As an existing user of Access PeopleHR, we’ve recently been working with Aquavista Watersides to implement our cloud-based payroll solution, Paycircle.
AquaVista Watersides’ Payroll Manager, Martin Lewis, has just celebrated 6 months with the business, and it’s fair to say he’s made huge inroads to overcoming its challenges in this area.
We’re delighted he took some time out to talk to us about his experience of working with Access, and the company’s vision for the future.
Background
AquaVista Watersides operates 29 UK marinas, from inland waterway locations to coastal destinations, as well as in the heart of London. Its clients include a combination of leisure boaters and residential communities.
Its 180+ team of employees range from those in operational roles such as cleaners and waterside crew, through to head office staff, including Martin. And, with desires to acquire more marinas, it’s essential the HR and payroll software solutions put in place can scale to accommodate further growth in the business.
Our partnership so far
When Martin joined Aquavista Watersides 6 months ago, it was already an existing user of Access PeopleHR, our cloud-based platform which allows UK businesses of all sizes to streamline their HR & payroll processes, and for employees to self-serve.
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Implementing PeopleHR facilitated AquaVista Watersides’ shift away from manual processes, and a streamlining of HR activities, however payroll remained with a third-party supplier.
When Martin joined the team, his 3 decades of expertise and experience in payroll told him there was a lot of good work to be done. So he got in touch with Access, and working closely together since, we’ve been busy! As of April 2024, Paycircle is now fully tested and live.
“One of the key things that drew us to Paycircle is that it speaks directly to People HR,” Martin says. “It’s very good value for money, the processes work, and the whole system is user-friendly, especially the dashboard. It tells me everything I need to know. It’s absolutely brilliant!”
Paycircle is an HMRC recognised, RTI compliant system which pays employees on-time, every time. Specifically designed for SMBs and Payroll Bureaus, Paycircle uses cloud technology for robust data security, powerful automation, and complete confidence in compliance.
Business benefits and impact
We asked Martin to tell us about the most positive change that he and the team have experienced so far. “The top benefit as far as I’m concerned is that HR and Paycircle talk to each other seamlessly. If I make a change in PeopleHR, Paycircle is updated automatically, so I don’t need to duplicate that information. It’s that straightforward.”
It’s always great to hear anecdotal evidence of success, but we wanted to know if any of that impact could be quantified. “Absolutely. Delivering payroll used to take me 10 full days of every month. Now it only takes me 5. I’ve halved the time I need to spend, so I’ve been able to reallocate my time to other important, strategic activities. Everything is a lot more streamlined, and it gives me flexibility.”
We’re delighted our partnership has delivered such a significant result both for Martin, and the business.
Lastly on this subject, we asked if there had been any unexpected benefits from coming on board with Access. “Speaking as someone who’s been in payroll for 30 years, the most unexpected and surprising aspect of Paycircle is just how easy it is to use.”
What’s next for Aquavista and Access?
Martin is passionate about making sure people’s pay is correct and that they understand it. So one of the activities he’s been undertaking is to meet employees on-site when they’ve got a query to help them understand how payroll works. In doing so he’s so far reduced the number of queries each month by half. So, what’s next?
“We want to use the system as comprehensively as possible,” Martin explains. “We’ve already benefited from being able to run a complete data cleanse, we can calculate holiday entitlements more accurately, and because PeopleHR and Paycircle are so seamlessly linked, I can now trust information to be absolutely correct. Next we want to get to grips with the working pattern process. Then in the coming months we’ll be looking at training platforms and programs we can incorporate too.”
And when they’re ready, we’ll be happy to oblige. Access offers a market-leading Learning Management System (LMS) and a digital learning catalogue which offers bespoke learning pathways to support effective and engaging online learning. All of this, along with People HR and Paycircle, can be accessed in our single sign-on platform, Workspace.
Words of wisdom
Before we let him get back to work, we asked Martin what advice he’d have for someone setting out to implement a new payroll system within their organisation. “Talk to Access!” he quipped, before more seriously adding, “My advice would be to do your research and make sure you’re implementing a system that will still serve you in another 5 years’ time. If your business has plans to expand, it’s vital your systems are future-proof.”
Great advice! And if you’d like to discuss transforming your HR & payroll systems with your organisation’s future plans in mind, let’s indeed talk! Just click here to get in touch. Our experts are always on-hand to talk with you.
