Selima

Selima drinks to Young’s success in payroll processing

Young & Co.’s Brewery streamlined its payroll processing by introducing an online, bureau-based payroll management system. The result? Significant resource savings and greater transparency and accessibility for staff at all levels.

Payroll for publicans: a unique challenge

The smooth running of a large pub business like Young’s relies as much on what happens behind the scenes as it does behind the bar. The pub industry is extremely complex from a payroll perspective, as its workforce typically comprises of a large proportion of non-UK nationals. Plus, a high staff turnover puts extra pressure on the HR function responsible for managing the recruitment, induction and exit process. With Young’s recruiting up to 200 new employees every month, and with a percentage of its staff nearing pensionable age or already retired, the added challenge of processing pension payments and contributions added to the significant demands on Young’s in-house HR resources.

Historically, Young’s payroll administration was handled centrally by a dedicated team, charged with the mammoth task of handling the HR administration for 125 pubs, equating to a monthly total of over 10,000 payslips. Managing frequent staff changes and the implications of having non UK nationals on the Young’s workforce created a significant workload for Young’s payroll department. And as individual pub managers struggled to balance the day-to-day running of their pubs with the necessary payroll admin, Young’s began looking for alternative strategies to ease the resource burden and make payroll processing more efficient.

Calling last orders on payroll pressure

The volume and complexity of Young’s payroll requirements meant there was a need to either continue with its in-house team or seek support from beyond the business. After carefully considering their options, Young’s management team opted for a combination of both approaches. Young’s extended its HR department through the use of a bureau in the form of specialist support from Selima – the payroll experts from the Selima Group. By managing the entire payroll process on Young’s behalf in coordination with its in-house resource, Selima streamlined the resource-intensive payroll and delivered a range of advantages and efficiencies for this thriving business.

“Having Selima manage our payroll function makes complete sense from a business perspective”, commented Young’s HR director Torquil Sligo-Young. “HR demands in the pub trade are much greater than in other industries. To have Selima oversee the entire process helps reduce the administrative burden and crucially, ensures our business can run more efficiently knowing all our legal bases are covered and our staff are satisfied. With Selima on board, our pub managers can focus on what they do best – creating a welcoming atmosphere for our customers whilst at the same time running a tight ship.”

From bar to bottom line

The impact of adopting the Selima’s fully managed payroll service has been felt in all corners of the business, from director level to individual bar staff. And by outsourcing its payroll function, Young’s has benefited from significant efficiencies both in terms of financial and human resources. The move to a managed service quickly lowered the demands on Young’s in-house payroll function by 70 per cent . Crucially, since the initial switch to Selima, longer-lasting changes have continued to support Young’s profitability. For example, minimising pub managers’ responsibility for managing the paperwork, permits and contracts associated with new hires, means they can focus on their core responsibilities

Lightening the admin burden

The fully managed service has lived up to its promise for Young’s, minimising the payroll responsibilities for both the central HR function and pub managers. Duties such as sending the correct paperwork to HMRC, managing staff contributions to the company pension plan and dealing with time-consuming year-end processes are now fully under Selima’s remit. Given the high staff turnover typical of the pub trade, this relieved a significant burden from pub managers’ workload.

Policing payroll policy

Important for Young’s was that outsourcing the payroll function didn’t dilute the implementation of company policy. By designing the solution around Young’s individual requirements, Selima ensured Young’s policy on everything from holiday allowance to maximum working hours was upheld consistently in day-to-day payroll operations across the whole Young’s chain. For example, given the high proportion of non-UK nationals employed by Young’s, a control mechanism was built into the payroll system preventing payments to any employee who had not provided a valid work permit or visa. This value-adding approach guaranteed Young’s legal obligations are met, while giving employees an incentive to keep their documentation up-to-date.

Making time to manage

Outsourcing payroll management has created significant improvements to the efficiency of Young’s 123 managers. Under the new system, managers need only input the hours employees work each week and the system will ensure all necessary documentation is in place and issue payslips promptly. A major benefit of the new software is its ability to record changes instantly. For example, when managers input on the system that a staff member has changed his working hours for that week, or that his/her salary has increased, it will be amended immediately and the correct pay slip will be issued. This helps improve communication, particularly in busy pubs run by multiple managers, making staff records more accurate and transparent at-a-glance. Crucially, Selima’s hosted systems also allows managers to download and print payslips for employees at any time from any location, rather than going through the central payroll department at head office. This equates to another significant time saving for time-pressed managers and a faster response for staff members.

Specialist support

Clear communication is vital to the smooth running of Young’s business, and having a dedicated payroll helpline in place for staff at all levels helps solve any payroll issues early on. Managers can call on the Selima team for guidance on any aspect of the payroll procedure, from legal obligations to payslip management. Equally, pub managers can refer individual members of staff to the helpline with their own day-to-day queries. This benefits both manager and team, as bar staff can get quality advice when it’s needed, and managers aren’t burdened by the extensive payroll queries that come with overseeing the needs of a regularly- changing staff.

In conclusion...

Moving to Selima’s fully-managed service means that Young’s no longer has to dedicate resources to being an expert in payroll as well as pub management. In an industry constantly challenged by an ever-changing workforce, it’s a welcome investment that delivers valuable returns in staff satisfaction and operating efficiency.