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Canute Group migrates to Advanced’s HR and payroll software

15/12/2015 minute read Alex Arundale

Logistics company moving from paper to online system

The Canute Group, one of the UK’s largest independent logistics businesses is migrating the paper-based records of its 1,300 employees into an online integrated payroll and HR system from Advanced Business Solutions (Advanced).

To increase efficiency and to strengthen the company focus on compliance, Canute will go live with HR software, OpenHR, payroll software and OpenPeople and electronic document management software (powered by V1) in April 2016.

Following the formation of a HR project team and a rigorous evaluation process Advanced was selected from a final shortlist of three software providers. The stakeholder team were particularly impressed by the flexibility of the software, which allows for a tailored solution to meet the company’s needs.

The Canute Group has a turnover of more than £100 million, with a head office in Essex and 14 regional operations across the United Kingdom. Alongside the logistics division, the Group operates several other divisions involved in engineering, roadside recovery, repair and maintenance, as well as Canute Medical which specialises in the movement of high value medical equipment.

The Group has also invested abroad in recent years via its investment division which manages and maintains property in Australia for both the residential and commercial markets.

With manual systems currently in place, the HR team has relied heavily on paper based processes to update spreadsheets and to manage the details of starters and leavers across the business. Each line manager also has responsibility for creating spreadsheets for payroll control and input into the payroll system.

By implementing an integrated system, the duplication of data entry will be eliminated as details entered into the HR solution will feed directly into payroll. Manual data entry will be further reduced as outstanding holidays will be calculated automatically.

Kara Bundock, HR Advisor at The Canute Group, says: "As a growing company we need a modern, online system that will allow us to proactively manage our large workforce and drive efficiencies throughout the process.

Advanced’s software will eliminate the need to search for paper based information, so visibility and speed of response will all be significantly enhanced. This will facilitate a tangible benefit within the day-to-day administration of HR processes but will also enable access to documentation in a timely and accurate manner.

"The proactive elements are also vital tools with reports, analysis and trends all available quickly to help implement pre-emptive measures to address any potential issues."

80% of the Group’s workforce consists of drivers and the new software will automatically identify when licences are close to expiry, enabling greater compliance and adherence to regulations. High levels of absence will also be flagged up, enabling the HR team to take action to reduce absenteeism and to reduce unnecessary agency costs.

Training records and accident report forms are also available online, which will reduce the margin for human error and further increase compliance.

OpenPeople will also reduce administration around legislative requirements such as pension auto enrolment by automatically issuing letters when employees are eligible to join the pension scheme and calculating holiday pay.

Further efficiencies will be gained by moving from paper to online payslips, which will also contribute to a reduction in stationery costs. The software will also consolidate individual payrolls for each depot into one Group payroll, enabling easier and quicker access to data.

Kara adds: "Moving to Advanced’s system will allow our team to access accurate employee information that is instantly available at our fingertips, eliminating time consuming administration and enabling us to focus on further improvements throughout the HR environment. Ultimately, these processes will support a more strategic, proactive approach to overseeing our workforce more effectively."