Published by isobel.regan@dontpanicprojects.com
Published Date 25.08.2022 
Here at BrightHR, we are over the moon to have been shortlisted for the UK Business Tech Awards in the SaaS Company of the Year category again. This marks an enormous achievement for the company, and we couldn’t be prouder to have our work celebrated in this way.
Since 2015, we’ve been working hard to deliver leading digital HR software, to help businesses streamline their people management. Our team which has grown from just 39 staff to 300 in seven years provide support to 75,000 global businesses and counting, with our range of market-leading HR and health & safety software tools and business support services.
Our staff are dedicated to finding new and innovative ways of keeping on top of those pesky, yet crucial HR tasks that business owners spend countless hours on, day in, day out. Our ultimate aim is to free up their time so that they can focus on what they do best: running their business.
The Covid pandemic took its toll on small businesses during the last two years, and many found their HR departments under increasing strain as they encountered more and more unprecedented situations. As such, we shifted our focus towards helping them not only get back on their feet, but to thrive. That’s why we launched BrightHR Lightning, a software platform that uses AI to provide expert answers instantly to the most pressing HR queries.
BrightHR Lightning is a 24/7 tool for HR queries, providing instant and insightful responses from our qualified experts. It logs questions and answers for future reference and is continually learning, with new content being added constantly, to ensure that all HR issues can be solved with ease. And by making it free, we’re helping our clients save enormous amounts of money that could have been spent on solicitor fees, who normally charge an hourly rate of £220. While operating in a rapidly changing HR environment, we have established ourselves as industry leaders by prioritising the needs of our users and continuing to innovate.
Alongside BrightHR Lightning, we also rolled out Bright Exchange, an online marketplace for business owners to connect. Bright Exchange provides a platform through which they can promote their services or products to others while growing their own client base, find reputable suppliers, and boost staff retention and morale through generous perks and benefits. Thanks to the rollout of our groundbreaking platforms, we’ve seen a surge of 23,000 new companies using our services, boosting our revenue by 36% this year.
All this hasn’t gone unnoticed, as we have just been recognised as the UK’s 16th best business services company to work for in the Best Companies Index and ranked as the 25th fastest growing tech company in the North in June. While we’re very proud of the progress we’ve made in the last two years, the pandemic has undoubtedly brought on a number of challenges. As the day-to-day needs of our customers changed dramatically, we realised that we had to expand our workforce in order to facilitate the innovation we were to strive for.
To release BrightHR Lightning, Bright Exchange, and our People Navigator tool all within a nine-month window, we had to invest heavily in research and development, increasing our workforce by 77%.
We also don’t limit ourselves to software. We understand human interaction is key to a great customer experience and can never be fully replaced by technology. Our 121 training sessions with clients, product guidance, 24/7 advice, toolkits, and how-to videos are all crafted to give our users the best and most valuable experience possible. Central to our success during this difficult time has been our amazing team who work hard to deliver the best client experience, and their satisfaction is our priority.
By April 2022, we managed to make £5.3m in revenue, so we decided it was only right to give our employers a well-earned share of the profits. As the financial climate became ever more challenging, we doubled the profit-share pay-outs with a ‘Double Bubble’ event, distributing £3.8m in bonuses across the group. It’s thanks to the brilliant work ethic of our staff and their commitment to our values of openness, boldness, and willingness to take risks that we have reached over 1 million users worldwide.
Despite everything we’ve accomplished in the last year though, BrightHR doesn’t plan on slowing down. In fact, we’re looking to keep on expanding and rising to whatever new challenges arise in the ever-changing HR landscape.
