March 2024: moving into our new home in Reading

Another newsletter so soon?! we hear you ask. Yes, another newsletter so soon – because there are so many exciting things to share this month. We’ve got our first Ciphr hero of the year. A new office that is officially open. Guest speakers galore. And expert insights into some recent statistics by the Office for National Statistics .

Guess what? Our Reading office is officially open as of Monday!

We’ve had loads of excitement happening this week, from guest speakers from The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) and the CIPD to welcome ceremonies and training sessions. Keep your 👀 on our socials for the full scoop.

It’s great to finally be all settled in and have our wonderful employees enjoying our wonderful new space.

As part of our welcome ceremonies, we heard from a few guest speakers who came into our brand-new office. 

On our office opening on Monday, we were joined by Jason Davenport MCIPP, MIoD (CEO) of the CIPP. He spoke about the importance of payroll to everyone – from individuals to the economy. We fully support this – and are looking to put the focus on payroll it deserves in 2024 and beyond. 

We also heard from Tony Osude (commercial and marketing director) and Matt Gofton (senior employer engagement manager) of the CIPD. They shared with us the CIPD’s mission, how we can deepen our partnership and what’s been impacting the HR industry lately.

“The purpose of the CIPD is to ‘champion better work and working lives’,” said Matt. “It’s great to see organisations like Ciphr contributing to this purpose by creating a new modern working space that fosters a collaborative working environment. People matter. Work matters. Professionalism matters.”

Every month, we name one person who has gone above and beyond as our Ciphr hero. And most recently, that Ciphr hero was our business intelligence manager Jack Price - who was actually nominated twice! 

Jack won due to his hard work after stepping in to help out with the implementation of HubSpot. The thought, effort and hours he’s put into assisting on the project has been impressive, all while continuing to deliver new business intelligence and analytical content. Congratulations and very well deserved, Jack. 

Congratulations also to all the nominees: Maisie Faulkner , Alex Mead , the Future of Work team ( Jessica Scully (Foundation CIPD) , Katie Allen (Assoc. CIPD) , Gwenan West, MCIPD , Sophie Hellmuth and Lucy O'Callaghan ), Holly Batchelor , Jess Scully (again!), Lucy O’Callaghan (also again!), Vishnu Pillai , Ruth Chapman , Kohini Kawol , Sinu Mohan , Jaspal Randhawa and Peter Hawes .

We love hearing from you – which is why we like posting polls. Here are the most recent results: 

• 67% of you said more training would help you become more GDPR compliant. And if that’s what you need you’re in luck, because we have just the eLearning course for you! Check our UK GDPR Training Course (we’re currently offering a free trial) 
• 65% of you work for an organisation with a hybrid working policy – just like us!  

Only one bit of further reading related to our polls this week – but it’s extremely useful if you work in HR: 

• GDPR employee data retention: what HR needs to know (blog post by Louis Wellings ) 

Did you know that, in England, HR managers and directors get paid the most in the East and London? And the least in the North East and West Midlands? 

It’s true – we analysed regional employee earning figures from the ONS. 

Here’s what our chief people and operating officer Claire Williams had to say on our findings: 

“Pay is never the only consideration for people looking to change jobs or move areas – otherwise everyone would simply head to the East of England! But this ONS data is very useful to get a better understanding of what similar roles are being paid around the country. 

“One of my favourite things about being an HR professional is the versatility of working in almost any type of organisation, anywhere in the UK. And knowing that, wherever you are in your career journey and whichever industry you work in, your specialist skills and strategic business insights will always be highly valued and in demand by employers.” 

Read our full press release by Emma-Louise Jones . 

12 March – Ciphr’s tax year end 2024 payroll update 

Join us for our annual overview of legislative and regulatory changes that will take effect for the 2024/25 tax year. Spend 60 minutes with us and you’ll be ready to go for 6 April. 

Speakers: Jaspal Randhawa (director of product – payroll, compliance and data) and Cathryn Newbery (head of content marketing). 

Register here. 

19 March – HR and payroll solutions for charity sector 

Join Jacqui Whyman (account development manager) and James Whatmore (sales manager) for an insightful webinar packed full of practical tips for solving charities’ HR and payroll challenges. We’ve got decades of experience working with dozens of customers in this sector. So that means we have the expertise and insight to help you tackle common problems and empower you to add value to your non-profit. 

Register here. 

Thanks for joining us for the March edition of HR Boost. That’s all for now – see you next month. But in the meantime, don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss a post.