ANN ELLIS


CEO & CO-FOUNDER, MAUVE GROUP


Having the confidence to seize opportunities


If you want to know where global mobility and international management are going next, then it might be good to ask Ann Ellis.


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potting an opportunity to help people on the move back in 1996, Ann and her husband, John, established her


employer of record business Mauve. Developing from its origins in a


windowless office in Italy – leading Ann to nickname it ‘the company in a cupboard’. Mauve is now a multinational company operating in 64 countries – and covering many more – and employing 90 staff. Mauve is equipping all kinds of businesses and international organisations with the tools they need to expand internationally, thrive and grow.


Its services include company set-up, employer


of record, international payroll and compliance, local HR and contracts consultancy, international market research, risk assessments and project management.


ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGES TO HELP BUSINESSES GROW GLOBALLY In many ways, Ann and her husband John have built a company ahead of its time and one always poised for the future. Mauve was one of the first companies in this now booming and highly competitive sector of the global mobility services market. “In the early days when computers really started,


we had online banking and nobody else seemed to have that, so we’ve always been ahead of the times,” says Ann. With resilience and agility core features of the business, Mauve is continuing to grow. The company has tripled in size since the pandemic


when international remote-working became a vital solution to lockdowns and relocation lifecycles thrown into uncertainty. “We have always had remote workers, so when the


pandemic happened, we didn’t find it that difficult to adapt and continue supporting our clients. Our systems were all on the Cloud, most employees had laptops and


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TAKING AND MAKING OPPORTUNITIES Ann, who started her career in teaching, has carved a role for Mauve at the forefront of this emerging sector by having the confidence and focus to take and make opportunities. Mauve was created when her husband was relocated


by telecommunications firm, Orange, to northern Italy to help install its networks. “He was one of Orange’s first 30 employees and there when it was launched,” says Ann. “Then he and his colleagues were headhunted to go and help set up networks outside of the UK. He was lucky to get offered a contract in Italy. I had studied languages and I loved Italy so when he said, ‘I’ve been offered a job in Italy’, I was like, ‘when are we leaving?’ “We moved to Italy in 1995. John and his colleagues


needed to be paid in different currencies, so we decided it would be easiest to set up our own company. We invoiced on their behalf, made sure they were compliant in the country they worked in, and worked on getting them visas and registered on local payroll, then paid them their salaries and made sure they were paying their taxes in the country they were working. That was how we set up the company initially. “We then just followed the likes of Nokia and Ericsson as they grew and built networks all over the world. We


this way of working wasn’t something new for us. The pandemic raised financial and immigration compliance – already top of the Global Mobility and international HR managers’ agenda – even higher. Yet for Ann, who has worked in this challenging area for almost three decades, supporting employers to manage this business-critical arena was an opportunity. “I’ve always loved a challenge,” says Ann. “I think


doing what I’ve been doing in the last 26 years has been continual challenge. I really enjoy that.”


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