At 12.01 this morning a new company was born, Zellis. NGA UK has finally rebranded itself. It has chosen Zellis as its new brand name to form the company that provides both ResourceLink and Moorepay. It is nearly a year since NGA sold its UK arm to Bain Capital. Since then it has appointed a new CEO in John Petter. It has taken its time over this rebranding exercise though. It finally decided to go with Zellis.
Zellis was unable to put up a spokesperson or even have a list of basic questions answered around their new name. Why they actually chose it is speculation. The only definition found of Zellis is in Latvian, where it meant a skilled salaried worker in the Middle Ages, the equivalent of a journeyman in the UK. No longer an apprentice but not yet a master of his trade. Alternatively It may come from the latin zelus which means zeal, emulation or jealousy.
Zellis itself would probably prefer the ideal of zeal as one of the values it operates under. However, it does not appear to have these listed on its new site.
Additionally there is the added potential of confusion with another Zellis, though this one is in Australia. The other Zellis is a digital commerce company. At the moment a web search for Zellis sometimes picks up them rather than Zellis in the UK. It demonstrates the difficulty in finding a completely unique and yet “meaningful” name.
Who are Zellis?
Zellis has over 1,200 clients and delivers services including payroll and HR to more than five million employees in the UK and Ireland though ResourceLink, MoorePay and Benefex. None of these brands appears to be changing.
John Petter, Zellis CEO commented, “We are a strong and proven leader in this market, but we want to be a truly great, customer-centric business, and we will invest to achieve this. We believe this is a truly exciting time for our customers, partners and colleagues.
“Our former parent company, NGA HR, will remain a vital strategic partner. We are delighted to confirm that we will continue to work with NGA to serve the needs of their global customers in the UK and Ireland”.
Having rebranded, what is next? According to the press release it will invest in delivering AI and Robotics to its customers. One assumes the latter means automation and possibly RPA to help customer organisations streamline their processes. Will this be through acquisition or partnership? Will Bain invest more money for acquisitions? What about its target markets? In July, ResourceLink was listed on G-Cloud for the first time. However becoming listed and actually winning significant business from government organisations are two different things as many companies have found.
What do NGA think?
NGA and Zellis will continue to work together in partnership. However the separation through the name change begins a new chapter where the companies are likely to drift apart a bit more. Andy Monshaw, CEO of NGA HR, commented: “The move is mutually beneficial to both parties. Zellis are able to invest in areas which are important to growth in the UK and Ireland, while we continue to work together to support international clients. We wish them the best of luck and are sure they will continue to deliver to the highest standard.”
Importantly it allows Zellis to forge additional partnerships should it wish to. When Enterprise Times gets the chance to talk to a spokesperson the situation should become clearer.
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
Rebranding is never easy. Zellis has created a new and slick website and it will be interesting to see how it improves its communication and makes it brand heard over the next few weeks. Part of of its launch was accompanies by a new promotional video. It ends with the statement “…great work is built on human understanding and human understanding is built on Zellis.” It promises a further update at 10.30, though what that will contain isn’t clear.
Enterprise Times has asked for an interview with the new company to seek answers to several questions that have remained unanswered since the acquisition. Watch this space.
