What is your name?
Jay Chidgey
What is your job title?
Regional Director of Africa
What do you do?
I manage and support our Global Payroll Team, based in Cape Town, South Africa.
What key skills do you bring to activpayroll?
I’ve built up a wide knowledge of African payroll and Time and Attendance.
What gives you the most satisfaction about your job?
Being part of a great global team.
How did you get into the Payroll/Tax industry and why?
I fell into this many years ago when I ran my first payroll at 16, this then grew into T&A for a firm in London, where I maintained all T&A systems for over 58 sites for 12 years.
What has been the most challenging project you’ve worked on at activpayroll? Why?
The most challenging project I’ve worked on so far would have to be a Global Payroll Implementation project involving 12 countries. On this occasion, I had to implement T&A as well as Leave and Payroll for multiple countries and deal with numerous in-country customers and partners. Managing and dealing with this many people over the globe can become a challenge at times.
What do you consider to be your greatest achievement outside of activpayroll?
18 MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fights with 17 wins and one loss, across the USA and UK.
What company value means the most to you and why?
Accountable, due to the fact that I always need to know what happened and why.
Do you have any hobbies/ what do you like to do in your free time?
In my spare time, I enjoy climbing Table Mountain in the Summer and running through forests and mountain ranges in Cape Town.
Who is your professional role model and why?
Sir Richard Branson, I love his quote “Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again!”
If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be and why?
Sir Richard Branson, I have too many questions I’d like to ask this man!
