Can you stay calm while crunching the numbers? Do you have an eagle eye for matching hours to rotas? Ready for a role where you genuinely make a difference?
With over 550 team members and a payroll of more than £10 million, accurate records and well-managed rotas are vital to our success. We run monthly payrolls for both salaried and hourly paid teams and are now seeking an experienced HR & Payroll Specialist to join our growing HR team.
This is a genuinely blended role offering hands-on involvement in both HR and payroll. You’ll work closely with our HR Director, HR Advisers, and our external payroll bureau to ensure everything runs smoothly – from onboarding to payroll to employee relations.
This is an on-site/ in office role- based just outside Colchester, Essex. Travel to sites will be required occasionally.
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What You’ll Be Doing:
• Preparing and checking payroll, including weekly rota closures and reconciliations
• Cross-referencing rotas and reports, identifying discrepancies and ensuring accuracy
• Supporting managers with employee-related matters including welfare, development, and conduct
• Handling employee relations, including note-taking and drafting outcome documentation
• Administering new starter packs, offers, contracts, and updates on our HRIS (Fourth Hospitality)
• Managing recruitment admin: writing job adverts, screening CVs, and conducting first-stage interviews
• Coordinating Tronc/tip distribution with the Troncmaster
• Delivering or supporting workshops and team training on HR and payroll processes
• Supporting ongoing HR projects – from employee engagement to welfare initiatives
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What You’ll Bring:
• Sound knowledge of Payroll, HR practices and employment policies
• Understanding of SMP, SSP, SPP, pensions, Tronc, tax, live-ins, pro-rating, and payroll variations
• Experience closing and checking rotas, and previewing payroll reports for accuracy
• Confidence in calculating estimates and explaining payroll matters clearly
• Ideally, hospitality experience or exposure to multi-site operations
• Experience using systems such as Fourth, Sage, BambooHR, HiBob, or similar
• A proactive mindset with a keen eye for detail and process improvement
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What’s in It for You:
• Exposure to the full HR and payroll lifecycle, with scope to grow in both areas
• Support with professional development and qualifications
• Free, confidential Employee Assistance Programme for you and your family
• Access to earned wages in real time, plus financial and wellbeing tools
• Supermarket, retail, and bus fare discounts
• Up to 50% off hotel stays and dining across our venues
• Bike to Work Scheme
• Increasing holiday allowance
• Auto-Enrolled Pension
• Free on-site parking
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Who We Are:
We own and operate 15 hotels and venues across Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Hertfordshire, and Surrey, including well-known names like The Mill Hotel in Sudbury, Kingscliff Hotel in Holland-on-Sea, and The George Hotel in Colchester.
As part of the Flying Trade Group, a dynamic, international business with over 2,000 team members across 13 companies, we offer stability, variety, and opportunity. Our group spans industries from food manufacturing and leisure to construction and packaging.
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If you’re passionate about people and payroll and want to be part of a team that genuinely strives to evolve, we’d love to meet you.
Stay. Explore. Discover.