Your performance depends on your people.

When they are rostered appropriately, your profits multiply. When their absences are aligned, your operations run smoothly. When you onboard and pay them efficiently, your costs are reduced. And when you put their skills to use intelligently, your business grows.

For over 23 years, Nextra has been streamlining workforce management for businesses across a host of industries – from construction and utilities to healthcare and event management.

We design, build and implement end-to-end solutions for managing workforce time and absence, rostering, reporting and more. Whether you need to track overtime more accurately, or you want to roster your employees based on their unique skills, we’ll help you cut costs, drive efficiency and create space for innovation. Using intelligent algorithms, our software learns from history to predict future requirements with precision.

We process over 25,252 people every day for some of the UK’s leading businesses, saving them up to 27% on staff costs.

And it doesn’t stop there. Working in partnership with our clients, we refine their systems long after implementation, ensuring that all requirements are met – leaving them free to focus on growing, disrupting and innovating.
Further info and to book a demo here
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How Nextra boosted efficiency by 22% for NHS Blood and Transplant.

Many lives depend on the successful deployment of blood donations and organ transplantations. Over 100,000 people in the UK give blood for the first time every year, helping those in emergency situations and who need long-term treatments. Last year, 1,510 people donated their organs after death and 938 people became living donors. In doing so, they saved the lives of 4,651 people with organ failure who desperately needed a transplant.

This wouldn’t be possible without NHS Blood and Transplant (NHS BT), the organisation responsible for the provision of blood, organs, and tissues for transplantation. With a diverse workforce of 4,200 staff members, including multi-grade nurses, care assistants, and administrators, it operates 75 mobile donation centres nationwide.
Managing such a complex and dynamic operation presents unique challenges. Its employees need to be allocated optimally to collect the required units of blood. But the varied roles and availability of the workforce, combined with the requirement to manage multiple mobile donation centres at once, make this very difficult.

Hours must be accurately recorded across all locations to ensure operational efficiency and payroll accuracy. And absences need to be managed fairly and quickly in order to prevent the disruption of its essential services. On top of this, NHS BT must navigate complex regulations and standards, including maintaining minimal staffing levels and complying with cyber security, ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 standards. Failing to do so would risk the legal compliance, operational integrity and reputation of the organisation.

Our solution:
Having explored various off-the-shelf solutions, NHS BT chose Nextra’s Smart Rostering and Workforce Management system to help it tackle these complex challenges and continue providing its life saving services. We configured a bespoke Smart Rostering Engine according to NHS BT’s specific rules in order to allocate staff optimally based on their availability, skills, and location. Its dynamic scheduling functionality allowed for the real-time adjustment of schedules based on changes in staff availability and the evolving needs of donation centres, helping to maintain uninterrupted operations and adaptability.
We implemented real-time data capture to ensure precise time-tracking records for payroll processing and compliance purposes. Next, we integrated this system with our mobile app, enabling staff to clock in and out using their own devices. This simplified the tracking of hours across multiple donation centres. We also streamlined the
process of managing leave and absences, using automated alerts to notify managers of potential staffing shortages.

Our experts designed the solution carefully to meet the NHS’s strict compliance standards, including maintaining minimal staffing levels and adhering to cyber security standards and ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certifications.

The results
The implementation of Nextra’s workforce management solution marked a significant milestone in NHS BT’s digital transformation.
We boosted the efficiency of staffing processes by a huge 22% by simplifying its rostering, scheduling, time and attendance and compliance processes. In doing so, we also cut costs by up to 15% at some centres and significantly improved the reliable delivery of their vital blood and transplant services. We did this by automating processes, reducing administrative burdens and freeing up its employees to focus on their life-changing work. Our real-time time tracking system increased the accuracy of NHS BT’s data, eliminating payroll processing errors and simplifying compliance reporting while reducing employee disputes. Our Smart Rostering engine played an essential role in achieving optimal scheduling by aligning the right skills with the right locations and shifts. And by implementing the
system according to strict compliance rules and regulations, we helped the organisation protect its reputation and enhance trust in its operations. This intelligent, efficient and reliable solution empowered NHS BT to more effectively support the UK healthcare system and continue saving countless lives every year. “Our organisation thrives on complexity, managing qualified individuals in our Blood and Transplant units, ensuring that they are in the right place. We sought a provider who could tailor a solution to meet our specific needs and chose Nextra for their flexibility and ability to address every aspect.
“Our network of Blood and Transplant units now operates efficiently. With the addition of Nextra’s intuitive Demand Rostering module, we can ensure that every unit functions at optimal capacity at the minimum cost to the organisation. We have seen cost savings of up to 15% at some centres and an improvement in the efficiency of staffing by 22%.”

– Anthony Dorman, Head of Business Support at NHS Blood and Transplant

More customer stories can be found here.
https://nextrasoft.co.uk/customer-stories/

When scheduling saves lives. NHS Blood and Transplant.

How Nextra’s bespoke solution transformed workforce management for Advantage NRG.

Running a business with multi-skilled staff working variable shift patterns is challenging. When it comes to rostering, spreadsheets won’t cut it. Even market-leading off-the-shelf scheduling solutions won’t have the functionality you need.

You need a bespoke solution that adapts as your business grows. It needs to be flexible enough to accommodate hours that change weekly for each employee. It needs to be able to change shifts last minute in response to adverse weather conditions. And it needs to integrate seamlessly with payroll, so your people get paid correctly every time — regardless of the complexity of their shift patterns.

This was a familiar challenge for Advantage NRG, a specialist labour-only sub-contractor based in Preston, which builds and maintains electrical transmission systems. Having tried multiple off-the-shelf solutions to roster its multi-skilled staff, its leadership team was struggling to accurately manage time and attendance, payroll calculations, time off in lieu (TOIL) and scheduling.

The diverse shift schedules of its multi-skilled, multi-location workers required a flexible and accurate rostering system. But the manual processes it was using for time tracking and salary calculations were time-consuming, error-prone and inefficient, leading to delays in payroll processing. The situation became even more complicated in winter, when projects were often halted due to bad weather, and staff were compensated with TOIL. As accurate time tracking was critical for compliance with labour regulations, a solution was needed urgently to mitigate operational and reputational risk.

Our solution
Tired of the limited functionality of the off-the-shelf solutions it had relied on for years, Advantage NRG trusted Nextra to build a bespoke time and attendance and payroll management solution. Within weeks of its implementation, our software significantly boosted the efficiency and accuracy of the company’s workforce management.

By automating the time-tracking process, we eliminated the need for manual data entry, reducing errors and accelerating payroll calculations. Our real-time approach to data capture ensured that timesheets were accurate, leading to fewer payroll discrepancies and enhancing employee satisfaction. We installed the Nextra app, which includes geolocation capabilities, to manage the complexity of staff clocking in at various locations. This allowed staff to clock in and out of projects with precision, ensuring that their work hours were accurately tracked based on their actual location.

The mobile nature of the app provided workers with the flexibility to log their hours from various project sites. Our smart rostering and scheduling tool allowed workers and managers to manage various shift patterns with ease, while ensuring that all jobs were covered according to staff availability and skill sets. Using the dynamic rostering engine, managers were able to adjust schedules in realtime to accommodate changes in project timelines or staff availability, ensuring that project needs were consistently met.

We designed a bespoke system to accurately track TOIL, allowing staff to save and use their time off when necessary, particularly during the winter months when it was most needed. Automated alerts and detailed reports helped managers plan for adverse weather events,
ensuring both project continuity and staff wellbeing. Changes were seamlessly integrated with the existing payroll system, vastly reducing discrepancies and disputes. We empowered Advantage NRG’s leaders to make intelligent, data-driven decisions by giving them access to custom payroll and timesheet reports. Tailored in line with their strategic priorities, these reports provided a detailed analysis of payroll and timesheet data in an engaging and easily-digestible format.

Finally, to manage absenteeism, we implemented Bradford Factor tracking to more accurately understand the attendance of Advantage NRG employees. This allowed its leadership team to identify and address absenteeism issues promptly, providing timely support to staff and maintaining compliance with labour regulations.

The results
Nextra’s bespoke time management and payroll solution brought substantial improvements to Advantage NRG, transforming the company’s approach to workforce management. Firstly, it dramatically boosted organisational efficiency. Automated timesheets and payroll
calculations were processed 50 times faster than before, saving valuable administrative time and cutting costs. This allowed the company to focus on strategic business activities rather than spending hours on manual payroll tasks. Our automated and integrated solution also brought huge gains in data accuracy, significantly reducing payroll discrepancies. Employee disputes were reduced as the more reliable system resulted in an increased sense of satisfaction across the company.

Nextra’s geolocation feature provided enhanced flexibility, which was particularly valuable for a workforce spread across various project sites. This feature allowed for accurate time-tracking regardless of location, ensuring that all work hours were properly recorded and giving employees the flexibility to log their hours from different sites.
The system’s accurate tracking of TOIL enabled staff to save and use their time off more effectively, which in turn improved project planning and boosted employee morale. By having a clear understanding of available TOIL, managers could better allocate resources and ensure
that project deadlines were met without overburdening the staff. Meanwhile, the implementation of Bradford Factor tracking mitigated the risk of absenteeism, ensuring compliance with labour regulations and boosting operational efficiency.

Nextra’s solution transformed Advantage NRG’s workforce management processes – empowering it to meet the needs of its highly specialised and dynamic workforce while cutting costs, boosting productivity and mitigating risk.

More customer stories can be found here.
https://nextrasoft.co.uk/customer-stories/

Rewiring the workforce. Advantage NRG

Driving efficiency for Rhymney Brewery.

A heritage steam train rolls over a historic bridge, connecting ancient, verdant hills in the Welsh Valleys. The bridge is branded with the name of the town’s oldest brewery – a source of immense local pride and a draw for international tourists.

Operating nine pubs across different locations, Rhymney is known for its traditional ales, its vibrant pub atmosphere and the richness of its history. But its future was at stake. Managing a dispersed workforce with varied shift patterns was taking its toll. Each pub employed multiskilled workers who needed to clock in and out at different venues, leading to complex and time-consuming manual processes for tracking attendance and managing payroll. Staff attendance was recorded manually across multiple pubs, leading to errors, inconsistencies, and lengthy reconciliation processes. This was causing dissatisfaction and conflict between employees and managers and adding significant administrative burdens to an already stretched team.

Our solution
Our mission was to streamline workforce management across the organisation, driving increased efficiency and productivity while reducing administrative effort. We did this by moving from an unreliable paper-based shift tracking system to Nextra’s
innovative Time and Attendance solution, which we tailored to the requirements and ambitions of our client. First, we automated the time-tracking process, eliminating the need for manual processes.

This significantly reduced errors and saved administrative time – instantly taking a weight off the shoulders of time-poor management. Attendance data was updated in real-time, ensuring accurate and up-to-date information for payroll processing. Next, we implemented cutting-edge geolocation technology to automatically detect which
pub each employee was clocking in and out of, without the need for additional input. This allowed staff who worked at several different pubs to easily move flexibly between workplaces without having to worry about the accuracy of their attendance data.

We also accommodated various shift patterns, making scheduling and adjustments straightforward. By giving employees access to a user-friendly interface, we empowered them to view their schedules, request shift changes and manage their availability without the
need for management support. This data synchronised seamlessly with the payroll system, reducing discrepancies and ensuring that payments were both timely and accurate. And it wasn’t just about speeding up processes. By accurately and safely tracking employee
data, our system also improved compliance with labour laws and regulations, protecting the company’s reputation and minimising the risk of penalties.

We built the team a proof of concept solution, giving them the chance to try our Time and Attendance system out before using it for real. They became “hooked” from day one on the system – instantly seeing the benefits it would bring to their business in terms of accuracy,
efficiency and compliance.

The results
Our market-leading Time and Attendance solution generated significant improvements for Rhymney Brewery – driving efficiency across the organisation and empowering its employees to work flexibly without jeopardising the accuracy of their data. By automating timesheets and attendance tracking, we slashed administrative time by a significant amount, allowing its management to focus on running the business and planning for its future. Data was tracked in real time, and previously cumbersome processes were automated – instantly eliminating errors and delivering a highly accurate payroll run every
time. Beyond the numbers, though, Nextra’s solution had a profound impact on the organisation at a cultural level. By giving Rhymney’s employees the ability to clock in and out using geolocation technology, we gave multi-skilled workers flexibility like never before – boosting employee satisfaction and streamlining operations across multiple locations.

Rhymney Brewery’s adoption of Nextrasoft’s Time and Attendance solution transformed their workforce management practices. By automating timesheets and leveraging geolocation for
clocking in and out, Rhymney Brewery overcame the challenges of manual processes, varied shift patterns, and multi-location management. This resulted in increased efficiency, improved accuracy, and enhanced employee satisfaction, positioning the brewery for continued success in the competitive pub industry.

“We were using pen and paper to manage our multiple sites, roles and responsibilities – and it wasn’t working. We needed a system that could manage all our sites and employees, along with their shifts and pay rates.

Nextra stood out instantly as our preferred partner. Their Time and Attendance system catered for all our requirements, driving significant efficiencies for our business. They delivered confidently, and even built us a pilot system as a proof of concept when we requested one. Within days, we were hooked on the solution. It’s not just about the system; the whole

Nextra team worked together to deliver a solution that meets and exceeds our needs. I hope this will be a life-long partnership.”
Stephen Baker | Regional Manager Rhymney Brewery Ltd.

More customer stories can be found here.
https://nextrasoft.co.uk/customer-stories/

From the timesheet to the taproom. Rhymney Brewery



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