One HR System for 100-3,000 Employee Companies

Sponsored Feature

Cezanne HR: A Unified HR Platform Built for Growing Mid-Market Teams

The Challenge

HR teams at mid-sized companies face an uncomfortable reality: they've outgrown spreadsheets and basic tools, but enterprise platforms feel like buying a commercial kitchen to make toast. The 100-to-500-employee range is particularly challenging—complex enough to need proper systems for compliance, reporting, and employee management, yet not large enough to justify the implementation costs and administrative overhead of heavyweight solutions.

This gap creates real operational pain. HR data lives in disconnected systems. Managers lack visibility into their teams. Employees submit requests through email chains that disappear into inboxes. And as companies expand internationally, the patchwork of local processes and compliance requirements becomes increasingly difficult to manage. The result is HR teams spending more time on administrative firefighting than strategic work.

How Cezanne HR Approaches It

Cezanne HR offers a modular cloud platform designed specifically for this mid-market challenge. Founded in London in 2013, the company has built what it describes as an end-to-end HR system covering recruitment, onboarding, performance management, absence tracking, time and attendance, pulse surveys, and—notably for UK-based companies—integrated payroll services.

The platform's core strength lies in its configurability without requiring technical expertise. Rather than forcing companies into rigid workflows, Cezanne allows HR teams to build custom forms, approval chains, and automated processes that match their existing operations. This flexibility extends to multi-country support: the system handles different languages, currencies, holiday calendars, and compliance requirements across more than 120 countries, making it practical for companies with international teams.

Recent product development has focused on expanding the platform's scope. In 2024, Cezanne launched a learning management system and its own UK managed payroll service. Earlier this year, the company acquired Occupop, a Dublin-based applicant tracking system, and rebranded it as Cezanne Recruitment—signaling an intent to cover the entire employee lifecycle from initial application through offboarding.

The integration strategy balances native functionality with ecosystem flexibility. Pre-built connections exist for single sign-on providers, popular ATS platforms like Lever and Greenhouse, engagement tools such as CultureAmp, and learning systems including Docebo. For everything else, a REST API allows custom integrations. This approach acknowledges that mid-market companies often have existing tools they want to keep while consolidating their core HR infrastructure.

Who It's Built For

Cezanne targets UK and European-headquartered companies with roughly 100 to 3,000 employees—organisations large enough to need proper HR systems but small enough to want a single, manageable platform rather than an enterprise suite requiring dedicated administrators.

The typical buyer is either replacing manual processes (spreadsheets, email-based approvals, disconnected point solutions) or consolidating multiple HR tools into one system. Companies with distributed or international teams benefit from the multi-country configuration options. Published case studies span data analytics firms, logistics companies, HR outsourcing providers, and nonprofits—suggesting the platform works across sectors rather than specialising in particular industries.

Signs that Cezanne might fit your needs include: spending excessive time reconciling HR data across systems, struggling to maintain compliance as you expand geographically, lacking visibility into workforce metrics, or finding that employees and managers avoid your current tools because they're too cumbersome.

What Customers Are Saying

Customer feedback generally emphasises two themes: the platform's comprehensiveness and the quality of support. One G2 reviewer described it as "a very comprehensive system" that covers core HR, recruitment, and performance in a single place, noting that the implementation support "has been very successful." Another user praised how workflow automation "transformed" routine processes like approvals and notifications.

The quantifiable wins appear in case studies. Johnsons 1871, a UK trucking company, reported saving over 50 hours monthly after consolidating HR and payroll onto Cezanne, with absence and time tracking flowing seamlessly into payroll calculations. A Sagacity HR manager mentioned that reports previously requiring "a couple of hours" now take "five minutes."

Users do note some limitations. Reporting across modules can require workarounds—one reviewer mentioned difficulty pulling absence data by line manager because information lives in different screens. The training and development module may not suit every organisation's specific needs. These appear to be genuine trade-offs rather than fundamental problems, typical of platforms trying to serve diverse mid-market requirements.

Getting Started

Cezanne uses a per-employee pricing model with monthly or annual billing, adjusted based on headcount and selected modules. While specific rates require a quote, the company emphasises that implementation, data migration, unlimited support, mobile apps, and ongoing system updates are included without additional fees. G2 lists a starting benchmark around £200 per month, though actual pricing depends on configuration.

Implementation typically runs two to four months. Cezanne assigns product specialists to handle migration and setup, with the goal of getting core functionality live quickly before refining configurations. Post-launch support comes from a UK-based team with access to knowledge bases, training webinars, and a user community.

Key Takeaway

Cezanne HR makes sense for mid-market companies seeking a single, configurable platform to manage HR across the employee lifecycle—particularly those with UK payroll needs or international teams requiring multi-country support. It won't suit organisations wanting best-of-breed point solutions for every function, or enterprises requiring highly specialised capabilities. But for HR teams tired of juggling disconnected tools and ready for a unified system they can shape to their processes, it offers a credible option backed by solid customer support and active product development.

Learn more at cezannehr.com