Alison Sellar

Managing Director

Alison launched activpayroll in 2001 in Aberdeen, North East Scotland. Entering the companies 10^th year of successful business, Alison has grown activpayroll to serve more than 500 clients, operating in over 70 countries around the globe.

Alison has built one of the strongest global teams of specialists in payroll, expatriate tax and human resources. She is committed to continually strengthening her team of experts and fostering a singular team working ethos throughout the company, to synergistically share experiences, ideas and knowledge.

After growing to become the leading payroll and taxation provider of choice for firms throughout the North East of Scotland, Alison achieved rapid expansion, extending the client centric services developed in Scotland, to the rest of world from offices in Edinburgh, UK; Houston, USA; Perth, Australia and through a global network of partners in more than 70 countries.

Alison attributes the spectacular global success of activpayroll to filling a distinct gap in the market for fully integrated payroll services, focusing on business development and relationship-building.

My vision for activpayroll

“activpayroll’s growth strategy has been carefully planned to establish us as the leading global provider of payroll, expatriate taxation services and online people management tools.

We are achieving this in two ways.

In the first place, activpayroll is building its client base by developing core technical expertise in several key industry sectors, including investment, oil and gas, construction, aviation and technology.

We are also targeting international businesses that require a complete global payroll service. This has led activpayroll to take on local partners in other countries and allows us to compete with the major players in this industry.

My ultimate vision is to build on our payroll expertise to offer full-scope tax advisory and compliance services on a global basis. The biggest challenge, I believe, to achieving this is to develop products and services that help organisations to understand and control the cost of managing their biggest – and often most expensive – asset.”

About Alison Sellar

Alison has won a number of business awards – “Enterprising New Business” (October 2004), IOD “Female Director of the Year for Scotland” (February 2005), “Scotland’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year” (2005), Small Business Category award winner in Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce’s “Northern Star Business Awards” (September 2006) and was a finalist in the UK Chambers of Commerce “Entrepreneur of the Year” awards (November 2006).

Outside of work, Alison is equally ambitious, often found to be ski-ing, downhill mountain-biking or hitting the gym. Committed to supporting worthy causes, she recently participated in The Monster Ski Challenge 2011 to raise funds for the MS Trust. Ski-ing 100,000’ over three days, the equivalent of ski-ing down Mount Everest for three days in a row.