The Specialist Group opens a single, shared back office in Breda
The Specialist Group takes another leap towards the next level in offering quality services with its new, shared Breda back office for all its labels. TSG’s CFO Rafael de Haseth sheds light on this landmark development for the company.
By offering joint back-office services for all TSG labels, the company can now accommodate all financial and administration services in one place. A considerable leap on TSG’s path of continuous development. “Absolutely,” says CFO Rafael de Haseth, “the new Breda office is the perfect place to continue our growth and improvement and do what we do best on a daily basis.”
The next level
The new back office does all financial and payroll administration and coordination for TSG companies. They manage time processing, payments, and reverse billing for all freelancers in all countries; plus, they are responsible for invoicing and debtor management for the entire group. De Haseth adds: “And, of course, controlling and data are key parts of our work. In short, we do everything we need for TSG to be compliant. We can really work on materialising our ambitions and we love it.”
The bigger puzzle
Originally the back office for STAR, one of TSG’s labels, the new department is not just bigger. Its function has fundamentally changed. This back-office deals with different standards and more considerable obligations, with more opportunities to do more for the organisation. De Haseth: “We’re laying our piece of the bigger puzzle towards even more maturity. After all, we are all going from operating predominantly in the Benelux to thinking and acting for Europe. That means change throughout the organisation. We are excited to participate in The Specialist Group’s expansion abroad.”
This back office goes way beyond providing overhead services, so it may come as no surprise that it has The Specialist Group’s special focus to become the very best within the business.
The personal element
A quick employee survey shows the department has found more balance and tranquillity. They identified as part of The Specialist Group, so they were ready for the next step and kept what was good. For one, the personal element remains. De Haseth: “We are consciously working on staying away from an impersonal corporate culture. We are all people-oriented and want to keep our informal way of doing things.” Unsurprisingly, they all work in the office instead of remotely – they like it there.
None of STAR’s back-office people have left intentionally in the past five years. That says much about its culture and development opportunities – just as TSG does, they cherish their people. Personal contact with their people and clients is their strength, but they had to manage larger volumes. Building a shared back office was a logical step to optimise time and resources – while continuing to cherish the strong ties with individual labels.
“It’s great to see how service-oriented we are, down to our DNA.”
Stefan van Gastel, Manager Accounts Receivable, seconds that. “The Breda office will bring lots more focus on our mission. We have been working hard for the past two years to keep up. Now, there’s more room to step back and focus on better serving our clients and colleagues.” By improving processes and developing more innovative solutions, they can help our clients save time and be more efficient. In short: less error-prone, better service. Internationally, this makes the new back office highly flexible in offering customised service. Van Gastel: “We can now go full steam ahead with strengthening our cooperation with the labels and support them by better explaining what we do and offer. So they can improve their services. It’s great to see how service-oriented we are, down to our DNA.”