Northgate HR scoops top outsourcing award

Northgate HR has been named ëmajor outsourcer of the yearí at this yearsí Institute of Payroll Professionals (IPP) awards ceremony. The HR solutions provider was recognised for its work with Alliance Boots, the high street retailer which employs 66,000 people.

Alliance Boots outsourced its payroll and HR services to Northgate HR, to allow its staff to concentrate on more strategic tasks without getting bogged down with back office duties. The company also wanted to improve response time to employee enquiries.

Judges praised the project for significantly raising the profile of HR and payroll over the last twelve months. The IPP awards, which took place at the Sheraton Grand Spa in Edinburgh, recognise significant contributions from individuals and organisations to improve working lives of payroll professionals.

ìAfter a smooth transition from in-house to outsourced services, payroll staff retention rates within the Boots team have remained highî said Malcolm Aldis, managing director at Northgate HR. ìAlso, Boots employees who call the HR department now get a much faster response to questions. For example it now takes the team just 10 seconds, instead of a previous average of 67, to answer the phone, and 90 per cent of the time queries can be answered by the first person the employee speaks to.î

He continued: ìPayroll employees who have been ëTUPEdí to Northgate HR now have a clear career path and are now free to concentrate on more strategic duties, without being distracted by back office processes. Weíre proud that the IPP awards recognises this example of a successful outsourcing partnership in action.î

ìThe service Northgate HR has provided has exceeded all our expectations, and we're very pleased that we've already been able to hand more responsibility to Northgate HR than we had anticipated would be possible at this relatively early stage,î said Andy Sutcliffe, programme manager at Alliance Boots.