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Dean has been Payme’s National Accounts Manager for the past four years. Here we look at what he does and find out what he thinks will be the main talking points in the umbrella industry over the next 12 months.

Tell us about your background

I’ve been with Payme for almost 9 years now. This is my fourth year as National Accounts Manager, and before that I was Account Manager. Coming in on the ground floor, as it were, gave me an ideal opportunity to see how Payme operates, and to get to know the recruiters that I deal with on a day-to-day basis. 

My role is to use my experience to deal with any issues, questions or queries our clients might have, ably assisted by my colleague, Roseanna, and our amazing team, but I also provide training within our clients’ organisations so they have a better understanding of what Payme does and how we can benefit their businesses by working in partnership with us. 

Ultimately I’m responsible for ensuring that our account managers provide the best possible service to our clients and contractors. 

 

What do you think 2023 will be the year of?

One of the things that is heavily on the payroll agenda at the moment is regulation. However, despite the Government’s Call for Evidence into the industry in 2021, and the undoubted benefits regulation would bring to the sector for compliant companies, clients and contractors alike, the issue still remains unresolved. We’re still very keen to see some action on this, as it can only benefit companies who comply with the law and offer a compliant and safe offering to everyone they deal with. What the government is doing now is encouraging non-compliance by their inaction and we can only hope that changes sooner rather than later.

There has also been much made of accreditation within the industry. As you’ll know we’re Freelancer and Contractor Services Association (FCSA) accredited which means we’ve had all our processes and procedures rigorously assessed to ensure that we’re fully compliant, and that’s something we’re extremely proud of. However, other, less scrupulous, operators are still taking advantage of contractors, clients and agents, and ultimately the tax-payer, by not upholding the standards we should all adhere to. I think that this year we’ll see far more un-accredited firms being called out for their unprofessional and unethical practices. 

In terms of the products that we offer, I think that the use of the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) will become much more prevalent. When IR35 was changed a couple of years ago, it put a lot more emphasis on the end-user getting the right people in the right job at the right time, and many of those clients are now looking at CIS as a viable payment option for their organisations. It’s likely to be a growth area this year, and we can help both clients and contractors with that.  

 

What will be your biggest challenge this year?

I think the biggest challenge we’ll face this year will be to do with the rise in the National Minimum Wage (NMW) that will come into effect in April. We’ve already looked at this issue here, but getting our message home to end-clients and recruitment agencies is high on our agenda. It’s really important that end-clients are fully aware of what the rise will entail, to ensure that their contractors get paid the correct amount as soon as the new rates come in. The danger of non-compliance raises its head again here because if dishonest umbrellas promise NMW recipients more of their take home pay illegally, due to the current cost of living crisis many more people will be tempted to go down that route. It also affects recruitment agents because their margin will be squeezed down. 

 

What’s the solution for recruitment agencies?

We’ve been writing to all our agency clients since early January, advising them of what the new rate will be and how it will impact them and us. We’ll also be in touch with them further before April to provide information so that they can have those conversations with their end-clients, explaining why they need to adjust their charge rates, and advising them to get those adjustments in place early, rather than at the last minute. Because if you give people plenty of warning they are more likely to be able to prepare. It probably won’t be a shock if there are a few clients that are still working to the old pricing because they haven’t made the adjustments but because we closely monitor all our clients’ accounts we’ll be able to pick up on that and ensure that our contractors get paid the right amount. 

 

What’s the number one piece of feedback you get from your agency clients?

It’s always about service and it’s always positive. If our service to our contractors is good then the consultants and those people running the agencies are happy too. The feedback we get is always about our high levels of responsiveness so we can sort issues about registration, for instance, simply and quickly.

 

What differentiates Payme from the competition?

One of the main factors is our ethos of helping both the contractor and the agency. Certainly when John founded the company he had a lot of recruitment experience and knew exactly what agencies were looking for in a supplier. Payme’s focus has always been ‘what can we provide to your recruitment agency that will make your life easier?’ By easier I mean that we can be part of their processes and day-to-day issues and take care of them for them. 

We focus very much on what our clients need, individually, and what we can deliver for them, as opposed to having a fixed, standardised process. We’re very flexible in what we do, whether that’s adjustments to registration processes or payroll requirements, because we understand the clients’ business intimately and can adapt to suit their needs. We’ve won a lot of business over the years because of this, and that’s usually been through word-of-mouth recommendations.

 

What’s the future now for Payme?

Our main focus in both the short- and long-term is to keep doing what we do but just do more of it! Payme has been going for over ten years now, and we’re payrolling over 4,000 contractors per week very effectively. Now we want to build on that. Our sales team is doing a great job of bringing in new clients which means that we can expand, and ultimately increase the service we can offer to clients.

If you’re a recruiter looking for a compliant, responsive payroll partner, or a contractor who needs the security and efficiency of a trusted umbrella company, contact us here.