Marshalls plc

Marshalls plc, the UK’s leading manufacturer of stone and concrete hard landscaping products, has been helping to create beautiful and practical outdoor spaces for the past 120 years. As a FTSE 250 company, they have set the benchmark for the quality of products and the standard of customer service. With 2,500 employees, Marshalls process around 150 claims each month.

Nick Haigh, Director of Financial Process & Transactions, tells us how rolling out Webexpenses whilst the team was working remotely has improved their expense process.

What were the main challenges of your old process for expenses?

We had a paper expense process, which required either a wet signature or email approval. Our main challenges were the speed of the process end to end, a lack of visibility of the claim after submission, and no reporting capabilities.

How has Webexpenses solved these problems?

With Webexpenses, the claimant has full visibility of the whole process, and we have also been able to make a marked improvement in the time to pay back claims.

You implemented Webexpenses during the COVID-19 lockdown, why did you decide this was the right time for Marshalls?

Given that our teams were working remotely, there was an immediate requirement to have a process that was fit for purpose. Having a digital process has reduced the number of queries the finance team receives because of the increased visibility claimants have. It also provides finance with an electronic repository of all the claims.

How important was the implementation of Webexpenses in helping the business recover after COVID?

It was really important because it has allowed us to have an offering that can flex to the business demand.

Do you have any feedback on the project, sales, or selection process?

The project/sales process matched the system for quality. We chose Webexpenses because it offered the best option, both from a user, back-office and IT point of view.

What advice would you give to other businesses that struggle with a manual expense process?

Don’t hesitate to switch to automated, digital expenses, the process to implement was straightforward and Webexpenses has become BAU within a couple of weeks.