Some businesses grow by adding entirely new services. Others grow because their existing clients start asking questions that sit just outside the service they originally came for.
That is how payroll became the latest chapter for Hewitts Consulting.
The business began around 2008 as a recruitment company, helping organisations find the people they needed. Over time, that work has meant developing a close understanding of the businesses behind those recruitment requirements: the people they employ, the challenges they face and the things they need to get right as they grow.
Payroll and HR are a natural extension of that relationship.
Employing someone creates responsibilities that go well beyond finding the right candidate. Salaries need to be processed correctly. Employment legislation changes. HR questions arise. Immigration and compliance issues can become complicated. For smaller businesses in particular, these are areas where they may need specialist knowledge without having enough work to justify employing a full-time HR or payroll professional.
That is the gap Hewitts is now looking to fill.
At the heart of the new payroll division is the same idea that has shaped the wider business: Hewitts wants to be part of its clients’ businesses, rather than simply another supplier they deal with.
From Recruitment to Payroll
Payroll wasn’t completely outside Hewitts’ existing experience.
Sarah O’Toole brought 14 years of experience across payroll and HR when she joined the business, giving Hewitts the specialist knowledge needed to build the new division properly.
For Hewitts, the opportunity was not simply about putting another service on the website. It was about recognising that the relationship they already had with businesses could extend further.
A company might initially come to Hewitts because it needs help recruiting. But once that person joins, a different set of questions can follow.
How should their pay be handled? What happens when employment legislation changes? What does an employer need to do when an employee’s circumstances change? When does an HR issue need specialist attention?
Those are not necessarily questions a recruitment company would traditionally be expected to answer.
But they are questions that naturally sit alongside the relationships Hewitts has already built.
Payroll gives the business a way to stay involved for longer and help with more of the issues its clients encounter as employers.
“We Are Part of Your Business”
Director Maggie MacSwiney describes the approach simply: “We are part of your business. We’re just an extension of somebody’s business.”
That is probably the clearest way to understand what Hewitts is trying to build.
The payroll team handles the practical work of processing salaries and producing the files clients need to make payments through their banks. But the relationship doesn’t stop with the monthly payroll run.
A client might have an employee who has moved into a different role and needs their pay or circumstances reviewed. They might be trying to understand what a change in employment legislation means for them. They might have an HR issue that is too complicated to deal with alone, but doesn’t justify employing a full-time HR adviser.
Those situations are where having people who already understand the business becomes useful.
Instead of starting from scratch with a new provider every time a question arises, the client has someone who knows their organisation and can have a conversation about what is actually happening.
That is the model Hewitts wants to build: not simply completing a process on a client’s behalf, but becoming a useful extension of the team.
The Person Behind the New Division
Bringing Sarah into the business was important because the idea needed more than a new service offering. It needed experience.
With 14 years working across payroll and HR, Sarah understands the practical issues that sit behind the monthly payroll run and the wider employee lifecycle.
That experience matters because payroll is one of those business functions where seemingly small details can have very real consequences.
People need to be paid correctly and on time. Employers need to meet their obligations. Changes to an employee’s circumstances need to be handled properly. And when legislation or requirements change, someone needs to understand what that means in practice.
Sarah gives Hewitts the specialist knowledge to have those conversations with clients rather than simply processing information and sending it back.
As the HR side of the business begins to grow, that experience is becoming even more valuable.
Maggie says that side of the business is already “catching fire”, suggesting that the opportunity may be bigger than payroll alone.
The longer-term vision is to help businesses with more of the practical challenges that come with employing people.
Technology Does the Heavy Lifting
There is also a less visible part of the story: the technology behind payroll.
For Hewitts, the software is not an optional extra. As Maggie puts it: “It’s paramount, really. It’s the foundation of how we grow our business which is why we have gone for the best in the market.”
The system processes payroll and produces the files clients need to make payments through their banks. It also gives Hewitts a platform that can support its longer-term ambitions, including international payroll.
That is important because the technology needs to support where the business is going, rather than simply what it needs to do today.
AI is becoming part of that picture too. The payroll software Hewitts uses already incorporates AI, including an AI agent, reflecting the way these capabilities are increasingly being built into everyday business systems.
For Maggie, AI is going to remain part of the workplace. The more interesting question is how businesses use it and where human expertise remains important.
For Hewitts, technology can handle much of the processing. The relationship, judgement and understanding of the client’s circumstances still depend on people.
Building a Community, Not Just a Customer Base
Hewitts’ ambitions extend beyond payroll, HR and recruitment.
The company wants to build a network around its clients, creating opportunities for businesses to meet, make connections and potentially help one another.
That could include local networking events and other opportunities for clients to connect. There is a charitable element too, with plans to give a percentage from networking activity to a local charity.
It is another expression of the same philosophy: the relationship shouldn’t end when the service has been delivered.
If Hewitts can introduce two clients who can help each other, that creates value that has nothing to do with processing a payroll.
And it reflects the way the business thinks about its client relationships more broadly.
The aim isn’t simply to build a larger list of customers. It is to create relationships where clients can benefit from being connected to Hewitts and, potentially, to one another.
Real People Still Matter
For all the discussion around software, AI and increasingly complicated employment legislation, there is something much more human at the centre of Hewitts’ approach.
Maggie talks about looking for “fairly real people” to work with; people they can relate to and who relate to them.
Professionalism still matters. So does expertise. But Hewitts doesn’t believe those things have to come at the expense of a genuine relationship.
“We try to make them smile, make them laugh,” Maggie says.
That might seem like a small thing when compared with payroll compliance or HR legislation, but it says something important about the way Hewitts wants to work.
A payroll system can process the numbers. A report can show what has happened.
But clients still need to be able to pick up the phone and talk to someone who understands their situation.
That human connection is central to the kind of business Hewitts is building.
What’s Next for Hewitts?
The immediate focus for Hewitts Payroll is on small and medium-sized organisations. Longer term, the ambition is to work with larger organisations and expand into international payroll.
The HR offering is also expected to develop alongside it.
What makes the story interesting is that the move into payroll doesn’t feel disconnected from where Hewitts started.
Recruitment created relationships with businesses and an understanding of the people within them. Those relationships revealed other problems businesses were dealing with. Payroll provided a natural opportunity to help with one of those problems, while Sarah’s experience brought the specialist knowledge needed to do it properly.
From there, HR creates another opportunity to become more useful.
The services may continue to change as Hewitts grows. The underlying idea is much simpler.
Understand the people behind the business. Build a genuine relationship. Then look for ways to become genuinely useful.
That approach has taken Hewitts from its recruitment roots into a new chapter, and it may ultimately prove more important than any individual service it provides.
About Hewitts Consulting
Hewitts Consulting is a people-focused consultancy with an established background in recruitment, helping organisations find the right people for their teams. Its approach is built around understanding clients properly, building long-term relationships and providing practical, creative advice rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach.
That same philosophy now extends into Hewitts Payroll, giving businesses access to specialist payroll and HR expertise as an extension of their own team.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Hewitts Payroll? Hewitt’s Payroll is the payroll division of Hewitt’s Consulting, launched in 2026 and headed up by Sarah O’Toole, who has 14 years’ experience in payroll and HR services. It provides outsourced payroll support alongside HR services.
Who is Hewitts Payroll aimed at? The initial focus is on small and medium-sized organisations, with ambitions to work with larger organisations and eventually expand into international payroll.
Why would a business outsource its payroll? Payroll has become increasingly complex, particularly as legislation, employment rights and compliance requirements continue to change. Outsourcing gives businesses access to specialist expertise without necessarily needing to employ and manage that expertise in-house.
Does Hewitts provide HR services as well as payroll? Yes. HR services are an important part of the new offering, and the business is seeing growing demand in this area as organisations navigate increasingly complex employment legislation and compliance requirements.
What makes Hewitts Payroll different? The emphasis is on being an extension of the client’s business rather than simply an external supplier. Hewitt’s combines specialist experience with a personal, relationship-led approach, aiming to provide practical advice and a high level of service.
