Clifton College chooses People First to power growth and engagement

Clifton College, based in Bristol, is a leading independent school offering a continuous, well-structured education for children from age three to 18. With a large team of teaching and support staff, the College delivers academic excellence alongside outstanding pastoral care and a leading cocurricular programme.

To support its ambitions, their team, including Tara Phillis, Head of People, and Freiny Miles, People Operations Manager, recognised the need for a modern HR system that would cut inefficiencies, improve engagement and ensure compliance across its group of schools. Payroll was a particular challenge, proving time-consuming and complex, so the College wanted a solution that would reduce this workload while also giving staff access to accurate payroll information in real time.

After a formal tender, Clifton College selected MHR’s People First platform. The solution brings HR, payroll, workforce management, learning and more into one system. It will give employees and managers intuitive self-service access, while leaders benefit from real-time insight to support smarter decisions.

Clifton College will go live with People First in April 2026, marking the start of a new era of efficiency, engagement and growth.

Tara Phillis, Head of People, said “We’re thrilled to be working with MHR at a crucial time for us. We chose MHR because we want a system that can grow alongside the College. As we pursue growth and expansion, it’s essential to have technology that supports our ambitions, MHR and People First do exactly that.”