EMPLOYEE PASSPORT / CASE STUDIES
Real situations. Practical support. These HR case studies show how organisations worked through people challenges with experienced advisers alongside them. Explore the situation, the steps taken and the outcome recorded for each organisation.
These case studies draw on work delivered by or involving Mark Whitfield, now CEO of Employee Passport. Each explains the situation, the support provided and the outcome recorded at the time. Current Hub use is identified separately from earlier advisory work.
RETAIL / HR AND EMPLOYEE RELATIONS SUPPORT
A review of The Fragrance Shop’s HR account brought the next steps behind a busy caseload into clearer view. The work combined regular conversations, live tracking and practical support for managers handling sensitive people matters.
The Fragrance Shop needed support across employee relations, absence, occupational health, organisational change and employment documentation. With several managers and external parties involved, an item marked as open did not always explain what was needed to move it forward.
The support included weekly catch-ups, meeting sheets, live case trackers, advice and supporting letters. Mark reviewed the 2025 and 2026 account material to separate outstanding advisory work from information needed from managers, employee responses, occupational health input and completed matters awaiting an update. This gave the account discussion a more useful starting point: the next action, the person responsible and the information required.
The review documented approximately 150 recorded matters and support entries: 134 from the 2025 material and 16 from the 2026 material. These include meetings, tracker updates and administrative support as well as casework; they are not 150 separate employees or completed cases. The immediate result was a structured account review and a clearer basis for prioritising follow-up, rather than a claim that every outstanding matter had been resolved.
Progress depended on timely updates, clear handovers and, in some cases, third-party evidence. Some completed matters also needed their final documents and closure status recorded. The review recommended named owners, due dates, a clearer occupational health approval route and a joint check of closed cases.
This case study covers advisory work and an account review. It does not attribute the historical work or its outcomes to EPL Hub software.
Source: the account review supplied by Mark Whitfield, covering 2025 and 2026 records. Proposed actions are distinguished from completed work.
CHARITIES / ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGER SUPPORT
Mark Whitfield helped Just Drop In develop a clearer way to work through difficult situations. The charity gained a practical framework for team discussions, assertiveness and decisions about the support its visitors needed.
Just Drop In provides support for children and young people in Macclesfield and the surrounding area. Growing demand and the complexity of the situations brought to the charity were placing pressure on its staff. Chief Officer Ann Wright wanted to help the team become more confident in handling challenging conversations.
Through a Cheshire Connect skills match, Mark worked with Ann to understand the pressures behind the issue. He introduced a Business Model Canvas approach to break the problem into manageable parts and consider how the organisation could respond. The framework gave the charity a way to examine the immediate assertiveness challenge and apply the same thinking to other issues.
The supplied case study reports a clearer and more consistent process for assessing situations and signposting people to specialist support. Staff and volunteers felt more confident in difficult conversations with different audiences. Quieter team members also felt able to contribute to discussions. These are reported qualitative outcomes; the source does not provide numerical measures.
“Mark was knowledgeable, skilled and had boundless enthusiasm and energy in supporting us. He took time to understand our needs, and by listening to our issues, we came up with a fantastic plan to look at where there were particular systemic challenges in the organisation.”
Ann Wright, Chief Officer, Just Drop In
This was organisational development support. No Hub use or software outcome is claimed.
Source: the supplied Just Drop In case study and client feedback. Reported experience is presented as historical work delivered by Mark Whitfield, now CEO of Employee Passport.
MEDIA / RECRUITMENT PROCESS AND DOCUMENTATION SUPPORT
Nerve Media needed to assess two candidates for a specialist role. Practical HR support helped the business put a documented paid trial process in place, with clearer expectations for everyone involved.
The role required a particular combination of skills and experience. Two candidates were being considered for one vacancy, and the business wanted to see how they worked during a two-week paid placement before deciding whom to appoint.
The advisory work focused on explaining the trial as part of the recruitment process and documenting its terms. The client received a template letter, a work trial agreement and confidentiality documentation, together with guidance on pay and the proposed recruitment sequence. The approach addressed the client’s specific recruitment question rather than leaving it to adapt a generic template alone.
The source records that the process, template letter and trial were put in place. It does not record the final hiring decision or a later performance result, so neither is claimed here.
Nerve Media now uses the EPL Hub, as confirmed by Mark Whitfield in September 2026. The 2022 recruitment work described here predates that current software use.
Source: the supplied case note dated 27 June 2022, with the current Hub-use statement supplied by Mark. This is a historical project summary, not current legal guidance for setting up a work trial. For current recruitment guidance, see Acas on work trials and interviewing.
PEOPLE MANAGEMENT / BEREAVEMENT AND MANAGER SUPPORT
A manager at NDT wanted to support an employee after a bereavement and understand what to do if more time away from work was needed. The support helped the manager have a sensitive conversation and explain the options available.
The employee had used the bereavement leave available under the company’s handbook. The manager was concerned about how to respond next and wanted to balance the employee’s wishes with the practical options in the policy.
The adviser talked the manager through the available options and the process for discussing them with the employee. The conversation covered possible further leave and how to keep communication open if the employee’s needs changed. The employee’s preference was central to the discussion.
The employee chose to return to work and agreed to speak with the manager if further support or time away became necessary. The case note records that the manager gained a clearer understanding of the bereavement process and greater confidence in handling the situation. A clear route for future conversations was established.
This case study concerns human advice and manager support. It does not claim Hub use.
Source: the supplied bereavement case note dated 16 May 2022. This is a historical example, not a statement of current statutory leave entitlements.
PEOPLE MANAGEMENT / PROBATION AND PERFORMANCE SUPPORT
Crest needed help with an employee who was struggling during probation. The support helped the manager explore the reasons for the performance concern and agree a structured opportunity to improve.
The employee’s performance was below the level expected during probation. The business wanted to understand its options while treating the employee fairly and considering whether further support could help.
The advice was to hold a probation review meeting and discuss the current situation with the employee. Letters and supporting documents were provided so the manager could organise the review and record the next steps. The discussion was intended to understand the cause of the difficulty before deciding what should happen.
The employee’s probation was extended, with daily check-ins planned with the line manager. This provided a defined opportunity to improve and a clearer support arrangement. The source does not confirm the eventual performance outcome or retention of the employee; avoiding another recruitment exercise was a potential benefit, not a measured result.
This is a historical advisory case. No Hub use or software outcome is claimed.
Source: the supplied probation case note dated 24 June 2022. The case records the agreed next steps, not the employee’s eventual outcome.
ENGINEERING / LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Work with Trelleborg’s senior leadership team helped clarify and communicate the organisation’s values, vision and mission. The project then moved into leadership development through the Compass programme.
The project focused on giving leaders a clearer shared foundation for communication and decision-making. It connected the direction of the business with the way leaders listened, challenged and responded to one another.
The work supported senior leaders in shaping and communicating their own values, vision and mission. This was followed by completion of the Compass programme, which focused on understanding different leadership styles and improving communication, listening and responses to opposing views.
The homepage project summary reports clearer direction, stronger leadership communication and a better understanding of how to listen, challenge and respond constructively. These are qualitative outcomes from the published project account. It does not provide participant numbers, assessment scores, financial results or a measured productivity change.
The practical challenge was to connect stated values with everyday leadership behaviour. The next step identified in the source was to embed those values and behaviours across the wider business; the source does not establish that this wider rollout had been completed.
This was learning and development work. It is not presented as an EPL Hub software project.
Source: the three Trelleborg project images displayed on the Employee Passport homepage, reviewed on 25 September 2026. The case study is based on that published summary rather than a separate detailed evaluation report.
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LEISURE / HEALTH AND SAFETY SUPPORT
Pryors Hayes needed practical help to turn Health and Safety findings into a manageable programme of work. Employee Passport worked across the golf course, greenkeeping areas and clubhouse to build assessments and actions around the actual site.
The club combines golf, grounds maintenance, hospitality and events. Its safety arrangements needed to reflect the different activities, equipment, substances and people using those spaces. An audit identified gaps that required more detailed assessment and follow-up.
EPL inspected the course, greenkeeping compound, machinery and buggies, then followed up across the clubhouse, kitchen, bar, event areas and simulator. Site observations and photographs informed risk assessments, a COSHH portfolio and a prioritised 30/60/90-day action plan. Safe systems of work, a working fire safety plan and a signage schedule were also prepared.
The report dated 10 September records completed risk-assessment and COSHH documentation, draft safe systems of work and an organised evidence base. Managers had a clearer record of the controls, responsibilities and follow-up required. This was progress towards implementation, rather than a claim that every site action had been closed.
The next phase covered management acceptance and staff briefings, physical improvements, final fire verification and signage installation. Actions would remain open until the relevant evidence confirmed completion.
Pryors Hayes uses the EPL Hub. The project plan provides for approved documents, assigned actions and supporting evidence to be maintained there; completion of every upload is not claimed.
Source: EPL Health & Safety Project Progress Report for Pryors Hayes, 10 September 2026. Status reflects that report, not a certification of compliance.
AUTOMOTIVE RETAIL / HR AND HEALTH AND SAFETY SUPPORT WITH THE EPL HUB
Rates Ford works with Employee Passport across HR, Health and Safety and the EPL Hub. The support combines regular contact with practical site reviews and a shared place for workplace records.
The Ford dealership in Grays brings together vehicle sales, offices, workshops and a service centre. Supporting its managers means understanding both the people questions and the day-to-day safety responsibilities across those activities.
EPL agreed a regular on-site HR support arrangement and carried out a Health and Safety audit on 26 August 2026. Sharon Price reviewed the working areas and discussed documents and procedures with the client. The updated report incorporated photographs into the relevant sections and recorded additional actions where the evidence called for them.
The audit produced a documented set of priorities, responsibilities and target timescales. It also recorded that completed documents had been uploaded to the EPL Hub. This gave the team a clearer basis for follow-up alongside its ongoing HR support; the report does not establish that every audit action was subsequently closed.
The audit identified the need to share responsibilities across the business and keep records current. Implementation and verification of individual actions remained part of the follow-up.
Rates Ford uses the EPL Hub alongside HR and Health and Safety support. The audit records existing document uploads; no software-driven savings or completion rate is claimed.
Sources: Rates Ford audit dated 26 August 2026, updated with photographic evidence, and the regular HR support arrangement confirmed by Mark Whitfield.