Investigations. Intelligence. Integrity.
Europe’s cross-border specialists in workplace investigations, corporate intelligence, and conflict resolution.
About H&H
Hand & Heart GmbH is an independent investigation and conflict practice based in Europe. We are not a law firm. We are not a detective agency. We are not an HR consultancy that added investigations to the menu.
We were founded as an investigation and conflict practice, rooted in consultancy, education, and systems change, and that background shapes everything we do.
Our work spans workplace investigations, corporate intelligence, labour relations, due diligence, OSINT, contract and procurement fraud, and training. We operate across the EU, the UK, and internationally. We work in multiple languages and across multiple legal jurisdictions. And, as one of the few firms in this field to do so, we work for employers and employees.
We focus on three things: getting to the truth, doing it properly, and making sure organisations are better equipped when we leave than when we arrived.
Background
Hand & Heart was built out of a recognition that Europe had a problem: a growing volume of complex, cross-border workplace and corporate matters, and almost no specialist infrastructure to handle them properly.
Most investigation firms operating in Europe were doing one of two things. Either they were large global consultancies: expensive, inaccessible to most organisations, and entirely employer-facing. Or they were traditional detective agencies, still focused on surveillance and single-jurisdiction work, with no capability in digital investigations, no GDPR expertise, and no interest in training.
Very few were filling the space in the middle. Very few were offering genuinely cross-border, multi-jurisdictional investigation and intelligence services at a boutique level, with training built in and employee-side work as part of the offering.
That is the space Hand & Heart was built to occupy.
Over more than a decade, we have led over 200 investigations across public, private, and third-sector workplaces, ranging from single-site misconduct cases to large-scale, multi-party, cross-border matters. We have worked within EU Parliament and Commission frameworks. We have advised on GDPR compliance as an integrated part of investigative engagements, not as an afterthought. We have built training programmes for HR, legal, compliance, and management teams that are grounded in real-world investigative experience, not theory.
Size of the European investigation services market, across more than 7,700 businesses and growing at 4.5% annually. We are one of a very small number of firms positioned to meet the full complexity of what that market actually needs.
Our difference
There is no shortage of organisations that offer investigations, or training, or conflict resolution. There are very few that do all of it: across borders, in multiple jurisdictions, in multiple languages, with GDPR compliance integrated from day one, and with the capability to act for employers and employees alike.
We handle cases that span jurisdictions: EU member states, the UK, and beyond, without requiring clients to manage a separate team in each country. We coordinate multi-party cases, manage multi-jurisdictional evidence, and navigate varying employment and data protection law regimes as a single, integrated practice.
We do not bolt on data protection advice at the end of an investigation. We integrate GDPR consultation into every engagement from the outset, from evidence handling and data subject rights to cross-border transfer protocols and regulatory disclosure obligations.
Everything we do, we also teach. Our training capability is not a separate department: it is embedded in how we work. Clients who engage us for an investigation can also commission training that builds internal capacity to handle similar matters in the future.
We are one of the few firms in Europe to do this. The overwhelming majority of investigation firms on this continent work exclusively for employers. Hand & Heart works for both, including individual employees facing disciplinary proceedings, trade unions, whistleblowers, and workers with rights-based concerns.
Our work extends to engagements with and within EU Parliament and Commission frameworks, giving us a level of institutional knowledge that most investigation practices simply do not have.
We are among the most experienced firms in Europe in digital investigations, e-discovery, OSINT, and social media intelligence. We are equipped for cases that many others cannot run.
Principles
We believe people (read: workers) are the key to lasting, effective workplaces. Meaningful change is not about moving fast or saying the right thing. It is about doing the real work, with care.
We start where it is hardest: when something has gone wrong, trust has broken down, or harm has occurred. We are here to diagnose the real issues and act with clarity. We do not manage optics. We manage reality.
We do not deliver lofty talks or one-size-fits-all slide decks. We deliver relevant, rights-based education to the people who need it, grounded in lived workplace realities and legal responsibility. Organisations should understand what we do and why. That knowledge stays with them after we leave.
Whether running a sensitive investigation or supporting internal teams, we work alongside your people. Our impact is embedded, not imposed. We do not parachute in, hand over a report, and disappear. We make sure the work lands.
We reject fast fixes. Lasting change takes careful timing, proper context, and stakeholder consent. We take the time to do things right, and it works. This matters especially in investigation work, where procedural failures are the most common grounds for legal challenge.
Our work is designed to outlast us. We do not aim for dependence: we aim for stability. If we have done our job properly, you will not need us again for the same problem. That is a good outcome for everyone.
People
Hand & Heart is a cross-border, multilingual, multi-jurisdictional practice. Our team brings experience across employment law environments, workplace cultures, and regulatory frameworks spanning the EU and the UK. We are trauma-informed in our approach to sensitive investigation and conflict work, and deeply experienced in the full range of matters we handle.
We are registered in Germany and operate across Europe. We are committed to raising standards for investigators across the region, including campaigning for formal licensing frameworks in Germany, the EU, and the UK. In a field where anyone can call themselves an investigator, we think that matters.
Founder and managing director: Kate Bailey (opens in a new tab).
Contact
Whether you are an employer managing a complex cross-border case, an employee who needs independent investigative support, or an institution looking to build internal capability: we are here.
