Corporate Governance
We are committed to the highest standards of corporate governance and here you can find details about our policies, processes and information about our business.
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Diversity Pay Gap Reports
We are driven by a core belief: people are our most valuable asset and we’re proud of their talents, enthusiasm, achievements and passion to serve our customers.
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Annual Report and Financial Statements
As one of the UK’s largest privately held software companies, we recognise the importance of the Walker Guidelines and the Private Equity Reporting Group in demonstrating a commitment to transparency and disclosure.
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Governance at IRIS
We’re committed to the highest standards of governance for ourselves and our customers, so they can get it right first time, every time. Here’s an overview of our governance and the policies and processes we have in place.
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Modern Slavery Statement
Our statement highlights the steps we’ve taken during the financial year to ensure slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in our business including our supply chain.
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IRIS Group – Tax Strategy
An overview of our company tax strategy.
Diversity Pay Gap Report
Our priority is to encourage and recognise every success with an emphasis on teamwork as well as individual contribution. We believe transparency, sharing and accountability creates a stimulating and rewarding work environment. That’s why we publish our gender pay data every year.
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2023
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2022
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2021
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2020
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2019
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2018
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2017
Annual Report and Financial Statements
Our purpose is to be the most trusted provider of mission-critical software and services, ensuring customers get it right first time, every time.
During the financial year ended 30 April 2024, the IRIS Group (“Group”) has continued to deliver against our strategic objectives, including expansion in North America and growth of our managed services and cloud revenue.
The key highlights of the year include:
- Reported results for the year showing strong continued growth compared to the prior year
- Alongside continued integration of the four acquisitions completed in FY23 (Paycheck Plus, myPay Solutions, Metworx and Apex), we completed six acquisitions during FY24, aligned to our strategic objectives:
Americas acquisitions:
- In December 2023, we acquired CAVU HCM (CAVU). CAVU is a trusted provider of payroll, HR, talent and workforce services in the Americas. CAVU serves more than 1,600 businesses and its solutions are used by 23,000 employees across all 50 states in the US.
- During January 2024, we successfully completed the acquisitions of SourceOne HCM and Payroll Data Processing (PDP). SourceOne HCM is a premier organisation specialising in providing exceptional payroll and HR services to more than 420 small businesses in California. PDP is a payroll service bureau based in Florida. The combination of these strong payroll service bureaus across three critical US geographies brings an exceptional team of experts focused on providing payroll and HR services to small and mid-sized businesses seamlessly across the US. These recent acquisitions extend the capabilities and reach of our existing payroll services operations.
UK acquisitions:
- In September 2023 we acquired Bridgehead (also known as Harper Morris Payroll, Bridgehead Europe and Bridgehead UK), a premier payroll and employee benefits provider. Bridgehead provides an extensive range of fully managed payroll services and its close-knit team of experienced specialists is dedicated to providing friendly, responsive and supportive service. This closely aligns with IRIS’ mission to take the pain out of payroll and HR processes so professionals can get it right first time, every time and focus on delivering value to their business.
- In November 2023, we completed the acquisitions of Bishop Fleming Payroll Services and Blue Octopus, a leading provider of recruitment software and services in the UK. A longstanding IRIS customer, Bishop Fleming’s 900 managed payroll clients will join customers taking advantage of IRIS Fully Managed Payroll, our BACS-approved bureau service, using the latest technology, and run by our expert team of experienced CIPP-accredited payroll managers. The Bridgehead and Bishop Fleming acquisitions perfectly complement our global strategy to scale significantly in the managed payroll segment over the coming years. Blue Octopus specialises in innovative recruitment and onboarding technology, managed recruitment services and customised careers microsites for over 200 companies, primarily in the public sector, construction, manufacturing and retail industries. Blue Octopus’ cutting-edge talent acquisition platform empowers in-house recruitment teams and HR professionals to efficiently source top talent, enhance the candidate experience, drive engagement and optimise processes. This closely aligns with IRIS’ commitment to streamline business operations and give professionals more time to do what’s valued.
We are proud of the continued recognition we receive for our products and services and are delighted to have received many awards for our effective and successful business solutions provided to our customers during the year. Our accolades also extend beyond our products and services and we are thrilled with being recognised by A Great Place to Work™ for the fourth year running in the UK and achieving similar recognition in other territories.
We are also proud of the numerous diversity and inclusion accreditations we have received, from winning the “Best Integration of Wellbeing and EDI” at the Make A Difference Awards 2023, being named a Stonewall Diversity Champion, signing The Race at Work Charter from The Prince’s Responsible Business Network, to being a Disability Confident Committed Employer.
Reports & Updates
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April 2024
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October 2023
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April 2023 Addendum
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April 2023
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October 2022
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April 2022
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April 2021
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April 2020
For further information on the performance of the Group, including definitions and basis of reporting please refer to our financial statements. If you have any questions in respect of this information, please contact Sara.Lewis@iris.co.uk.
Governance at IRIS
In 2017, we set up an Information Security and Governance Forum that meets at least quarterly and includes members of our Executive team, the Chief Information Officer, the Group Head of IT and the Group Data Protection Officer.
We also have divisional information governance groups containing key stakeholders from each department to steer reviews and improvements to our departmental policies and procedures.
Review our documentation
This includes reviewing our policies, our supplier and sub-processor contracts, as well as any customer-facing documents, to ensure they include all the necessary data protection requirements.
Adopted company-wide protocols
We have a Group Data Protection Policy, personal data incident reporting procedure, actively carry out security checks on all staff on recruitment and have a Group summary of our Acceptable Use and Information Security Policies (this summarises the requirements of our more detailed Information Security Management System).
Our Group policies are available to our customers on request via their Account Manager.
Staff training
All colleagues complete mandatory corporate training on data protection and information security, rolled out on staff induction and each training session is refreshed at least once per year. Topics include:
- Health & Safety Policy
- IT Change management policy
- Anti-Money Laundering Policy
- Anti-Money Laundering Course & video
- Prevention of Criminal Facilitation of Tax Evasion Policy
- Anti-Trust Compliance Competition Law Policy
- Anti-bribery policy
- Anti-bribery training
- Business Continuity Policy
- Business Continuity Training/Presentation
- IRIS Data classification and handling policy
- IRIS Records Management Training Course
- Privacy and Security Awareness Training course
- IRIS understanding Privacy by Design Course
- IRIS Phishing awareness training Course
- IRIS Group Data Protection Policy
- Information Security and Acceptable Use Policy
- Sanctions Policy
- ISO 9001 Quality Policy
- What is Secure Coding (Training for engineering security group)
Transparency
We’re aware our products and services may be integral to the processes that our customers implement in order to meet some of their own data protection obligations. Consequently, we have identified the need to provide our customers with more information about how certain aspects of our software work.
This will help customers (as data controllers) to identify how they process personal data and how it is shared with third parties such as HMRC and Companies House. We have, therefore, been producing guidance to assist our customers in this respect and to help their understanding of any non-obvious processes in order to incorporate this information into their own compliance plans.
Please contact your account manager for more information about the specific IRIS products you are using.
Other useful links about our policies and data protection
Useful governance information about our products
Understanding the new Data Protection Laws
We would strongly recommend customers seek their own legal advice if they are unsure about the implications of the new data protection laws on their businesses.
Legal Disclaimer
The information contained on this website is for general guidance purposes only. It should not be taken for, nor is it intended as, legal advice. While we have made every effort to ensure that the information provided on this website is correct and up to date, we make no promises as to completeness or accuracy and the information is delivered on an “as is” basis without any warranties, express or implied. We will not accept any liability for errors or omissions and will not be liable for any damage (including, without limitation, damage for loss of business or loss of profits) arising in contract, tort or otherwise from the use of or reliance on this information or from any action or decisions taken as a result of using this information.
