Rocket Paye

Rocket Paye: payroll for contractors and agencies in the UK

Rocket Paye is a British company specialising in payroll management for contractors and employment agencies. Its approach focuses on simplifying payment to temporary workers and self-employed individuals, with flexible models and a focus on regulatory compliance. The company was recognised as "Best UK Umbrella Company" at the Contracting Awards 2023, according to its own presentation.

Payroll services and pay models

The company structures its offering around two main figures: the umbrella company (Rocket Umbrella), which allows the worker to be employed under a continuous employment relationship with all the associated benefits, and the CIS Bureau (Rocket CIS), aimed at those who work self-employed in the construction sector. It also offers a Self-Assessment service for self-employed workers' tax returns.

Rocket Paye uses HMRC-approved software (the UK tax agency) to process payroll, which guarantees accuracy and compliance. The company states it has a flexible fee structure, which can be adapted to each agency and include sliding scales, with the aim of not applying a uniform fixed fee to all workers.

Identity and right to work verification

One aspect highlighted by the company is identity and right to work verification in the UK. Rocket Paye carries out identity checks to ensure that documents are current and comply with current Home Office regulations, depending on the worker's origin. These verifications are mandatory to allow access to sites and for payments to be made promptly each week. The company has an in-house compliance team that advises on the legality of each worker.

Worker support and online services

Rocket Paye provides workers with an online portal, a mobile app, an electronic registration form and a WhatsApp service, all free of charge. The company has multilingual staff covering more than eight languages to facilitate translation and streamline the registration process. It also offers an emergency payment service outside standard payroll deadlines, so that workers do not run out of funds before the weekend.

The aftercare team keeps in contact with workers to resolve queries and advise on expenses when necessary. As standard benefits, workers receive SMS messages with the expected weekly net pay, weekly payslips by email or through the portal, P45/P60 certificates when applicable and payments made via the Faster Payments Service (FPS) every week.

Management team

The company is led by Alex Hough, managing director, with more than 13 years of experience in contracting and payroll, who founded Rocket Paye after identifying a lack of specific solutions for contractors. John Bounds, sales director, has more than 20 years in the sector. Sarah Thorp is the operations manager and manages projects, implementations and partnerships. Igor Loginovs is the payroll manager and is responsible for processing the different types of payroll and pay models for temporary workers and contractors each week.

Certifications and compliance

Rocket Paye states it is certified by Saferec, a seal that endorses its commitment to worker welfare and fairness. According to the company, every payslip it issues goes through rigorous audit processes to verify that deductions are correct, that they are paid to HMRC and that the worker receives exactly what they are entitled to.