Opus Safety vs Croner: how the two compare

If employment law and HR are what you ring about most, and you want tribunal representation, HR software and a 24/7 line from one supplier, Croner may still be the right fit. If health and safety is the priority and you want the same named consultant writing your assessments and coming back to your sites, Opus Safety is the closer alternative. Croner is part of the Peninsula Group and sells HR, employment law and health and safety advice, documentation, software and insurance. Opus is a health and safety consultancy founded by former health and safety inspectors, with occupational health and HR alongside.

Which Croner this page means

Several businesses and services carry the name. This page is about Croner, the HR, employment law and health and safety services business at croner.co.uk. It is not about Croner-i, which the Peninsula Group lists as its tax, audit and accountancy specialist, or the pay and salary-benchmarking products that also carry the Croner name.

What each one is

Croner describes itself as a provider of "HR, Employment Law, and Health & Safety advice, documentation, software and insurance to business owners and senior leaders", and says it has been helping businesses since 1941. On health and safety, Croner says its experts carry out and write risk assessments. A Croner consultant visits to audit your premises and carry out the first risk assessment on site, a written report follows with action points ranked by urgency, then a follow-up visit, with an annual review after that. Croner provides the policy, management system and handbooks, and runs an advice line 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Its software includes Croner BrightSafe and HS Manager for health and safety and Croner BrightHR for HR. Its own pages say it is part of the Peninsula Group.

Opus Safety is a health and safety consultancy first. On the Opus Safety Partnership, the same named consultant comes back on every visit, writes your risk assessments and policies, and is on call between visits, for a fixed monthly fee. How often the consultant visits is set in your contract. You get full access to Compliance Cloud, the same platform your consultant uses. Fire, asbestos, noise, legionella and occupational health all come through us, and HR support grounded in employment law comes from the same business. We also have sector pages for builders merchants and warehousing.

The differences that decide it

	Croner	Opus Safety
Core business	HR, employment law and health and safety, with software and insurance	Health and safety, with occupational health and HR
Health and safety delivery	Croner's experts carry out and write risk assessments; a consultant audits and carries out the first one on site, followed by a written report, a follow-up visit and an annual review; Croner writes the policy, management system and handbooks	The same named consultant writes your risk assessments and policies and visits as set in your contract
Between visits	A 24/7 advice line	Your named consultant, on call
Software	Croner BrightSafe and HS Manager for health and safety, Croner BrightHR for HR	Compliance Cloud
Beyond health and safety	Employment law advice, tribunal representation, on-site HR support, an employee assistance programme, optional legal expenses insurance	Occupational health, training, HR and employment law support
Pricing	Packages priced per employee, per month	A fixed monthly fee, set by quote

The core business and who does the work matter most.

If employment law is what you need most, you are buying an HR and employment law service that also covers health and safety. Opus offers HR and employment law support too, so compare the two HR services directly, including what tribunal support each includes.

Both providers send a consultant to your site, so ask each one how often someone visits, whether it is the same person, and who writes the assessments once the visit is over.

Where Croner is the better answer

• Employment law is your main need, and you want tribunal representation and settlement negotiation from the same supplier.
• HR software, HR advice and health and safety under one contract suits the way you buy.
• Your questions come up at night, at weekends or on bank holidays, and you want an advice line that answers then.
• You want legal expenses insurance for tribunal and health and safety prosecution costs alongside the service. Croner offers this as an optional product, underwritten by Irwell Insurance.

Where Opus is the better answer

• Health and safety is the main risk, and you want the same consultant, who knows your sites, to write the assessments.
• You want Opus named in your documentation, with your consultant on call between visits.
• Your work needs specialist assessments such as fire, asbestos, noise or legionella, and you would rather they came through the team that already knows your sites. These are usually quoted separately or built into a Partnership by agreement.
• You need some HR support alongside.

What to check before you switch

• Your contract term, notice period and renewal clause, in writing. We have not seen Croner's terms and will not describe them second hand, so read the agreement you signed and ask Croner to confirm the dates.
• Your documents, and the format they come back in: risk assessments, policies, handbooks, training records, and anything held in Croner BrightSafe, HS Manager or Croner BrightHR. Ask how and when you can export them.
• Any insurance you hold through Croner. If you took the optional legal expenses cover, ask Croner how it relates to your service contract before you give notice.
• Continuity of your competent person. In Great Britain, regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires you to appoint competent assistance, so plan the handover with no gap between one appointment ending and the next beginning.
• Whether you are splitting HR from health and safety. If you move safety and keep HR with Croner, check with Croner that the HR service can continue on its own, and agree how absence, occupational health referrals and anything else that touches both will be shared.
• Any customer or insurer contract that names your provider, so the change is notified where it needs to be.

If you are shortlisting more than two providers, our guide to alternatives to Croner sets out the other options.

How switching works

We start with a health and safety audit and gap analysis. Your consultant reviews your policies, risk assessments, safe systems of work and training records against current law, checks them against what happens on site, and gives you an action plan with every gap ranked by severity. The plan shows what is sound and what needs work.

From there Opus is named in your documentation and the visits begin, with Compliance Cloud working alongside your existing systems. You can export all of your data from Compliance Cloud at any time. Appointing an external consultant changes who does the work, not who is accountable for it: the duties stay with you as the employer, and we stand behind the quality of the work we deliver. Our Partnership is typically operational within two to three weeks of going ahead, so time the start to your notice period and the new appointment begins as the old one ends.

Frequently asked questions

Can I leave my Croner contract early? It depends on the terms you signed. Read your agreement for the term, the notice period and any renewal clause, and ask Croner to confirm them in writing. We have not seen Croner's terms and will not describe them second hand.

Is Opus cheaper than Croner? They price differently. Croner prices its packages per employee, per month; Opus charges a fixed monthly fee, set by quote. The fair comparison is two quotes against the same specification: the number of sites, how often someone visits, who writes the assessments, and what sits outside the fee.

Are Croner and Croner-i the same company? Both are part of the Peninsula Group, which lists Croner as its HR, employment law and health and safety business and Croner-i as its tax, audit and accountancy specialist. This page compares Opus with Croner's HR, employment law and health and safety services.

Who owns Croner? Croner's own website says it is part of the Peninsula Group.

Does Opus offer employment law support like Croner? Yes. Opus's HR support is grounded in employment law and covers grievances, disciplinaries, contracts, handbooks and absence. Croner's pages offer tribunal representation, so ask both providers what tribunal support is included.

Can I use Opus for health and safety and keep Croner for HR? Opus can take on health and safety on its own or offer its HR service too. Whether your Croner HR service can continue without it depends on your agreement, so check with Croner first, then agree how absence, occupational health referrals and anything else that touches both will be shared.

Do I legally need a provider at all? No. In Great Britain, regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires competent assistance, and where someone in your business has the competence, it requires you to appoint them in preference to someone from outside. A provider is one way to meet the duty when no one in-house can.

Where to go next

If you are weighing a move, start with a health and safety audit. You will see what is in place and what a switch would involve before you give anyone notice.