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Absolutely amazing, As a Chef that starting out on her first catering business, My knowledge is in the kitchen, not on the admin side! So I had gotten myself into a little pickle with paying an employee, Due to not understanding, And Jonathan Was able to instantly help me get to the problem and solve it all Very efficiently and professionally For now, I have just use their service as a one off, As I have realised myself as a sole trader Have not got enough customers currently To have constant staff, But when I do, I will absolutely be returning to You guys! Thanks again Charlotte Steam & Stone
Charlotte Walton
116 days ago
We have been using Crystal HR & Payroll Ltd since 2017 and it's been one of the best operational decisions we’ve made. What used to be a time-consuming process has become completely seamless, stress-free and has also freed up valuable internal resources. We don’t hesitate to recommend them to our contacts who may be looking to outsource their payroll services, to a company that will provide them with expertise, reliability and peace of mind.
Rahela Hussain
155 days ago
I’ve had a really positive experience working with Crystal as a payroll partner. While we’ve worked together on shared clients, the experience has been seamless from a client perspective, with payroll handled accurately, professionally and with minimal input needed, which is exactly what you want. As an HR consultant, it’s incredibly valuable to have a trusted payroll provider I can confidently recommend. Knowing that my clients will be well looked after, and that payroll will be managed reliably and compliantly, gives me real peace of mind. I wouldn’t hesitate to refer Crystal to other businesses looking for a dependable payroll partner.
Laura Fox
186 days ago
We recently engaged Crystal HR & Payroll company following concerns about the accuracy and reliability of our previous outsourced provider, and the difference has been nothing short of exceptional. Crystal conducted a comprehensive payroll and pension audit, giving us much-needed clarity and reassurance. Their thorough review uncovered a number of issues, which had previously been managed incorrectly. What truly stood out was Crystal's diligence and commitment. They worked incredibly hard to complete the audit as quickly as possible without compromising on detail or accuracy. Throughout the process, their communication was clear, concise, and easy to follow, ensuring we fully understood both the issues identified and the steps required to resolve them. Thanks to Crystal's expertise and professionalism, we now have complete confidence that our payroll and pensions are accurate and fully compliant. It’s such a huge relief to know we are now in such capable hands, and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend their services.
Lucy Mather
187 days ago
Crystal have been providing us their payroll service for 15 years. I would recommend them if reliability, ease of use and good customer service is important to you. The staff at Crystal are incredibly friendly yet professional and are patient and solution-focused when I've needed further help.
Home-Start Reading
222 days ago
Crystal HR & Payroll Ltd were super helpful and efficient in setting up our payroll, and their response time was excellent throughout. They also supported us with setting up our pension scheme, which made the whole process smooth and stress-free. Thank you, Jonathan and team!
Sean William Harvey
247 days ago
I've been using Crystal Payroll for nearly 3 years now and the service and overall experience has always been excellent. Farwa is my main point of contact and is always responsive and happy to help.
Jeremy cornwall
381 days ago
I have been using the services of Crystal HR & Payroll Ltd for over a year now and I couldn't be happier with the service provided. The whole setup was surprisingly easy, and I appreciated how quickly they handled everything. What I really liked was their customer support. Anytime I had a question, I could reach out, and they were always friendly and helpful. It gave me peace of mind knowing that I had someone to turn to when I needed assistance. Katie in particular, has always been very friendly, professional and helpful. The online portal is user-friendly, which has made it easier for me to keep track of everything without feeling overwhelmed. Overall, this payroll service has saved me a lot of time and stress, allowing me to focus on other tasks. I definitely recommend giving them a try if you're looking for reliable payroll assistance!
Al McLauchan
386 days ago
We are a small charity and were looking for payroll support as we took on our first employee. Crystal HR and Payroll helped us navigate the payroll set-up, processing and pension rules which were unfamiliar to us. In the 2 years since then they have always had time to help us out with employee changes and payroll questions, and we have found them efficient and friendly. Most importantly for us as a charity they generously give their services to us free of charge. I have no hesitation in recommending them.
Jane Sunderland
415 days ago
Super professional and friendly treatment that makes you feel trust and safety all the time. A big thank you to Jonathan for understand and being so helpful dealing the proper way with our company and its details.
Mónica Martins
421 days ago
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A major global technology outage on Monday morning caused widespread disruption to HMRC systems and multiple UK payroll software platforms. The issue, linked to Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure problems, left businesses across the country temporarily unable to process payroll, access employee records, or submit tax data.
While the incident was outside any provider’s control, the impact was immediate; real-time connections to HMRC were down, tax code updates could not be retrieved, and payroll systems relying on Amazon AWS cloud access were inaccessible.
At Crystal HR & Payroll, our response was immediate and focused on one principle:
Protecting the accuracy and integrity of every client’s payroll data.
Amazon AWS
1. Protecting data before anything else
As soon as we confirmed system failures due to Amazon Outage, we paused all live payroll processing to avoid any risk of corrupted or incomplete data. Our team then began a structured verification and recovery plan, ensuring that when systems came back online, we could restart operations safely and confidently.
2. Comprehensive post-outage payroll data checks
Once access was restored and the Amazon Outage was fixed, we launched a detailed data integrity review across all affected systems. This included:
HMRC Gateway verification: confirming coding notices (P6, P9, SL1, SL2) are being correctly downloaded into payroll software with a live check of the HMRC Gateway messaging and coding notices section.
Tax code and loan validation: cross-checking employee tax codes, student loan and postgraduate loan notices, and any National Insurance category updates.
Paper notice tracking: contacting clients to ask if any employees received paper communications from HMRC within the last month to forward a copy to us, ensuring all manual updates are cross checked against HMRC systems.
Software reconciliation: comparing pre-outage backups with current payroll data to confirm totals match and no records were duplicated or rolled back.
Client funding confirmation: checking that clients who manage their own payments can still access and process via Modulr, BACS or other platforms before payroll completion.
“When systems recover, you can’t just pick up where you left off,” says Sarah Carter, Managing Director. “Every figure, tax code, and deduction has to be verified. We treat data integrity as the backbone of payroll, especially after an event like this.”
3. Communicating with clients
We’ve been in direct contact with clients throughout the day, providing updates and requesting verification of any recent HMRC paperwork or coding notices received by staff. This collaboration ensures any missed digital updates can be captured manually, keeping payroll accurate and compliant despite the disruption.
4. What businesses can learn
Outages like this underline how dependent payroll operations have become on third-party systems and integrations. While such incidents are rare, they’re a reminder that resilience and verification processes are just as important as speed and automation.
We’re now reviewing additional contingency options, including:
Secondary payroll backups for emergency access.
Secondary data verification routines.
Clearer client communication channels for any future service interruptions.
5. Back online and back to business
With systems now fully restored, payroll processing has resumed and all data integrity checks have been completed. We’ll continue to monitor system stability and maintain audit logs of every step taken during the outage response.
“Our clients trust us because we act quickly,” says Sarah. “We don’t guess, we verify and that’s what ensures payroll accuracy, even when the unexpected happens.”
Crystal HR & Payroll continues to operate as normal following the outage. If you have questions about your payroll data or need assistance reviewing your employee records, please contact your dedicated payroll specialist.
Outages happen. Inaccurate payroll shouldn’t. If you’d like to understand how your payroll system can stay compliant and resilient during future disruptions, get in touch for a no obligation chat.
