Wollongong-based KeyPay sets sights on UK expansion

Cloud payroll provider KeyPay will take its offerings international in 2018, with a UK office set to be established.

KeyPay co-founder Richard McLean told CRN the company would pre-release in the UK in January, with a full launch set for April. 

The company, which this year made its debut in the CRN Fast50 at No.33 with 53.2 percent growth, currently has a lead UK developer working remotely, but will later open an office in London.

“It was a strategic decision, we reviewed the market around the world to see what would be suitable to expand into,” McLean said.

“One of the standout opportunities was in the United Kingdom, where 60 percent of companies have their outsourced payroll managed by third parties.”

He added that the UK market would be the first to get KeyPay’s automated payroll, with Australian customers getting the software afterwards.

Fellow co-founder Phil Bernie has been in the UK since December 2016, working with other providers to break into the market.

“We’ll be working in the UK alongside Xero, Intuit and Sage for accounting applications while some human resources applications have been identified as well,” McLean said.

“We’ll also be working alongside some of our Australian clients who will be expanding to the UK next year.”

KeyPay’s British expansion is expected to be the first of several, with McLean telling CRN that KeyPay would be soon expanding to New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong, as its online payroll platform becomes better optimised for international markets.

“It took a lot of effort to make our cloud provider less localised and more international, so our expansion plans will be a lot less onerous,” he added.