HANDLING other people's payrolls and invoices is proving profitable for a growing company, writes Chris Koenig.

Outsourcing firm CSL Group, which already employs almost 100 people in Oxfordshire, has now won a three-year contract to run Oxfordshire County Council's systems including payroll, debt collection and accounts payable.

The £4m contract was won after CSL, based at Kings Mead House, in Oxpens Road, helped the county council cut administrative costs by £750,000 over five years.

The firm, a subsidiary of top accountants Deloitte & Touche, has also bought out Psec Managed Service.

Now it is running the remaining eight years of Psec's ten year contract to handle council tax, business rates, housing benefits and general accountancy for South Oxfordshire district council.

It has also employed staff in Oxfordshire to process payments to fee-paid judges as part of a contract with the Lord Chancellor's department.

CSL employs 41 staff at Kings Mead House, Oxford, where it handles the county council work, and 55 at Crowmarsh in Wallingford, handling South Oxfordshire.

Colin Scraggs, manager of CSL's Oxford office, said: "In the next few months, we'll be recruiting more staff as business grows."

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