Nathalie van Kester

UGC Growers Company is a holding company in the horticultural sector comprising three businesses: SV.CO, Vilosa and Amigra. A six-person HR and finance team jointly manages all entities and staff spread across eight locations. Nathalie Van Kester works as an HR business partner and has been responsible for HR processes within the holding company for five years. Below, you can read about her experience with HoorayHR.

If you have any questions about this customer experience, please feel free to contact our support team.

Three companies, eight locations and everything in separate files

When UGC Growers Company was still using Excel and Word, finding the right information was a daily struggle. Contracts were signed in person, which meant travelling to the various sites each time. End-of-year appraisals were scanned and processed manually, monthly reports were falling behind, and staff were unable to view their leave balances independently. For a small HR team serving three companies and eight locations, this was simply not scalable.

Why did UGC choose HoorayHR?

UGC came into contact with HoorayHR through a colleague. After a trial period, the choice was clear. The other HR software they were using was too complex and too expensive; UGC was looking for a system that was easy to use, could go live quickly and would grow with the organisation. The combination of user-friendliness, flexible integrations and a supplier who actively contributed ideas was the deciding factor.

We used to work with multiple systems and a lot of manual work. With HoorayHR, we now have a single, well-organised system and no longer have to chase things up everywhere. That saves us a huge amount of time.

One platform for the entire holding company

With HoorayHR, UGC manages all three companies from a single dashboard. Contracts are signed digitally, onboarding workflows run automatically, and the SDF integration processes leave, absenteeism and overtime without manual intervention. Site managers and team leaders each have their own access rights and now manage leave requests independently, which has significantly reduced the year-end peak. As a result, the HR team has 40 to 50 per cent less manual work and more time for what really matters.