About Us

Real-World Support. Practical Progress.

We’re here to help your business run more safely, smoothly, and confidently through practical support that strengthens your people, processes, and protection.

Clarity.

Trust.

Accountability.

Progress.

Who We Help

ProgressA was founded to fix a frustrating gap in the market, where most providers either offer vague advice or hand you generic templates. We show up, roll up our sleeves, and get to work alongside you.

We support SME leaders across construction, manufacturing, and professional services who are often stuck between doing it all themselves and hiring in-house teams they can’t yet afford. Our promise? Practical, experienced support that keeps you legal, builds trust, and gets results.

Explore Our Services

Experience over theory

Our team has stood in your shoes and understands the realities of running an SME.

Action over advice

We don’t just tell you what to do, we help you do it.

Clarity and control

Whether it's resolving conflict or reducing risk, we simplify the complex.

Human-first support

Everything we do is rooted in people, culture, and real relationships.

Why We Exist

We believe every business deserves access to the same quality of HR, H&S, recruitment, and leadership support as the big firms, without the bloated fees or cookie-cutter service.

From preventing accidents that could devastate a family, to mentoring future leaders, our mission is simple: protect what matters, build what works, and help SMEs perform through their people.

Your Priorities, Backed by Experts

We know what it’s like to feel the weight of responsibility, keeping your team safe, staying compliant, supporting managers, and trying to grow all at once. That’s why we focus on what matters most to you. Whether it’s avoiding legal pitfalls or building a more capable workforce, we give you the clarity to make decisions with confidence.

Adapting to Your Business

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for SMEs. Every business has its own pressures, pace, and people. So we listen first. Then we design support that fits your exact needs — from step-by-step HR guidance to structured leadership development or hands-on recruitment help. ProgressA flexes around your business, not the other way round.

Our Ethos

Grounded in Practical Insight

ProgressA is the final chapter in a career built on helping businesses and people thrive. It’s shaped by personal experiences, real losses, great mentors, and a deep belief that every team can do better with the right support.

That’s why we don’t compromise on one thing: advice should always come from someone who’s been there.

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Our Process

How We Work with Your Business

Every engagement starts with listening. From there, we tailor a plan based on what’s urgent, what’s important, and what will deliver the greatest value. You can expect:

A dedicated consultant who knows your business.
Clear steps without using jargon.
Real business outcomes you can measure.

Results

What You Can Expect from Our Partnership

Six months in, clients tell us they feel more in control. Managers who were once sceptical now come to us for guidance. Risks are lower. Teams are stronger. Leadership is clearer. And best of all, the business runs better.

Because progress shouldn’t feel overwhelming. It should feel like confidence, structure, and support.

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Meet the Founder

About Our Founder

Progressa exists to bring big-company expertise to small and medium-sized businesses in a way that’s personal, pragmatic and genuinely effective. That belief comes directly from the journey of our founder, Nick Hurt.

Nick’s career didn’t begin in a boardroom. It started at 16 on a YTS scheme, learning what real work looks and feels like on the ground. Those early years shaped his understanding of people, responsibility, and the realities faced by businesses.

His potential was recognised early. His employer sponsored him through university, where he completed both a B.Eng. (Hons) and an M.Eng. That support changed the trajectory of his life and marked the moment Nick understood the power of opportunity, something that underpins Progressa’s philosophy today.

Over the next two decades, Nick built a career that took him across the UK, to living in France, America and Canada, working with blue-chip organisations and taking on challenges many leaders hesitate to touch. He became known for stepping into complex problems, cultural issues, operational failures, underperforming teams and major safety breakdowns, and delivering measurable turnarounds.

His expertise deepened further when he qualified as a Black Belt in 2000 and a Master Black Belt in 2002, leading large-scale improvement programmes and driving performance change through the Six Sigma methodology. In 2016 he completed the Advanced Leadership and Management Programme at Oxford University, followed by the IOD “Role of the Director and the Board” programme in 2020.

Nick eventually became CEO of a PPE design and manufacturing company, bringing together his technical background, leadership capability, and passion for protecting people. But it was during this period that a realisation crystallised.

The businesses most in need of senior-level HR and Health & Safety expertise weren’t the global companies with established teams. It was the SMEs, the organisations with significant responsibilities but limited access to experienced support.

Nick wanted to change that.

In 2023, he founded Progressa to offer SMEs the same standard of expertise, rigour and personal commitment he delivered at corporate level, but delivered in a way that’s practical, direct and suited to the realities of a growing business.

He has since formalised his professional credentials by achieving Certified status in Health & Safety (CertIOSH) and Chartered status in Human Resources (MCIPD). This combination of executive leadership experience, technical depth, turnaround capability, and dual qualifications makes Nick’s skill set uniquely valuable to the SME market.

His philosophy is simple: be honest, be practical, and deliver improvement that lasts. No jargon. No box-ticking. No corporate detachment. Just real support from someone who has genuinely been there.

Clients who work with Nick don’t get a call-centre advisor or templated reports. They get a partner who rolls up his sleeves, understands their business, and brings world-class expertise in a way that fits their scale and ambition.

Progressa exists because Nick believes SMEs deserve better — safer workplaces, stronger leadership, more capable teams, and someone experienced to share the pressure.

That’s the spirit behind Progressa: big-company capability, small-company partnership.

Testimonials

What Our Clients Say About Us

Nick & the team at Progressa have added real value to our business. The pace and unpredictability of the film, TV and events industry mean we need someone who understands both the creative environment and the responsibilities that come with leading a growing team. Nick brings exactly that. He combines deep expertise, with a calm, straightforward approach that makes complex matters easy to navigate. What stands out is his ability to balance compliance with commercial reality — giving us confidence that we’re doing things properly while keeping the business moving.

Nick has become a trusted and highly respected partner to our leadership team. His involvement has strengthened how we look after our people and how we operate as a company. I would recommend Progressa to any organisation looking for experienced, no-nonsense support delivered with genuine care and professionalism.