Alison has spent her career in marketing and advertising, with a focus on B2B brands and technology businesses – the kind of companies whose products and services need explaining before they can be sold.

In 2008, she started working with her first managed payroll provider, and helped them grow from a team of just a few to 130. Over the years, she’s built up a deep understanding of the sector, from the detail of payroll legislation to the everyday pressures payroll teams and employers face. Her crusade is building brand stories and creating stand-out in a very homogenised sector.

At Ascend, Alison’s focus is on making the complex simple. She writes and edits the guides, blogs and campaigns that help employers make sense of payroll, and makes sure Ascend’s personality comes through in everything it says.

For Alison, managed payroll is one of the most interesting sectors to market.

“Payroll is a sector that’s as much about people as it is about compliance. Every bureau has to get the legislation right, so what really sets one apart is how its service is delivered and how it makes clients feel.

My job is to take the technical stuff and make it clear, useful and human. If an employer reads something we’ve written and thinks ‘I get it now’, that’s a job well done.”

That’s what she brings to every piece of content – real sector knowledge, plain English and a clear sense of who’s reading.