The renewed appointment reflects Durham Cricket's choice to outsource HR rather than hire in-house after an internal restructure.

Shrewd HR has extended its relationship with Durham Cricket, being formally appointed the club's Official HR Partner from January 2026. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Shrewd HR is a Durham-based HR consultancy offering retained and on-site HR support, employment law guidance, policy and contract development, audits, training and people strategy services. Financial figures are not publicly available.

Durham Cricket is a professional cricket club based at the Banks Homes Riverside ground in Chester-le-Street, County Durham. Financial figures are not publicly available.

Advisors: None mentioned.

The strategic logic is straightforward: following an internal restructure, Durham Cricket chose to outsource its HR function rather than recruit a single in-house professional, opting instead for retained, on-site specialist support. That decision reflects a wider pattern among sports organisations balancing compliance obligations with the operational pressures of high-performance environments.

Martin Potts, director at Shrewd HR, said building a long-term partnership with Durham Cricket "feels incredibly meaningful," adding that what began as sponsorship "has grown into a trusted working relationship." Ian Dawson, finance director at Durham Cricket, said the consultancy's on-site support and understanding of the club's environment had given it "confidence that our people matters are being handled consistently and professionally."

A central strand of the partnership is manager development, with Durham Cricket staff enrolled in Shrewd HR's six-month Managing with Confidence programme, covering recruitment, communication, absence and performance management. Shrewd HR holds comparable HR partner roles with Durham Women FC, True Padel and Newcastle Eagles, building a specific track record in sport.

For HR providers, the deal illustrates how specialist, sector-embedded retained models are increasingly winning out over single in-house hires, particularly where compliance risk and people development sit alongside a demanding operational calendar. As more sports organisations restructure their people functions, this outsourced, on-site model looks likely to become a reference point for how HR support is procured across the sector.

Source: Business Durham / Durham Cricket