PENSIONS and payroll expert Sarah Withers from Painswick has launched a service called AE FastTrack to tackle the headache of auto-enrolment for small businesses.

Last month the first UK businesses with fewer than 30 employees met staging dates for a legal obligation to enrol their staff into a workplace pension scheme.

During the next three years, the numbers of SMEs meeting their staging dates will grow, reaching a rate of more than 100,000 businesses per month at the end of 2017.

Miss Withers, who brings 20 years of pensions experience to AE FastTrack, says that there is a severe shortage of suitable solutions to meet the needs of small businesses.

“These companies aren’t getting any help,” she said. “Either they can try and do it themselves, wading through the many pages on the Pension Regulator website and struggling to find the support they need, or they could use an IFA or an accountant, who may not specialise in auto-enrolment and could be an expensive solution.

“What we are offering is a streamlined, cost-effective service combining a high-quality pension scheme with all the supporting documentation you need for your staff and your business.

“We also offer on-going support, if needed, with employee assessments and communications, through our specialist auto-enrolment payroll bureau.

"Our aim is to reduce the burden of auto-enrolment as much as we can.”

Fines for non-compliance with auto-enrolment start with a ticket from the Pensions Regulator of £400, followed by compound fines, which can cost about £500 per day for a small business.

Miss Withers set up AE FastTrack after meeting small business owners who did not have time to shop about for different pension scheme offerings.