Manchester move to ‘shake-up’ WorldPay

WORLDPAY’S move to Manchester is part of a plan to shake-up the culture of the business which was formerly part of the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The payment processing giant signed a 10-year lease on the 22,000 sq ft sixth floor of Hardman Square, Spinningfields, in January. It plans to take on 200 staff carrying out back office clerical functions and risk assessments.

The move is being overseen by chief financial officer Aidan Connolly who told TheBusinessDesk the office was part of a plan to break away from the group’s corporate, banking background.

“It had very much a bank mentality. We’re an independent business and we’re trying to shake up that culture. For us this is an ideal fresh start. We have a trophy building and we’re starting with a blank canvas. We’re hiring 200 and a very small percentage will be those already employed.

“The plan is to grow rapidly but also rebuild after the carve out. We left a lot of back office in their shared service environment. We had no human resources or legal teams. The owners have poured capital in so the massive investment in Manchester is just a small part.

WorldPay specialises in handling point-of-sale transactions in shops as well as online, a fast-growing revenue stream which accounts for around 40% of its £3.5bn annual sales.

The business, which has its origins in the Access credit card operation, is one of the largest payment processors in the world. It was sold by the Royal Bank of Scotland in 2010 to Advent International and Bain Capital for £2bn under European Union state aid rules following the bail out of RBS in 2008.

Mr Connolly was born in Stockport and schooled in Rusholme. He has spent much of the past decade working in the North, first as finance director of Rochdale-based MyTravel and then as chief executive of Sodexo UK and Ireland, based in Salford.

“Around half the jobs here will be traditional back office roles, and the other half more specialist such as professional risk assessment,” he said. “We’ve recruited around a quarter already. We’re delighted with the quality – vibrant in languages and deep skills sets. We’re really please at the skills we’re seeing in risk.

“We’ve taken more space than we need to so we’ll be able to take a considerable amount of expansion into this site where there’s room for 250 staff.”