"Working with suppliers who are culturally aligned with our business / who think like we do and truly aspire to deliver service excellence is really important to us."

Who is Travis Perkins plc?

Travis Perkins plc is the UK's largest distributor of building materials and has been helping build Britain for over 200 years. Comprising over twenty well known businesses (including Wickes and Toolstation), it operates over 2,000 outlets, and has more than 29,000 employees in the United Kingdom.

Travis Perkins' share plans

Giving employees an opportunity to take a stake in the business is really important to Travis Perkins and the business has a long and rich tradition of employee share ownership. Travis Perkins makes a range of share plans available to employees and together they form an important part of the company's overall reward and retention strategy.

Motivated by a desire to raise awareness, improve understanding and increase participation in their share plans, Travis Perkins took the decision to go to tender for share plan services in 2017. Following a comprehensive review of the market Travis Perkins decided to switch administration of all their share plans to YBS Share Plans.

The why?

Moving provider is always a big decision and can be an upheaval if not managed correctly but Travis Perkins was determined to work with a provider which was more culturally aligned with their business and who could demonstrate they shared the same values and passion for service excellence; a provider who would deliver much more than just the basics and add value at every opportunity through a programme of continuous improvement.

Access to a proactive account manager, a single point of contact who would take ownership of plan milestones and drive all key stakeholder relationships (freeing up valuable time and resource) was also really important to Travis Perkins. Someone they could also depend on to share industry knowledge, insight and best practice to help inform internal decision making and ensure Travis Perkins remained informed and compliant.

The how?

With a number of different share plans in operation Travis Perkins decided on a phased migration of plans to ensure resources were managed appropriately and any disruption to services minimised. YBS Share Plans worked closely with key stakeholders at Travis Perkins as well as the outgoing provider, to agree the scope of the project as well as the key milestones and project deliverables. This helped draw together a detailed migration plan and timeline that was workable for all parties.

A key focus of these in depth planning meetings was to gain a better understanding of Travis Perkins' requirements and current processes and to clearly identify the improvements they were hoping to realise. This allowed both parties to approach the project with clear and common goals and objectives.

Highlights

  • Data Migration - During migration YBS Share Plans completed a number of testing cycles with Travis Perkins and the outgoing provider to help ensure the accuracy and integrity of the data that was passed across.
  • Payroll Training - In recognition of the vital role that payroll plays in effective share plan administration, YBS Share Plans spent a significant amount of time with the Travis Perkins payroll team clarifying requirements and helping to establish new processes and routines. This was achieved via an onsite Payroll Training Academy and bitesize administration manuals clearly documenting key processes and responsibilities.
  • Communication - YBS Share Plans has worked closely with Travis Perkins to understand their employee demographic and is working with Travis Perkins to create simplified communication which engages colleagues and helps to promote the plans more effectively.
  • Financial Education - YBS Share Plans is working with Travis Perkins to improve employee understanding of the key features of the various share plans and has created a communication hub. With simplified content, interactive modelling tools and bitesize animations, the hub provides easy access to a range of information that will help employees improve their understanding of share plans, break down barriers to participation and protect them from poor decision making in the moments that matter.
  • Online User Experience - A great online experience is a really important aspect of the overall customer experience and so YBS Share Plans has worked with Travis Perkins to create a fully branded web portal. With simple navigation and intuitive functionality, it allows participants to apply, view, manage and transact on their share plan accounts around the clock wherever they are.
  • Customer Satisfaction - As part of our program of service excellence and continual improvement the YBS Share Plans Account Manager holds regular review meetings with Travis Perkins. During these meetings all parties are able to review progress and performance over the period, identify shifting priorities and share the latest Net Promoter Scores and customer feedback collected from satisfaction surveys covering all channels of distribution. This feedback is invaluable in helping to inform Travis Perkins' future decision making.