Small businesses can now call upon expert HR advice at the touch of a button thanks to a new app developed by Cheltenham-based HR experts.

HR Mate has been developed by two directors of Eight Legal who combined their industry knowledge with that of a technology expert to develop the app.

The app has been developed to help small and medium-sized businesses deal with HR and employment law problems as and when they occur.

Until now, SMEs had to either go it alone and risk being caught out or pay for costly advice when it wasn't needed.

But HR Mate aims to offer a middle way by putting those in need of advice in touch with others who are qualified to give it - all at the touch of a button.

James Cronin, a director at Eight Legal, said: "All too often we see SMEs get themselves into dangerous situations before seeking guidance.

"When problems arise, many businesses have to rely on solicitors to give advice, and costs can rapidly escalate

"Other businesses will try to go it alone, but make an honest mistake and end up defending themselves in a tribunal.

"The choice has been between struggling on alone and risk a damaging mistake or pay someone for something you don't need that often.

"Our aim was to try and address that gap in the market."

Fellow, Eight Legal director Kay Hamblin said: "The idea is that small businesses that don't have their own in-house HR can sign-up and request help.

"HR professionals can download the app for free, discuss the issue with the person who posted and then put in a quote for that work."

The HR experts who register pay an annual fee of £99 to upgrade to premium access which allows them to quote for as many jobs as they like.

The small business seeking advice doesn't pay a penny for the introduction but agrees a price as quoted by the provider. There are no extra costs or commissions.

Ms Hamblin added: "We are trying to make the cost low, so that it's not off-putting to the provider, one piece of work will mean they get their costs back.

"There isn't really anything like this out there at the moment. Employment law and HR has a lot of intricacies and is a very specialised area.

"It's also one that companies cannot afford to get wrong, early intervention from HR experts can save you huge amounts of money and reputational damage - prevention is better than cure.

"We want to get HR people involved, but more importantly we want small businesses to know this is out there to help them."

HR Mate is free to download and is available from the App Store for iOS devices and Google play for Android.

For more information about HR Mate visit www.hrmate.co.uk or contact james@hrmate.co.uk or kay@hrmate.co.uk