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How Signature Group streamlined payroll and boosted staff satisfaction with Access PayWise+
About Signature Group
Signature Groups are a leading Scottish hospitality group made up of over 20 bars, restaurants, hotels, night clubs and a brewery.
Inspired by his own experiences of working in the Edinburgh bar scene, in 2003 Nic Wood launched Signature Group with its first-ever venue - the Grassmarket’s Black Bull.
The challenge
For years, Signature Group paid hourly employees fortnightly to support staff wellbeing and help them meet cashflow commitments.
However, running payroll twice a month concentrated administrative pressure, limiting time for checks and follow up on data, queries and calculations.
The leadership team saw the opportunity to introduce on demand pay as a way to move from paying employees on a fortnightly basis to a monthly basis, as employees were then able to draw down part of their wages ahead of pay day.
The leadership team expected pushback from staff by moving to monthly payroll and were concerned about how to maintain employee confidence during the change.
The solution
Signature Group introduced Access PayWise+, giving employees the option to draw down a portion of earned wages ahead of payday. This provided the financial flexibility staff needed during the transition from fortnightly to monthly pay.
To keep things simple operationally, the business set payday for hourly staff as the last Friday of each month to ensure pay landed before month end. Hours continued to be captured weekly on a four or five week basis, which meant the team could maintain familiar rhythms while consolidating payroll to a single monthly cycle.
PayWise+ uptake was around 30% at rollout, signaling early employee confidence in the new arrangement.
The impact
Employee experience: The frequency change was well received. PayWise+ helped bridge the cashflow gap, reducing expected resistance to monthly pay.
Operational efficiency: Within nine months of moving hourly payroll to monthly, the team saw time savings in processing and submission. Outside the processing week there is now more time to follow up on queries, check data quality and turn around calculations. Administrative pressure occurs once a month rather than twice.
Cost alignment: Fees from the third-party payroll bureau reduced due to fewer runs. Those savings offset the cost of PayWise+, meaning the new benefit was effectively cost covered.
Adoption: Approximately 30% of staff used PayWise+ at rollout, underlining the value of on demand pay access during the change.
“PayWise+ was instrumental in helping us transition our employees from fortnightly to monthly payroll. The app gave our team the financial flexibility they needed during the adjustment period and the operational benefits we’ve seen from consolidating to monthly payroll have exceeded our expectations. It’s been a game changer for both our administrative efficiency and employee satisfaction.”