Stewart has only ever worked in payroll and built his early career working within the payroll team of an accountancy practice, alongside Richard Rowell.

From 2013, Stewart was a director at a payroll bureau where he helped it grow into a 130-strong organisation with a specialist education division. After a short stint in the world of large corporate payroll providers, he realised he wanted to build something less impersonal.

So in 2024, he teamed up with Richard Rowell to set up Ascend Payroll. Both had seen managed payroll clients treated as just another number, stuck with impersonal service and annual price hikes. They knew it could be done better.

As CEO, Stewart is the driving force behind Ascend’s customer promise and building a culture whereby ‘do the right thing’ is embedded throughout every aspect of the business.

For Stewart, great payroll always comes back to people.

“Payroll is personal. Every payslip is someone’s rent, their food shop, their plans for the month, so getting it right every time is the minimum.
What clients remember is how you treat them. They want an expert who knows their business, picks up the phone and tells them the truth, even when it’s not what they want to hear. Give them that at a fair price, and they’ll stay with you for years.”

That’s the standard he sets for the whole team, and it’s why Ascend’s values will always be so much more than just words on the Boardroom wall.