“Switching to Kota was a game changer for us. Kota didn’t just streamline our processes. It raised the bar for what we expect from a benefits partner. It’s night and day to our 'old world'” - Anne Marie Lowry, Culture & People Enablement Director

Just here for the cold, hard facts?

Here you go:

• €17,000+ saved by eliminating manual admin and error correction (This was calculated by Life Scientific’s team, not Kota’s).
• Fully compliant Irish Auto-Enrolment–ready pension with employer contributions from Day 1.
• UK Auto-Enrolment fixed - correct enrolments, correct deductions, audit-ready.
• All Benefits across Ireland and the UK unified into one platform.

Want the full story?

Life Scientific is a fast-growing Irish crop-protection company with around 110 employees across Ireland, the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Canada and the US. Their benefits offering had grown organically over time, leaving their lean People team managing multiple providers, inconsistent processes and a heavy manual workload.

The introduction of Ireland’s new Auto-Enrolment system - requiring employer pension contributions from an employee’s first day - created the perfect moment for a full reset.

Where benefits were falling short

“The manual processes with our broker meant that we were really inefficient and were experiencing some costly errors.”

Irish Auto-Enrolment exposed compliance gaps

Life Scientific’s existing pension setup only provided employer contributions after 12 months of service. Under Auto-Enrolment, that would no longer be compliant. Without restructuring, they risked a messy rollout, having employees enrolled into the government scheme alongside their private scheme.

A more scalable approach to UK pension benefits & Auto-Enrolment process

No occupational pension scheme existed in the UK, which meant they were managing contributions on an individual level, via private pension schemes. This meant that there was added administration for every new joiner in the UK so as they continued to grow, they needed a viable, scalable option that was compliant with the UK Auto-Enrolment process.

A fragmented benefits ecosystem created unnecessary complexity

Across Ireland and the UK, benefits lived in different places, with different providers for each which caused a significant administration burden for the People and Finance teams. Tracking everything meant spreadsheets, emails, duplicated data and constant provider chasing - all managed by one person.

Benefits weren’t landing with employees

Internal reviews highlighted that 3× salary life cover was below market and that employees needed clearer guidance on their benefits package. Staff weren’t sure how to choose pension funds, where their benefits lived or who to contact - forcing frequent, technical questions onto an already-stretched People team.

Why Life Scientific chose Kota

Purpose-built for Irish Auto-Enrolment

Kota’s platform allows for minimum contributions for all employees to keep everyone in the same occupational scheme, automated enrolments for new joiners that are synced to your HRIS, and an employee app that keeps employees engaged with retirement savings.

One unified benefits platform

Kota brought the full Irish and UK benefits footprint together into one simple platform: Pension, Life assurance, Income protection, Health insurance, and UK pension. All synced to their HRIS, Personio.

Automation replaced manual enrolments, compliance tracking, provider follow-ups, payroll reconciliation, employee fund guidance, and more.

“Consolidating our Life, Pension and Health benefits across the UK and Ireland into one unified platform has given us a truly joined-up benefits experience.”

Expert support

Life Scientific didn’t just get software, they got extensive strategic support from Kota’s Benefits team on:

• Auto-Enrolment scheme design
• Life cover uplift
• Income protection structure
• Bulk vs individual pension transfers
• Manager and employee communication strategy

For employees: Clear, consistent communications, guided onboarding, and simple explanations of pension funds helped them feel confident, not confused.

“Kota’s team of experts helped us make smart, well-informed decisions that balance cost with impact.”

The Outcome

Over €17,000 saved in admin time and error reduction - calculated by Life Scientific’s team

Life Scientific calculated a saving of more than €17k simply through:

• Removing manual pension processing
• Avoiding correction work
• Ending duplicated data entry
• Reducing compliance-related effort

Fully Auto-Enrolment-ready with months to spare

Employer contributions now start on day one, ensuring compliance ahead of legislation and removing the need for a second PRSA scheme.

UK Auto-Enrolment stabilised and audit-ready

Manual fixes and mass administration are gone - replaced with reliable, automated workflows.

One benefits ecosystem across Ireland and the UK

Employees now see one platform, one process and one set of communications - with far less complexity behind the scenes.

Life cover increased from 3× → 4× salary

A meaningful upgrade to the organisation’s protection benefits, delivered at matched cost.

If the start of this story sounds painfully familiar, let’s chat about getting you to the end

Auto-Enrolment is reshaping how benefits are done in Ireland. For many companies, it’s the ideal moment to fix legacy issues, consolidate providers and reduce admin across regions.

Kota helps organisations like Life Scientific move from fragmented, manual processes to a single, automated benefits engine.

Book a free benefits review to see how Kota can do the same for you.

‍