Prosper Autumn, Black Country Chamber of Commerce magazine
Business news and advice, Black Country Chamber of Commerce Business news and advice, Black Country Chamber of Commerce
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
members can access, or the Energy Solutions programme. The Chamber package we have saves us money every year, as well as generating income through new business. What other measures did you use to raise Paycare’s profile? People know us as sponsors at Wolves, and as part of our plan to broaden our geographical spread even further we’ve also teamed up with Motherwell FC in the Scottish Premier League. How does the future look for Paycare? We are in a very strong position. We receive a lot of new business through recommendations from existing clients, both members of the public and businesses, which is always good news. Our healthcare cash plans are very popular with corporate customers as they offer a low-cost staff benefit that employees appreciate. While the NHS remains ‘free at the point of care’, in the real world we all know it isn’t. The costs of, say, opticians or dentists are going up all the time, and our plans help cover those fees. We also help our members with other medical costs, such as professional therapy and hospital inpatient and outpatient visits. Being able to offer this help for a low monthly cost per employee is an increasingly popular benefit that businesses can see offers real value. What is really heartening is that a lot of our new business comes from HR people leaving one of our clients to go to a new role, and once at their new employer they recommend us as an employee benefit. That shows we’re doing something right and the cover we offer is valued. And what’s next for Kevin? Well, as I said at the start, I’m not retiring: I’ll keep up my charity work, and will continue to support Paycare. But I’ll have more time on my hands for travel – and for golf! I took up the sport about a year ago – I’d never had time before then – and really love it. It’s incredibly frustrating but I love the challenge, and I’ve now got enough time to work on my game. Prosper caught up with Paycare’s incoming chief executive Anthony Burns to see how he feels about stepping into Kevin’s shoes. “I’m proud as punch to be taking over from Kevin,” Anthony said. “He is a hard act to follow, but I’m really excited about taking over from him and leading what I think is a fantastic business. “We’ll all miss him, though. He’s not just been an inspirational leader for the organisation, he’s a great bloke too, a close friend and he’s unbelievably kind: he really does have the best interests of all his people at heart. I’ll miss seeing him around every day. We’re all delighted he’s going to maintain strong links with us, on a consultancy basis.” Anthony has been with Paycare for a decade, though his links go back further than that! “I never realised until I joined but when Paycare was the Patients Aid Association, the head office was at the end of the street where I grew up, and my dad worked round the corner from the office for 20 years. Perhaps it’s fate I’ve taken over!” He sees a bright future for the forwardthinking business: “I love the fact that we’re a not-for-profit body; it allows us to tailor our products to match public and business needs. “The way the government is providing healthcare is changing and I see us as positioned centrally between the NHS and the private care sector. For businesses looking to improve the wellbeing of their people, we have some great products that are superb value-for-money and really appreciated by your staff.” PROSPER AUTUMN 2022 39
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members can access, or the Energy<br />
Solutions programme.<br />
The <strong>Chamber</strong> package we have saves us<br />
money every year, as well as generating<br />
income through new business.<br />
What other measures did you use to<br />
raise Paycare’s pr<strong>of</strong>ile?<br />
People know us as sponsors at Wolves,<br />
and as part <strong>of</strong> our plan to broaden our<br />
geographical spread even further we’ve also<br />
teamed up with Motherwell FC in the<br />
Scottish Premier League.<br />
How does the future look for Paycare?<br />
We are in a very strong position. We<br />
receive a lot <strong>of</strong> new business through<br />
recommendations from existing clients,<br />
both members <strong>of</strong> the public and businesses,<br />
which is always good news.<br />
Our healthcare cash plans are very<br />
popular with corporate customers as they<br />
<strong>of</strong>fer a low-cost staff benefit that employees<br />
appreciate. While the NHS remains ‘free at<br />
the point <strong>of</strong> care’, in the real world we all<br />
know it isn’t. The costs <strong>of</strong>, say, opticians or<br />
dentists are going up all the time, and our<br />
plans help cover those fees. We also help<br />
our members with other medical costs, such<br />
as pr<strong>of</strong>essional therapy and hospital<br />
inpatient and outpatient visits.<br />
Being able to <strong>of</strong>fer this help for a low<br />
monthly cost per employee is an<br />
increasingly popular benefit that businesses<br />
can see <strong>of</strong>fers real value.<br />
What is really heartening is that a lot <strong>of</strong><br />
our new business comes from HR people<br />
leaving one <strong>of</strong> our clients to go to a new<br />
role, and once at their new employer they<br />
recommend us as an employee benefit.<br />
That shows we’re doing something right<br />
and the cover we <strong>of</strong>fer is valued.<br />
And what’s next for Kevin?<br />
Well, as I said at the start, I’m not retiring:<br />
I’ll keep up my charity work, and will<br />
continue to support Paycare. But I’ll have<br />
more time on my hands for travel – and for<br />
golf!<br />
I took up the sport about a year ago – I’d<br />
never had time before then – and really love<br />
it. It’s incredibly frustrating but I love the<br />
challenge, and I’ve now got enough time to<br />
work on my game.<br />
<strong>Prosper</strong> caught up with Paycare’s<br />
incoming chief executive Anthony<br />
Burns to see how he feels about<br />
stepping into Kevin’s shoes.<br />
“I’m proud as punch to be taking over<br />
from Kevin,” Anthony said. “He is a hard<br />
act to follow, but I’m really excited about<br />
taking over from him and leading what I<br />
think is a fantastic business.<br />
“We’ll all miss him, though. He’s not just<br />
been an inspirational leader for the<br />
organisation, he’s a great bloke too, a<br />
close friend and he’s unbelievably kind: he<br />
really does have the best interests <strong>of</strong> all his<br />
people at heart. I’ll miss seeing him around<br />
every day. We’re all delighted he’s going to<br />
maintain strong links with us, on a<br />
consultancy basis.”<br />
Anthony has been with Paycare for a<br />
decade, though his links go back further<br />
than that! “I never realised until I joined<br />
but when Paycare was the Patients Aid<br />
Association, the head <strong>of</strong>fice was at the end<br />
<strong>of</strong> the street where I grew up, and my dad<br />
worked round the corner from the <strong>of</strong>fice for<br />
20 years. Perhaps it’s fate I’ve taken over!”<br />
He sees a bright future for the forwardthinking<br />
business: “I love the fact that<br />
we’re a not-for-pr<strong>of</strong>it body; it allows us to<br />
tailor our products to match public and<br />
business needs.<br />
“The way the government is providing<br />
healthcare is changing and I see us as<br />
positioned centrally between the NHS and<br />
the private care sector. For businesses<br />
looking to improve the wellbeing <strong>of</strong> their<br />
people, we have some great products that<br />
are superb value-for-money and really<br />
appreciated by your staff.”<br />
PROSPER AUTUMN 2022 39
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