Edinburgh-based Vegware Packaging has enjoyed rapid growth in its delivery of catering disposables and food packaging thanks in part to some out-of-the-box thinking from HR software providers Cezanne HR.
Vegware now trades globally, delivering and selling its award-winning packaging solutions on the basis of their affordability as well as their environmental merits. Vegare products are all made from fully renewable or recycled materials and are fully compostable.
Rapid growth
Rapid growth from just two staff in 2009 to more than 50 within the space of just five years put serious demands on Vegware’s ability to keep on top of its HR requirements. Keeping track of staff holidays and absences is a lot easier when there are just two of you than it is when your business is 25 times that size with staff spread around the world.
Inevitably, getting to grips with the ever-growing administrative burden that goes with such a dramatic expansion proved to be easier said than done.
Happily, Vegware’s HR co-ordinator Emma Young took the clear sighted decision to plan beyond the simple requirements of holiday management. After a period of trial and error with alternative providers Emma settled on the solution provided by London-based Cezanne HR.
Flexible solution
Cezanne’s modular HR software meant that Emma was able to buy in just the functionality that she required, but with the built-in flexibility to scale up or to add to the system as and when it was required. It meant she was able to future-proof her system whilst only paying for what she wanted in the short term.
The key demand that Emma and Vegware needed to accommodate was their reliance on Google calendars. They were insistent that any new system should complement their existing practices rather than forcing change on them at a time when they needed all hands focussed on the customer facing aspect of the business.
“We have a field based sales team so it’s vital to keep track of who is off when, and have this information feed into other systems that we use” Emma explained.
Cezanne’s software now enables annual leave booked via the HR system to be automatically updated on Vegware’s annual leave Google calendar. Indeed, the same app is now a standard feature across Cezanne’s full product list.
A happy marriage
The longer Emma and her colleagues have spent with Cezanne, the more they have found the system to be in key with their needs.
Vegware continues to go from strength-to-strength. It is now, according to Deloitte Technology, the fourth fastest growing business in Scotland, the 29th fastest growing business in the UK and the 183rd fasted across all of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. A figure of 919% growth over five years speaks for itself. They are also the top-ranked green tech firm.
Such growth inevitably puts serious demands on a firm’s HR capabilities. In Cezanne HR, Vegware have found the perfect partner.
Interesant appointment. Thanks from PEOPLE HCM