It has since grown into a team of six, supporting organisations ranging from small businesses with two employees to international companies with thousands of staff.

More Than Compliance

Jonathan: For someone hearing about Cube HR for the first time, how would you describe the support you provide?

Lisa: “Everything that you have to do legally, contracts of employment, certain policies that you have to have to ensure that you are fully compliant with UK employment legislation.

“We make sure that a business doesn’t need to think about that. They can focus on running the business because we’re looking after it for them.”

Cube HR supports the full employee lifecycle, from attracting and onboarding new team members through to probation periods, performance management, reward, recognition and succession planning.

For Lisa, HR should not be seen purely as an administrative or legal requirement. It is an opportunity to create an employee experience that helps businesses become an employer of choice.

Lisa: “Many companies think HR is either a necessity because it’s employment law, or it’s not needed. They’re just going to get left behind because without putting your people first, asking opinion and putting those plans in place, they’re going to go and work for your competitor.”

Building the Right Foundations Early

Jonathan: Are there particular stages of growth where HR support becomes especially important?

Lisa: “For those new start-ups, when they get between 10 and 20 people, that’s when sometimes you’ll get individuals that require a bit more management.

“If you get it right at that point, you can then go on and be 80 people, 800 people. Getting the fundamentals right at that stage has made such a difference.”

Lisa explains that early growth is often the point at which informal ways of working stop being enough. Businesses need clearer processes, confident managers and practical ways to manage performance, engagement and employee expectations.

Trying to introduce these foundations later is possible, but it can be much more complex once problems have become embedded.

“Get your structure in place now, so that you can scale quickly.”

Lisa Sourbutts, Founder, Cube HR

The Cost of Avoiding Difficult Conversations

Jonathan: What are some of the most common challenges you see businesses facing?

Lisa: “Not managing people, because none of us like conflict. None of us want to say to anybody, ‘You are not doing a good job’, because that’s horrible and you don’t know the reaction that you’re going to get.”

One of the biggest issues Lisa sees is a lack of investment in manager training. People are often promoted because they are technically strong in their role, but are not necessarily given the skills or confidence to lead others effectively.

Lisa: “A lot of line managers get promoted because they are technically good at their job. We put you in charge of 10 other people that do HR, but we’re not going to give you any skills on how to manage people.

“If we’re not giving managers the tools and skills to hold those conversations, to deal with the consequences and the fallout, they just avoid the conflict completely.”

This can have a significant impact on morale, performance and retention. It can also create more serious legal and financial risks for the business if issues are left unresolved.

Growing Internationally

Jonathan: As businesses begin trading internationally, are there additional HR considerations they need to be aware of?

Lisa: “Cultural differences, obviously, legislation is different wherever they go. You do find fundamentally it’s the same, and we tend to partner with lawyers or whoever in the other countries.”

For businesses expanding internationally, HR brings another layer of consideration. While the core principles of good people management remain consistent, local employment legislation and cultural expectations can vary significantly between countries.

Lisa: “We’ve worked with businesses that are currently overseas that have come into the UK. We put stuff in place here and then they come and take it off us to take back overseas.”

Cube HR works with lawyers and other specialists in different countries where needed, helping businesses understand local requirements while building robust, people-focused structures that can support growth across borders.

Personal Support, Not a Call Centre

Jonathan: There are many HR providers available. What makes Cube HR’s approach different?

Lisa: “A lot of HR companies focus on compliance, just making sure that you tick that legal box. A lot of our competitors have that call centre environment where you ring a generic number, a generic email and you’re in a queue.

“With us, you ring a dedicated adviser. Our clients get their mobile number and their email, so they only deal with one person, unless they’re on holiday, of course.”

Cube HR’s approach is built around knowing each client’s business properly. That relationship enables the team to offer advice that goes beyond a standard policy or generic answer.

Lisa: “We get to know their business inside and out. I know the names of my clients’ kids, dogs and where they’re going on holiday, because we’ve built that relationship like a true in-house HR person would.”

The Value of Joined-Up Professional Support

Jonathan: How important do you think joined-up advisory support is when businesses are growing?

Lisa: “Massively. In a large organisation, if you look at a board, you would have HR, finance, operations and supply chain, and they would meet every month and talk.

“If you don’t have that, because you’re a smaller organisation or whatever, you’re working in silos.”

Lisa believes that businesses of every size benefit from having access to specialists who can look at challenges from different perspectives. A financial decision may affect people, operations or long-term growth, which is why connected conversations matter.

Lisa: “Having that joined-up approach is fundamental to business success.”

Jonathan: Is that one of the reasons the Director’s Chair appealed to you?

Lisa: “Absolutely. To have a collective of people all working for the same goal, for the success of an organisation, and where we all are connected, is just invaluable.

“The beauty of having something like this, no matter the size, is invaluable.”

The Director’s Chair brings together trusted specialists across a range of business areas, helping leaders access the right expertise at the right time. For growing businesses, this can provide the support and perspective usually associated with a much larger organisation.

Build the Structure Before You Need It

Jonathan: If you could give one piece of advice to business leaders who are currently trying to scale, what would it be?

Lisa: “Get your structure in place now, so that you can scale quickly.”

Lisa’s advice is straightforward: put the structure in place before growth demands it. At Cube HR, she applies this principle internally, with a process map for every part of the business so that a new team member can understand how things are done and follow the right process.

Lisa: “You could come into my business and work and know how to follow everything.”

The same principle applies to HR. A clear onboarding process, for example, helps ensure every new employee receives a consistent experience. Policies, procedures and people strategies should form part of the organisation’s foundations, rather than being introduced only once a problem appears.

The goal is simple, when growth comes, the business is ready for it.

Making a Difference

Jonathan: Finally, outside of work, what keeps you motivated and passionate about what you do?

Lisa: “I love making a difference. I always have loved making a difference. I’ve dedicated my professional career to making workplaces a good place to work.

“I’m a huge advocate for getting outside in the fresh air. So I’m a 10,000 step a day girl. I always go out walking. I do a lot for charity as well, donate time, as well as fundraising and stuff.

“I want to sit around a table at night and the people around that table be grateful that I’m in their life, just the same as I do in a workplace as well. I want people to sit at work and be grateful that they’ve got me and my team as their HR support.”

Ultimately, Lisa wants the people around her, both professionally and personally, to feel that their lives are better because she and her team are part of them. That sense of purpose runs through Cube HR’s approach, helping businesses create workplaces where people are supported, managed effectively and able to grow alongside the organisation.

Connect with Cube HR

Cube HR provides practical, personal HR support for businesses of all sizes. From employment law compliance and contracts to manager training, employee engagement and people strategy, Cube helps organisations build the foundations needed to become great employers.

As part of the Director’s Chair, Lisa and Cube HR bring people-focused expertise into a wider ecosystem of trusted advisers, all working collaboratively to support the businesses at the centre of it.