Our target date for completing the transfer would be the end of September. The actual sale would physically be finalised on the 29th May The CEO seemed satisfied with the plan; she had said that both old and new employers were in total agreement that this should be done by the book so that every single one of the affected employees knew they were being considered. If extra resources, such as HR professionals, were needed to make this work under Natalie’s guidance, they would be made available. My task was to keep the shop running as normally as possible over the coming months. There was a lot of detail to cover, and Natalie and I would brief the two company heads on a weekly basis. 1.42 p.m. I invited Natalie to lunch after the meeting, and we walked round to Fortnum’s in Jermyn Street. She ordered seabass, and I decided on a veggie curry.
I told her that although I’d done a rather less complex exercise 8 years ago, this one had plenty of complexity. Not to worry was her reply, she had a lot of experience and used a template and checklist to make sure nothing was missed. She then asked me outright if I’d decided to go to Peterborough, and I said I really hadn’t had time to take it all in and weigh it up. The Bank Holiday weekend would be the time to do that. She agreed, it wasn’t easy. She’d gone independent 12 years previously after being made redundant for a third time and hadn’t looked back. My two kids were both in their 20s; one lived abroad in Canada, the other in Brighton. Seeing them would remain the same. I figured it would boil down to a new commute, new employer, new culture. One thing I did ask about was what outplacement assistance we could offer. Natalie said she’d drop me some options we could look at on Wednesday.
Natalie was taking the next week off to go to Cornwall, so we agreed on her next dates at the office, and she headed off home. I sat for a while, finishing my chai latte and then paid the bill. On the way back to the office, I checked my WhatsApp and saw a message from Mitch, a head-hunter pal from way back, to give him a bell that evening. It had certainly been some time since we’d met up, so he was probably looking to set that right. Back at the office, I filed dropped as a result of the takeover. Sarah, head of Payroll, was now up to speed with developments – she and her people would have plenty to do – and she popped by to see if everything was all right. 5.03 p.m. I was on my way to Liverpool Street. Mitch messaged with a Google Meet link for 8.00 p.m. It was going to be a long week! away papers on the projects that we had
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ISSUE 12 GLOBAL PAYROLL MAGAZINE
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