Efficiency that adds up: How Studio Rio London cut HR tech costs by 50% with Employment Hero
£3,000
saved annually on platform consolidation
10%
time saved on payroll prep
100+
hours saved reducing team back-and-forth
Company
Studio Rio London
Industry
Construction
Employees
25
Location
UK
Favourite Features
About the business
Studio Rio London is a boutique interior design and procurement company working across high-end hotel and property projects in the UK and Europe. With a lean in-house team of around 25 employees and additional subcontractors, Studio Rio London prides itself on balancing creative excellence with staying agile. Head of Finance Giorgi Liveson oversees finance and operations for the business, focusing on cost control, compliance and scalable systems.
The challenge
When Giorgi joined Studio Rio London, Employment Hero was already in place, but it stood in stark contrast to what he’d experienced elsewhere. In previous companies, disjointed systems had led to unnecessary admin, various logins and a lack of visibility.
Before Employment Hero, key challenges included:
- Multiple subscriptions for HR, payroll and learning management.
- High cost for underutilised software packages.
- Fragmented communication across teams and systems.
- Time lost coordinating updates between different platforms and people.
“Most small businesses end up with 5 or 6 disconnected systems, a separate platform for contracts, another for leave, another for learning and training and so on. It adds up and it slows operating processes down.”
The solution
With Employment Hero, every key people process lives in one secure, scalable system. The consolidation of tools alone has saved the business an estimated £250 per month, a projected £3,000+ annually.
“Employment Hero costs around 50% less than what we spent on separate systems. In addition, to hire someone, you either pay large recruiter fees or job posting fees on jobs boards. The SmartMatch feature could save thousands if used frequently.”
Beyond cutting platform costs, Giorgi is focused on reclaiming time. And in a lean business, time is money. The payroll process is now 10% faster due to reducing the need for admin catch-ups and cross-team updates. Giorgi estimates they’ve saved 2 hours a week in meeting time alone, adding up to over 100 hours annually.
“The amount of back-and-forth we’ve eliminated is huge. Before, you’d have multiple people coordinating to chase things like leave balances, contracts or performance reviews. Now, it’s all in the platform.”
Not only did Employment Hero bring all of Studio Rio London’s HR functions into one integrated Employment Operating System, Giorgi also experienced the value of the platform first-hand from an employee perspective when he joined the business. With his onboarding managed entirely through Employment Hero, he was able to review and sign documents, update details and get set up, all before day one.
“The process when I joined was so easy. Much better than sending emails and waiting for replies. It eliminated a lot of time and risk and I already felt set up and committed before my first day.”
The ROI
Studio Rio London has already seen meaningful savings and efficiency gains:
- £3,000+ saved annually by consolidating tools into one platform.
- 10% time saved on payroll prep thanks to centralised employee data.
- 100+ hours saved per year by reducing back-and-forth between teams.
- Smoother, faster onboarding and reduced time-to-contract during recruitment.
- AI-powered hiring tools, including SmartMatch and the free Indeed job posting integration.
Why it matters
As a cost-conscious small business, Employment Hero’s ability to centralise key processes has saved Studio Rio London time and money. It also ensures smoother compliance, clearer reporting and a better experience for both managers and employees.
“When everything lives in one system, it’s easier to act fast and make smart decisions. Senior managers can spend time where it matters and ultimately, their time is more money for the business.”
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Frequently Asked Questions
Studio Rio London wanted to consolidate multiple disjointed platforms into one scalable solution. With HR, payroll, learning and recruitment tools all previously managed separately, the business faced unnecessary costs and time lost to manual admin. Employment Hero brought everything together, reducing complexity, saving money and giving the team a single source of truth for people management.
Yes. With no in-house HR team, Employment Hero empowers Studio Rio’s small operations and finance function to manage HR efficiently. Managers can self-serve, employee data is centralised and compliance is streamlined, without the back-and-forth. For Giorgi, it has eliminated unnecessary meetings and made onboarding, approvals and reporting much faster.
Studio Rio has already seen measurable returns including over £3,000 saved annually by consolidating HR, payroll and LMS tools. In addition, they’ve saved 100+ hours per year by reducing meeting time and cross-team admin, and 10% overall time on payroll thanks to cleaner data and centralised workflows. With Employment Hero, the team spends less time chasing updates and more time focused on strategic work.
Giorgi’s own onboarding experience was a standout. He joined the business feeling prepared and committed, with all contracts and documents managed through the platform. Now, every employee has that same streamlined setup. Contracts, policies and acknowledgements are stored securely, making compliance easy to track and audits simpler to manage.
Definitely. Studio Rio has around 25 employees, but Employment Hero is built to scale. Whether you’re a 10-person start-up or growing rapidly, the platform adapts to your needs, giving you powerful HR and payroll tools without needing a large in-house team.
