About Worksmart

Worksmart is a successful niche software provider, selling a set of workflow products that are capable of rapid tailoring to suit a variety of HR and compliance processes. We have over ten years of growth and success in our core market of household name financial and general industry brands. Our success in providing highly reliable workflow tools for a range of banks, building societies and insurance companies means that our HR products are built to a more demanding standard than others in the marketplace.

Worksmart Solutions helps companies with FSA regulated activities manage their people and reduce the risk of fines for regulatory breaches and provides a range of solutions that assist in achieving compliance with the principles of treating customers fairly. The company started with sales support software for a major financial services company and has developed into a broader range of compliance and HR performance management software used in a variety of markets.

In financial markets our software will often sit as a middle office system between point-of-sale software and back office support systems. For the bigger clients we complement their Oracle / SAP or other heavyweight HR admin systems already installed along with CRM and billing engines - we add essential connections between those tools. We provide a number of major banks with their personnel compliance engine. For smaller clients we provide a broader footprint solution that is often installed in many departments or functions. The common factor across all our solutions is that we deliver a critical enterprise-wide set of tools that join HR, Training, Compliance, Testing and Sales functions so they have a robust and auditable set of controls. The advantage of a broader roll out is reliable management information accessible from a CEO’s dashboard to the task-list of a customer service operative.

Our HR solutions join up HR processes, connect the HR team efficiently with the other parts of the organisation, increase efficiency, reduce paperwork and provide a strong change management implementation tool.

We have an excellent core team based in Milton Keynes servicing customers nationally with specialist teams covering technical support, software design, management information report building, regulatory liaison and compliance, and project management disciplines. We scale up for large implementations and are always looking for a good customer with a workflow problem that needs solving.

Richard Pawlyn CEO

Find out more information about our software

Worksmart Management Team

Paddy MccGwire - Chairman

Paddy joined Worksmart as a part of the new management buy-out team in March 2008. His career began at STC, a telecom electronics group. He then spent seven years at 3i investing in and managing technology investments and four years as a company doctor undertaking a number of turnarounds and advising on management buy-outs. Paddy founded Cobalt in 1996 as a specialist TMT corporate finance advisor. He has advised on numerous transactions, including the sales of Aspiren to SunGard, UBM to Revenue Assurance Plc, Delphis to Morse and the MBO of Touchpaper from Fidessa Plc. Paddy has a BSc in Management Sciences from the University of Manchester (UMIST), is a Liveryman of the Information Technologists', sits on the Board of the NCH Byte Nite (charity) and spends his weekends if not on the rugby touchline, or playing tennis, enjoying boats.

Chris Williams - Non-executive

Chris joined Worksmart as a part of the new management buy-out team in March 2008. After qualifying as an accountant, Chris held various CFO and Business Development roles at acquisitive groups such as Misys Plc. Having gained significant experience on corporate acquisitions, with over 20 transactions, he joined Andersen Corporate Finance & subsequently Deloitte Corporate Finance where he was Global Head for the TMT team focused mainly on sales of mid-market companies. Chris joined Cobalt as a Partner in January 2007, bringing deep & extensive experience of mid-market M&A in the Technology, Media and Telecoms (TMT) sectors. He has led over 50 sector transactions including the sale of N4 to Experian, the sale of Vivista to Sungard, and the sale of Singlepoint to Vodafone. Chris is a keen football supporter and holds a private pilot license from the USA.

Don Murray - Founder

Don Murray founded Worksmart and remains as consultant and advisor to the current management team. Don has been in the Financial Services industry since 1979, working as an advisor and very successful senior manager for a life company. With the arrival of Lautro in the late eighties, he realised the need for more information to help managers coach more effectively. This insiders knowledge and deep understanding of the business rules and drivers led Don to build a software product specifically aimed at maximising sales in a compliant manner. The resultant software after many improvements and iterations enables companies to manage a wide range of processes whilst independently initiating actions, e-mails and diary alerts. With the emergence of increased regulation in a wide spectrum of industries, it is becoming almost impossible to trade effectively without tools to manage the risk of breaches to codes and working practices.

Richard Pawlyn - CEO

Richard joined Worksmart as a part of the new management buy-out team in March 2008. Richard's first career was 10 years as a Commercial Property Surveyor advising corporates on restructuring their property portfolios which followed studying Estate Management at Kingston Polytechnic and qualifying as Chartered Surveyor. During this time, he became interested in IT technologies and changed careers in 1996 to join PRIDE as Managing Director. This collaborative venture was transformed into a market leading internet commercial property database. Richard then joined Reed Business Information to build their online property portal egpropertylink.com. In 2003, Richard joined Landmark Property and Environment [Daily Mail Group Plc], as Managing Director and rapidly grew the UK's leading digital mapping and environmental information business by quadrupling customer numbers. Richard enjoys mountain biking, power kites and motor sports.

Tim Young - Financial Controller

Tim joined Worksmart as Financial Controller in June 2008, with almost 20 years experience in developing the finance and management information functions in the SME sector. After graduating in Mathematics from Manchester University, he spent 5 years training in professional practice with Binder Hamlyn in St. Albans. In 1988 he moved into industry, joining Quadrant a small electronics company in Hertfordshire employing 30 staff. Over the following years the company grew to provide work for over 200 in the UK, Germany and Czech Republic and have a customer base stretching across mainland Europe. Tim enjoys all forms of cinema and studies the history of films.