Ciphr shortlisted for prestigious business awards
Ciphr has been shortlisted for five awards at the 2026 Thames Valley Tech & Innovation Awards, including tech company of the year
Integrated HR and payroll software provider Ciphr has been shortlisted in five categories at this year’s Thames Valley Tech and Innovation Awards.
The prestigious awards, organised by Insider Media and The Business Magazine, celebrate the achievements of tech businesses across the Thames Valley region.
Ciphr, which is based in Reading and has over 230 employees, is up for five accolades, including Thames Valley Tech Company of the Year, Large Tech Enterprise of the Year, and High Growth Company of the Year.
Ciphr’s CEO, Sion Lewis, and his executive team have been selected as finalists for the Tech Leadership Team of the Year award, in recognition of their stellar leadership, strategic vision, and commitment to innovation.
The company is also hoping to retain the coveted title of Tech Employer of the Year, which it won in 2025.
Sion Lewis, CEO of Ciphr, says: “These awards recognise the region’s top tech companies, and we are honoured to be among them. Being shortlisted is a great accolade for Ciphr and a credit to our customers and employees alike.
“Over the past few years, we’ve invested in long-term growth rather than short-term wins – reflecting our commitment to delivering innovative, functionality-rich people management solutions that help UK organisations work smarter, stay compliant, and put their people first.
“We are serving more customers than ever, and a record number of people are engaging with our platform daily. I’m really excited about the opportunities that lie ahead for Ciphr, as we continue to build and grow our business.”
Some highlights of 2025 for Ciphr include the launch of Ciphr Payroll, a ground-breaking, real-time cloud payroll solution (which went on to win best Software Product of the Year at the CIPP's Excellence Awards in October 2025), and the subsequent launch of Ciphr’s next-gen HR and payroll integration. The integration’s innovative pause/resume data synch and selective processing capabilities gives payroll and HR admins complete control over their respective data flows and removes the friction of disconnected systems.
Ciphr’s fully integrated product suite now also includes Ciphr Benefits for the first time. Having everything connected in one suite ensures admin users from HR, payroll, benefits, and L&D teams can work from the same up-to-date people data: from recruitment and onboarding to HR, learning, cloud payroll, and benefits and rewards. Creating a more resilient, transparent process that reduces manual admin tasks and the risks of human error.
Other new features introduced in 2025 include an HR analytics suite, with pre-configured dashboards and robust reporting tools, an onboarding module, a microlearning suite for UK businesses, refreshed mobile access, an AI form summarisation tool (available to all customers with the talent management module), and personalised AI coaching thanks to a new partnership with MyTeamBuilder.
More recent innovations include the rollout of Ciphr’s AI HR assistant to its HR customers. Designed to improve self-service, users can view and cross-reference their people data in seconds, produce quick reports, and perform routine tasks via simple conversational queries. It’s changing how people interact with their HR system and already delivering genuine efficiency gains.
And, because Ciphr AI is built into the suite, rather than a third-party add-on, users will benefit from better, more secure, data-led insights across the full employee lifecycle.
Claire Hawes, chief people and operations officer at Ciphr, adds: “I'm incredibly proud of what our teams have achieved. To be nominated for five Thames Valley Tech and Innovation Awards reflects the journey we’ve been on as a business, and is an incredible recognition of our people first and foremost, who care deeply about getting it right for our customers and providing an excellent experience.
“I’m proud of our credentials as a top tech employer. People are at the heart of what we do, and we’re committed to empowering our employees and fostering a workplace where everyone thrives.”
The winners of the 2026 Thames Valley Tech and Innovation Awards will be announced on Thursday 9 July at Hilton Reading Hotel.
Ciphr has also been included in the 2026 edition of the Thames Valley 250 – an annual ranking that celebrates the top privately-owned businesses in the region, listed by annual sales turnover. As well as the 2026 Thames Valley SME Growth 100 list, for businesses with turnovers of up to £30m.
Ciphr is the go-to HR, payroll and benefits software partner for UK organisations with 200 to 2,000 employees. Its integrated HR, payroll, benefits, recruitment, and learning software, services and content provide invaluable insights to HR teams to help inform their people strategy and grow and develop their organisations. Ciphr is on a mission to amplify the voice and value of HR through intelligent people data solutions that help HR be heard – in the boardroom and across the business.
More than 1,400 organisations use people management solutions from Ciphr, including Natural History Museum, Haygrove, Amaze Hotels, Barnardo's, University of Cambridge, CitySprint, Crisis UK, Coople, Greater London Authority, the Irish Universities Association, Lebara, Action Against Hunger, Eversheds Sutherland, the Church of England, Evri, Allpay, Jonas, Taylor Wessing, Newcastle University, Bunzl, Bluelight Commercial, Prudential, University of Oxford, Together Housing, AND Digital, Knauf, Aptos, and Crest Nicholson.
For more information, please visit www.ciphr.com.
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