Why Now Is the Time to Plan Your HR Consulting Career for 2026

Every summer, senior HR professionals across the UK and beyond face the same challenge: the great juggle. You're managing employee relations, navigating change, and sitting on leadership teams,while simultaneously sorting childcare, summer clubs, family holidays, and everything in between.

If you’re nodding along, you’re not alone.

Summer often magnifies the imbalance many HR leaders feel between their professional commitments and personal priorities. And for many, this becomes a tipping point,a moment to ask:

• Is this really how I want to spend every summer?

• What would my life look like if I worked for myself instead of someone else?

• Is now the time to start planning a career change?

If these thoughts resonate, now is the perfect time to explore what a future in HR consulting could look like in 2026.

Why Senior HR Professionals Are Making the Leap Into HR Consulting®

HR consulting offers the freedom and flexibility that many in-house roles simply can’t. More than 250 professionals have already launched successful HR consultancies with the support of our award-winning Leap Into HR Consulting® Bootcamp - and many of them were working parents who wanted to reclaim control over their time.

By transitioning into consulting, our Bootcampers have gone on to:

• Replace (and often exceed) their corporate income

• Build businesses around their families and personal priorities

• Work with clients they choose and truly align with

• Speak at events, chair CIPD branches, and gain industry recognition

• Enjoy a better quality of life without sacrificing professional impact

What Is the Leap Into HR Consulting® Bootcamp?

Our internationally CPD-accredited HR Consultants Bootcamp is a 6-week, fully online programme designed for senior HR and People professionals ready to leave the corporate world.

You'll be guided through a proven framework built around the 5C’s Model:

1. Confidence – Gain belief in your skills, strengths, and value

2. Clarity – Define your niche, services, and ideal client base

3. Credibility – Build your personal brand and presence

4. Collaboration – Discover powerful partners and business tools

5. Courage – Learn to price, pitch, and promote your business

6. Launch – Step-by-step guidance to open your consultancy doors

With access to weekly live coaching, private peer communities, and 12 months of learning resources, you'll build not just a business, but the mindset to succeed.

Why 2025 Is the Best Year to Prepare for a 2026 Launch

Planning your exit from corporate HR doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time, support, and structure which is exactly what our Bootcamp provides.

Most of our participants go from corporate to consultant in 12 weeks, and we have new cohorts starting in September  and November 2025.

That means if you start planning now, you could be running your own HR consultancy in time for next summer, on your terms.

So instead of dreading next year’s summer holidays, you could be:

• Working flexibly from home (or even abroad!)

• Managing your own schedule around your children

• Doing meaningful work with clients you love

• Finally achieving the work-life balance you’ve dreamed of

Is It Time to Put Yourself First?

If you're feeling burned out, stuck, or simply curious about what life could be like as an independent HR consultant this is your sign to take action.

You can learn more about the programme and book a free discovery call with me, Sarah Hamilton-Gill FCIPD, right here:

 https://www.leapintoconsulting.com

Or go straight to booking a call:
 https://calendly.com/sarahhg-ghr/discovery

Final Thoughts: Don’t Let Another Summer Slip By

You don’t need to wait until you burn out to make a change. Start planning now, and by this time next year, you could be working for you with a business that fits around your life, not the other way around.

Let 2025 be your year of preparation.

Make 2026 the year you become your own boss.