Zellis

Profile narrative

Zellis is a payroll provider headquartered in the United Kingdom. The organisation delivers payroll processing services to a variety of employers across the public and private sectors. Its core offering includes the calculation of gross earnings, application of tax and national insurance deductions, and generation of net pay. Zellis also manages the production of payslips, year‑end tax documents, and statutory reporting to HM Revenue & Customs. The service handles the storage and transmission of personal employee data such as names, addresses, national insurance numbers, and bank account details. By concentrating on payroll, Zellis operates within the human resources technology and financial services sectors. The platform is designed to support regular payroll cycles, including weekly, fortnightly, and monthly payments. Clients rely on Zellis to ensure accurate and timely compensation while maintaining compliance with UK employment legislation.

In May 2023, a zero‑day vulnerability in the MOVEit file transfer tool was exploited, leading to a cyber incident that affected Zellis. The breach resulted in unauthorized access to payroll data belonging to several of Zellis’s clients. Among the affected organisations were the BBC, British Airways, Boots, and Aer Lingus, demonstrating that Zellis serves high‑profile employers in media, aviation, retail, and airline industries. Exposed information included names, addresses, national insurance numbers, and, for a subset of individuals, bank account details. The Clop ransomware gang was identified as the threat actor responsible for exploiting the MOVEit vulnerability. Despite their involvement, the gang publicly stated that they did not retain the data taken from Zellis’s clients. The incident underscores Zellis’s role as a custodian of sensitive employee information and highlights the reliance on secure file transfer solutions for payroll operations. It also illustrates the potential cascading impact of a single software vulnerability on multiple large organisations that depend on third‑party payroll providers.

Incidents

1 incident linked to this organisation.