Prosper Autumn, Black Country Chamber of Commerce magazine

PROSPER SPOTLIGHT: KEVIN ROGERS, PAYCARE
‘The Chamber is a key part of
our marketing strategy’
Kevin Rogers, Chief Executive of Paycare, is stepping down from his role at the
end of the year, when he will be replaced by the current commercial director
Anthony Burns. Prosper caught up with Kevin for a chat about his time at the
company and why he has developed such strong links with Black Country Chamber.
Kevin, have your plans to step down
from your role at Paycare gone
according to plan? Is this ‘retirement’?
Yes. It’s been a long-term strategy for me
to exit at the end of the year, and the
succession planning has been in place for
three years. Anthony Burns is ideally placed
to step into my shoes and will really take
the business forward.
I can’t use the word ‘retiring’ to describe
my own situation, mind: I’m going to spend
more time with some charities that I have
links with, and I’ll still be involved at
Paycare on a consultancy basis, though the
day-to-day work I’ll be leaving well behind!
You were at Paycare for 14 years; you
must have seen some major changes
in that time.
Yes, the landscape the company
operates in is very different from when I
arrived. The changes have been driven
largely by the way we’ve embraced
technology, but in addition the regulatory
framework we have to operate within has
become increasingly challenging.
Paycare provides healthcare cash
programmes to support employees or
individuals when they need medical
treatment, so we fall under the auspices of
the insurance industry’s regulations. We
also have to work with Bank of England
proportionality rules, so the sector is
complex.
But despite the challenges we’ve grown
the business over the years. We’ve got plan
members in more than 900 businesses, and
our geographical spread is much wider
now. Previously we operated predominantly
in the Black Country area and up through
Staffordshire, but our reach is now far
greater than that.
What was the toughest decision you
had to take while at the helm?
I’m an accountant, and the thing that
struck me from the start was the cost of our
external sales agents, who were out in the
field bringing in new business. The
problem was, while they were working
hard, the numbers just didn’t stack up.
They weren’t bringing in enough new
business to justify the expense.
I took the big decision early to let them
all go – it shocked the boardroom, I can tell
you. But from that point on we relied solely
on the internal team and our reputation to
attract new business.
Without the external sales team, how
did you look to keep the company in
the public eye?
We focused a lot of energy on our
marketing and networking. Black Country
Chamber was key to this. From the start we
could see it was an ideal vehicle to meet
other businesses, establish stronger
networks and generally raise our profile in
the region.
In many ways Paycare had lost its identity
in Wolverhampton over the years. The
organisation was well known to the public
as the Patients Aid Association, but when
we changed the name to Paycare in 2005
we lost a little of that local awareness.
By teaming up with the Chamber, and
then by adding to our membership by
becoming a Patron, we’ve re-established
our name in the city.
The Chamber’s role in Black Country
business life was perfectly aligned with our
needs. It gave us a great opportunity to
work with other members and our fellow
patrons to create internal networks that
have reaped dividends for us.
It’s also been great for information
distribution, tapping into the knowledge of
our fellow patrons and members.
Has the Chamber connection proved
cost-effective?
As an accountant I always challenge
spending, to make sure we are getting
value for money. The first time we
discussed becoming a Chamber Patron I
was asked, ‘how can we justify the spend?’
That’s a great question – but every time we
have reviewed our relationship with the
Chamber, we’ve been able to see the value
it generates for our business.
It’s not just in terms of brand awareness
or profile either: the ‘hidden’ benefits of
Chamber membership are brilliant. I’m
thinking here specifically of the HR helpline
‘‘ The Chamber’s role in Black
Country business life was
perfectly aligned with our
needs. It gave us a great
opportunity to work with
other members and our fellow
patrons to create internal
networks that have reaped
dividends for us.
‘‘
38 PROSPER AUTUMN 2022