For 19 years, J.O. Sims, the Spalding-based fresh fruit and fruit ingredients supplier, stayed with the same outsourced payroll provider, and for most of that time, things worked well. “Across the course of those years, things worked very well,” Steve Colvin, Financial Controller explained. “People would come and go in terms of who was processing
Specialists, not software – why J.O. Sims moved to Ascend Payroll Read More »
At Ascend, we spend our days buried in payroll data, so we’re used to spotting the small errors that quietly turn into big problems years down the line. National Insurance is a classic example. Get a few years wrong, and the impact doesn’t show up on a payslip – it shows up decades later, in
Why every employee should check their State Pension record this year Read More »
Tracey Ellis has been running payroll at Richard’s Chassis, the Rotherham-based Land Rover chassis manufacturer, for years. They first moved payroll outside the business around three years ago and they found a small, friendly bureau that delivered a good service, built on a trusted processor who knew the business and dealt with problems quickly and
We’re delighted to welcome Adele Blackham to Ascend as our new Head of Strategic Partnerships. Adele has spent her entire career in payroll, and she’s rejoining old colleagues Stewart Waddell and Richard Rowell, bringing a wealth of experience in client relationships, bureau operations and business development. Starting out Adele’s career began with a YTS placement
Welcome on board, Adele Blackham Read More »
Why outsourcing makes financial sense When you receive a quote for managed payroll, it is easy to view it as a brand-new business expense. This usually happens because you are comparing it against a falsely low internal cost base. Many businesses assume their in-house payroll is essentially free because it is absorbed into a finance
The hidden costs of in-house payroll Read More »
If you have been running a hospitality business for any length of time, you will know that the legislation rarely leaves you alone for long. The Allocation of Tips Act in October 2024. The employer NIC hike in the April 2025 Budget. National Minimum Wage rises every April. And now, just as you might have
The Employment Rights Act – what it really means if you run a pub, restaurant or hotel Read More »
If you run a hospitality business today, your payroll is rarely simple and predictable. It is a constantly moving target. You’re working with a mix of salaried managers, weekly paid bar staff, casual workers covering seasonal shifts and often agency workers. You need these different worker types to be flexible and agile, but this flexibility
The hidden costs draining your hospitality payroll Read More »
April is Stress Awareness Month. It is a moment the HR and wellbeing world tends to mark with statistics about burnout and articles about resilience techniques. All of that is useful. But we wanted to do something a bit different this year. We wanted to talk about what it looks like when things are going
Stress Awareness Month is a good time to ask – how does your team really feel? Read More »
One of the most common travel expense mistakes I see businesses make has nothing to do with the mileage rate or the meal allowance. It’s a much more fundamental error that they haven’t stopped to ask whether the workplace the employee is travelling to qualifies for tax-free treatment in the first place. That question –of
The workplace question that decides every travel expense Read More »
Choosing whether to outsource your payroll or manage it internally might be a common business decision, but it’s not one that should be taken lightly. This comprehensive blog examines both options through the lens of cost, compliance risk, and scalability to help you make the right choice for your business. The changing UK payroll management
Outsourced Payroll vs In-House Read More »
