Customer Story: Fylde Coast Academy Trust
Operating seamlessly with the Thriving People Bundle
Managing a workforce of over 900 staff across 10 schools, Fylde Coast Academy Trust faced growing challenges with their payroll, HR, and staff wellbeing processes. Their existing systems were slow, fragmented, and admin-heavy, making it increasingly difficult to access key workforce data and generate accurate reports. These inefficiencies were not just frustrating but costly in terms of time and resources.
Recognising these issues, the trust sought a comprehensive solution. After evaluating several options, they chose Access Education’s Thriving People Bundle for its ability to provide seamless integration across HR, payroll, and staff management - all delivered through one contract, one platform, and one login.
As Fylde Coast Academy Trust begins implementation, Jane McCumiskey, Chief Operating Officer, shares why they choose to bundle with Access Education and how she looks forward to a solution that operates seamlessly, minimises administrative burdens, and eliminates wasted time.
Access Education People
Access Managed Payroll
Multi-Academy Trust
We want to be confident that payroll just works, without having to go back and fix things. Having everything connected with Access should make that so much easier.
Solving payroll pain points: accuracy and efficiency first
Payroll was the trust’s first priority. While staff were always paid on time, the previous system was riddled with errors that had to be manually corrected each month, causing delays and frustration for both HR and finance teams.
Jane McCumiskey, Chief Operating Officer, shares, “In our previous payroll system, there were always errors that needed fixing. It was frustrating for the team to have to go back and correct things every month. It slowed everything down.”
With the Thriving People Bundle, the trust is set to achieve:
- Fewer payroll errors – Reducing manual corrections and the time spent fixing mistakes
- A smoother, more efficient process – Ensuring payroll runs smoothly without delays
- Better data accuracy – Minimising discrepancies and ensuring consistency across both HR and payroll
Jane adds, “We want to be confident that payroll just works, without having to go back and fix things. Having everything connected with Access should make that so much easier.”
The Thriving People Bundle from Access Education is designed to engage and support staff while simplifying HR and payroll management. It includes managed payroll, people management, employee recognition, learning management, on-demand pay, a staff voucher scheme, and a school policy manager app - all working together to streamline processes and improve efficiency. Additionally, the bundle comes with essential core components, such as analytics, AI-powered insights, mobile access, and seamless single sign-on, ensuring a fully connected and user-friendly experience.
One platform, one login – no more waiting
Before switching to Access Education, one of the trusts biggest frustrations was having to log into multiple systems to manage different tasks. With Thriving People, everything is now in one place, eliminating the need for switching between platforms.
Jane explains, “With Access, we can now log in once - whether it’s for budgeting, payroll, or HR. No more switching between systems.”
Additionally, the trust was bogged down by slow processing speeds in their old system. Reports and payroll data took far too long to load, wasting precious time.
“Our old system was painfully slow - waiting, clicking, waiting again. With Access, on exactly the same WiFi, it’s instant! Thankfully, we won’t be left watching a spinning wheel anymore.” Says Jane
These improvements may seem small, but they add up to significant time savings, making everyday tasks quicker and more efficient.
Easier policy management and compliance
Another exciting feature of the Thriving People Bundle is the streamlined policy management system. With the new solution, the trust can:
- Easily distribute policies and documents to staff
- Track who has signed them for full compliance
- Store everything securely under each staff member’s profile
Jane says, “It will be so much easier to get documents and policies signed, keep them logged against each staff member, and ensure compliance. No more chasing paperwork - it will all be done in the system.”
This is especially important for HR audits, safeguarding requirements, and ensuring that staff are compliant with key policies like safeguarding, health and safety, and GDPR.
A trusted partnership with Access Education
For the trust, the decision to choose Access Education was about the trust and support they had built over the years. The trust had been using Access Education’s budgeting software for a while and had seen firsthand how responsive and helpful the team was.
“The support we’ve had from Access over the years has been excellent,” Jane says. “Our Account Manager has been the same for the last 9 years, and that gave us the confidence to use Access for our HR and payroll software too.”
The trust is also finding the onboarding and training process smooth so far, with dedicated guidance to ensure a successful transition.
"The onboarding experience has been great, and the team is making sure everything runs smoothly. We do feel really looked after."
Integration with existing systems
Another benefit of the Thriving People Bundle is its seamless integration with the trusts MIS and other school systems. This reduces workload, improves accuracy, and centralises all workforce data in one place.
Jane explains, “We like that Access links to our MIS and other systems, meaning less duplication and one point of entry for everything. It’s going to make life much easier.”
With all data flowing through one platform, the trust can rely on real-time workforce data available at their fingertips.
Looking ahead
As Fylde Coast Academy Trust continues to implement the Thriving People Bundle, they expect significant improvements in their day-to-day efficiency:
- Seamless payroll & HR integration – No more disconnected systems
- One login for everything – Making everyday processes quicker and easier
- Faster reporting & better oversight – Instant access to workforce data
- More efficient payroll processing – Saving time spent fixing errors
- Better user experience – No more waiting for systems to load
- Easier policy compliance & tracking – Ensuring staff sign key documents digitally
- Direct expert support from Access Education
Jane concludes, “Access understands how schools work. Having HR, payroll, and budgeting all working together in one place is going to make a huge difference.”
Advice for other trusts
For Jane and her team, choosing Access Education again was an easy decision. “It’s about making life easier for staff, improving oversight, and cutting out unnecessary admin. With Access, everything is connected, and we won’t be wasting time waiting for the system to catch up.”
By investing in the Thriving People Bundle, the trust is positioning itself for a more efficient, connected, and frustration-free approach to payroll and staff management - streamlining processes and ensuring better data flow.
Find out how you can transform your people management
Join over 9,000 schools, academies and local authorities that trust Access Education to simplify, streamline, and modernise their education software. With seamless integration across finance, HR, payroll, and reporting, you’ll gain total workforce clarity - eliminating inefficiencies, reducing admin, and ensuring data flows effortlessly across all systems.