Access spoke with Nick Mace, Owner and operator of OHUK on the difference Access Pay and Bill Services makes to his business. OHUK is a construction and engineering recruitment business operating Nationwide. They have been using Access’ managed Pay and Bill service for over three years and have built up a strong relationship with the Access team.
OHUK has seen impressive growth in recent years, opening a second office in London, and gaining large clients in the construction sector. Throughout this Access have provided OHUK with top class service, expertise and support.
“Access has been a really good partner. We grew quickly, and all of a sudden we had a real spike where we were working on bigger clients and taking on some significant projects, which was quite stressful. Trying to process payroll alongside everything else could have been a nightmare, but our account manager at Access was so knowledgeable and made it easy for us. We’ve built a great relationship with the Access team who have been there to help us all the way through.”
With such rapid growth, the scalability of its payroll system is understandably a top priority for OHUK. No one wants to have to turn away business because their systems can’t handle it.
“With Access our payroll is instantly expandable. As we grow, I don’t need to worry about the capacity of our system or managing the complexities of a growing payroll. That’s one of the joys of using a managed service. Equally in a situation like now, we can scale back as we need to, and I don’t have to worry about that either.”
Being able to rapidly respond to the changing landscape in light of Covid-19
OHUK, like so many other recruiters, is having to respond to a changing landscape following the global COVID-19 outbreak. Without the support from Access Nick would have been left to understand and adapt to changes in legislation and HMRC processes brought about by the pandemic. Alongside this he’s also had to manage all the other related issues such as furloughing staff and implementing safe practices to protect workers and clients in line with government guidelines.
Adapting to these has been a challenge particularly considering that some changes had to be implemented over the change of the tax year. Nick has relied on the expertise of the Access team to ensure OHUK navigate these challenges without having a negative impact on the business, it’s staff or clients.
“Our account manager has been fantastic, giving us guidance to deal with all the changes effectively. We were geared up to process things monthly, but quickly had to switch to weekly payments. That meant I needed to get a weekly figure that factored in NI, tax and everything else that wasn’t over the balance of the £2,500 gross for the employees and make sure everything worked. It spanned two tax years so we had NI rates to incorporate from 19/20 and 20/21 and I have to make sure that that claim is accurate. Access have been instrumental in helping me get things right and making sure we’re processing things correctly.”
Even under usual circumstances, construction is a highly regulated industry and as a recruiter there are many factors consider in processing payroll. Access make it easy for OH to file and make payments to HMRC as well as keeping up with the management of the CIS (Construction Industry Scheme). The scheme requires any contractor to be verified through the HMRC and product a CIS 300 which is a report that has to be filled every month.
“Working with Access gives us a real safety net. When I get queries on figures, reports, tax, EPSs or RTIs I’ve got someone to phone who I can rely on to have the right answer.”
Having the support from Access is integral in reducing unnecessary strain on Nick’s time and resources, giving him the freedom to focus on the what really matters and running the business.
“Access takes a huge amount of stress and worry off my shoulders as an owner. When I get any kind of request or query about what has happened with our payroll, I live in the security that Access know all of it, I instantly have access to any data I need and I know it will be correct. That security is key for me personally.”
