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Case Studies
March 2004 Midland HR & Payroll Solutions - Virgin reaches record heights in payroll and HR
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Overview
Founded in the 1970s as a small mail-order outlet for music, the Virgin Group has grown to become one of the most well known brand names around the globe. Virgin Megastores, one of the group's most recognisable companies, sells a broad range of entertainment products -- everything from CDs and videos to DVDs and multimedia software -- and employs over 4,000 people.
A key factor to Virgin's success is the investment it makes in its people - at Virgin, talent is empowered to flourish within the Group - and the high quality of its payroll and HR processes is a vital element of this.
Accepting the Virgin Challenge
In the autumn of 2002 Virgin Megastores began to search for a more technologically advanced and integrated HR and payroll solution, which could bring the company significant efficiency gains. The company had outsourced its payroll for the last seven years, but the solution was not fully automated and did not have the ability to integrate with HR. Virgin required an outsourcing partner whose knowledge and support would help it to achieve its business objectives of a high quality, accurate and timely payroll service, which could integrate with HR for better management information.
Virgin Megastores is a constantly changing organisation that continually adds new payrolls, and a flexible solution was vital to them moving forward. During a competitive evaluation Midland HR & Payroll Solutions was not only able to demonstrate Trent's superior technology, but also the flexibility to adapt to Virgin as the business changes and grows.
Jennie Walton, Reward Manager at Virgin Megastores, describes how MidlandHR met a tough challenge. "During the selection process we threw MidlandHR a significant challenge - to enter the 180 employees at Tower Records onto Trent and pay them all within just two weeks! MidlandHR not only accepted the challenge, they achieved it. This proof of flexibility and the speed of delivery essentially clinched the deal."
A superior service
The fully managed payroll solution enables Virgin to rely on MidlandHR's extensive expertise of the payroll market so that the company can focus on its core competencies. The solution is completely flexible - in fact Virgin has the ability to bring any aspect of payroll and HR back in-house at any point in time.
For the first time ever, Virgin Megastores can integrate its payroll and HR to access important HR information. This ability to access real-time management information was a critical objective for Virgin. With Trent, users can quickly and easily locate management reports in areas such as time and attendance or payroll costs. "With our previous supplier the system was paper based and reports were not easily located," explained Mark Fernandez, Payroll Manager at Virgin Megastores. "MidlandHR automates the process so that we can benefit from significant time and cost savings."
MidlandHR is also processing Irish payroll for Virgin. Jennie explains: "Prior to the MidlandHR solution, it was as if we operated two systems, or even two separate companies - MidlandHR's ability to process Irish payroll was therefore vital to us."
The second phase of the project, to take place in 2004, will enable Virgin to consolidate and centralise HR, benefiting from tools such as absence monitoring and manager self-service to bring even greater value to the organisation.
Going live in record time
MidlandHR and Virgin worked together to go live with a fully managed payroll service in September 2003, a month earlier than planned. Jennie comments: "The original project was to go live with 4,000 employees in four months, however the project has gone so smoothly that we have actually completed this in just three months!"
A valued partner
Virgin has been particularly impressed with the speed at which the outsourcing partnership with MidlandHR has developed. "MidlandHR is already like an extension of our own payroll department," explains Jenny. "The people are always positive and turn things around extremely quickly. We are developing a real partnership."
She continues: "It is a combination of people and product that gives us such confidence in MidlandHR. Trent is a leading edge product, which allows us to automate processes and make step changes without compromising on what we want to achieve. We have absolute confidence in MidlandHR and have no doubt whatsoever that we have made the right decision."
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