Workday lands finance & HR system at Sovereign Network Group

Workday has implemented its finance and human resources software at Sovereign Network Group.

The rollout covers one of the UK’s largest housing associations, which manages 85,000 homes.

Known as SNG, the organisation has brought together Workday Financial Management and Workday Human Capital Management on a single system for more than 3,000 employees. The change is intended to give leaders a clearer view of finance, staffing, talent and skills across the business.

The housing association operates across London, the South East, the South West and the East of England. It works in a sector facing tighter regulation, cost pressure and persistent demand for affordable housing.

By combining HR and finance data, SNG aims to reduce internal friction and improve decision-making. The new system is also expected to cut manual HR administration and speed up accounting processes in finance.

That matters for an organisation with a large development programme and broad social housing responsibilities. SNG wants to strengthen delivery across its communities while supporting a GBP £750 million affordable homes framework.

The deployment was carried out with PwC, which worked with Workday on the implementation. The project was delivered without disruption to operations.

Operational shift

The move reflects a wider trend among large housing associations to replace older back-office systems with unified cloud platforms. For providers managing tens of thousands of homes, finance and workforce data have become increasingly important as boards face scrutiny over costs, service standards and investment priorities.

In social housing, landlords are under pressure to improve tenant services while maintaining existing homes and funding new development. Better visibility over staffing and spending can help shape decisions on where resources are deployed and how quickly organisations can respond to operational problems.

SNG said the new platform gives it a stronger digital base to meet those demands. The group described the implementation as the first phase of a broader transformation of its core business systems.

“Moving our core HR and finance operations to Workday is a huge step forward for our organisation,” said Kevin Ives, Chief Information Officer, SNG. “Working hand-in-hand with PwC and Workday, we have successfully delivered this crucial first phase of our transformation. We now have a robust, unified system that vastly improves the daily experience for our colleagues, providing us with the sturdy groundwork required to evolve and better serve our communities.”

Workday said the project gives SNG more consistent and auditable information across the organisation. The software supplier has been expanding its position in sectors that need closer links between financial planning and workforce management.

For housing groups, those links are increasingly relevant. Providers must manage rent income, repairs programmes, compliance spending, development pipelines and community investment, while also handling recruitment, retention and skills gaps in specialist roles.

Housing context

SNG is among the larger not-for-profit housing providers in England and is a member of the G15 group of London housing associations. It is also involved in regional housing alliances in the South West and South East focused on increasing the supply of affordable homes.

The group has set out ambitions to add 25,000 homes over the next decade. It has also outlined wider social and environmental plans, including a Homes and Place Standard and a GBP £100 million Community Foundation.

Those objectives put pressure on internal systems to support planning, budgeting and workforce deployment at scale. A single finance and HR system can help management teams track costs, monitor organisational changes and identify skills needs across a large and dispersed operation.

Daniel Pell, Workday’s UK and Ireland Country Manager, said the software was intended to give SNG a more reliable operating base.

“When it comes to mission-critical work, organisations need a deterministic foundation that provides consistent, auditable outcomes,” said Daniel Pell, Vice President and Country Manager, UKI, Workday. “By bringing HR and Finance together on Workday, and in close partnership with PwC, SNG can operate with greater certainty and speed.”

PwC framed the work as a large-scale organisational change rather than a simple software installation. Consulting firms have increasingly targeted housing associations as they modernise finance, procurement and workforce systems after mergers and growth in asset bases.

“Delivering a transformation of this scale requires a shared vision and a profound commitment to the end goal,” said Althea D’Lima, Workforce Transformation Partner, PwC. “By combining Workday’s unified platform with our implementation expertise, we have helped equip SNG with a resilient, future-ready environment that will accelerate their strategic ambitions.”