Success story:
COOK
COOK implemented Access PeopleXD to replace their outdated HR system with an integrated, streamlined solution to cope with the substantial growth of the business.
Background
Headquartered in Kent, UK, COOK was founded in 1997 and specialises in the preparation and sale of frozen hand-prepared meals.
With 1,700 employees, it runs 90 high street outlets throughout the UK, 700 carefully monitored concessions and a thriving online business. Using quality ingredients, COOK aims to produce meals that are as good as home-made.
COOK strongly believe that businesses should be a force for good in society and became one of the first UK certified B Corporations in 2013.
What was the challenge?
COOK believes that its people are its main asset, an ethos which has led to many accolades in The Sunday Times’ list of ‘Top 100 Companies to Work For’.
COOK strives to provide the best support for employees, but its outdated HR system was based on old technology and no longer supported by the vendor, the payroll tool was cumbersome to use and the two programs were not integrated. There was no bespoke recruitment software and only a partial expenses system.
What were the requirements?
The company needed new systems that would provide better support for its employees and would reduce time-consuming tasks. As well as increasing overall efficiency, COOK also wanted the environmental benefits of paper saving.
Its aims were to:
- Make sure that the company was investing in its people;
- Streamline existing systems to cope with substantial growth in the business;
- Introduce scalable solutions that would accommodate future growth;
- Have the ability to integrate HR and payroll;
- Replace manual systems for recruitment and onboarding with automated processes.
The investigation and selection
COOK researched the market and produced a shortlist of three candidates, eventually choosing Access People because it ticked every box in the formal selection process.
Implementation had to be completed before Christmas but also needed to be started and run during COVID-19 lockdown. Using the dedicated flightpath implementation approach from Access People, enabled COOK to implement successfully and on-time prior to peak trading.
The Access PeopleXD solution includes integrated HR and Payroll functionality, Expense Management and Workforce Management with a time and attendance module linked to COOK’s security and access system, Tensor.
We did not want the IT team and the people team wasting their time trying to get two systems to talk to each other, so we chose the integrated Payroll and HR functions that Access People offers.
The results
Access People provide modern and scalable systems to support key business pillars.
- COOK can now accommodate its strong growth curve which has been accelerated by COVID-19;
- The company is no longer running on outdated systems;
- Employees have solutions that improve their working lives;
- There will be a more formalised approach to recruitment and onboarding which ensures that no requirements are missed;
- Employees now have access to their pay information on-demand.
Everyone is happy with the new Access People systems because they are user-friendly and modern in appearance. End-user adoption is very strong.
Every solution, in one place, for your people
The Access Group's HCM division, Access People, offer an unrivalled suite of solutions for businesses, including HR and Payroll, Absence Management, Workforce Management, Compliance, Recruitment, Talent, Learning, Employee Benefits and Engagement, Health & Safety, all of which are underpinned by the powerful Access Workspace platform.
The Access Group is one of the leading providers of business management software to small and mid-sized organisations in the UK, Ireland, and Asia Pacific. We help over 100,000 customers across commercial and not-for-profit sectors become more productive and efficient.
