The Cezanne 2025 Wrap Up: a look back at our biggest year yet

The Cezanne 2025 Wrap Up: a look back at our biggest year yet in summary:

2025 was a huge year here at Cezanne. From the acquisition of innovative recruitment platform Occupop, to our inclusion on the Fosway 9-Grid, a huge number of system enhancements, award nominations and social events… the past 12 months have been a rollercoaster! Here, we take a look at the special moments that have stood out to us this year, and what our customers can look forward to in 2026.

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As the year winds down and inboxes everywhere fill up with 2026 meeting invite emails, it feels like a good moment to pause, put the kettle on, and look back at what’s been a pretty full-on year here at Cezanne.

It’s no exaggeration to say we’ve had an extraordinary 2025. We’ve launched tonnes of new features, welcomed Occupop, supported thousands of HR & payroll teams, and generally tried to make work-life a little less complicated… all while resisting the urge to start the Christmas countdown in September.

It’s been a year of listening closely to what HR & payroll professionals actually need (and what they really don’t), then getting our heads down and building things that make a genuine difference day to day. From improving the way people manage recruitment, payroll, and performance, to making sure our platform stays flexible enough for real-life businesses. A lot of what we’ve done this year has been about removing friction – and pushing on with our mission to be the most loved and trusted HR & payroll platform on the market.

So, rather than launch into a long list of updates, releases, and “exciting announcements”, we thought we’d round up the highlights that mattered most this year. The things we’re proud of, the progress we’ve made as a business, and the ways we’ve helped HR teams spend less time firefighting – and a bit more time doing the work that actually matters.

Here’s what made 2025 one of the biggest and best years yet for Cezanne…

We made our first-ever acquisition: Occupop!

The biggest – and most important – event of 2025 was the acquisition of award-winning recruitment platform, Occupop. This brought the curtain down on our long-lived recruitment software, InRecruit, and ushered in a new era of smarter, more intuitive recruitment for Cezanne customers.

Cezanne Recruitment software – formerly Occupop – gives HR and hiring teams a more modern, candidate-friendly experience, while still delivering the structure and control growing businesses need. It also means we can now offer a standalone recruitment solution – as well as an HRIS integration – that’s better aligned with how hiring actually works today: collaborative, fast-moving, and focused on attracting the best talent, not just filling roles.

But, the acquisition of Occupop wasn’t just about improving our own tech stack. We welcomed an entirely new team into the Cezanne fold; bringing fresh ideas, deep recruitment expertise, and a shared belief that hiring software should make life easier, not more complicated.

From day one, it’s felt less like an acquisition and more like a collaboration. The Occupop team have already made a big impact across our product, support, and strategy, helping us move faster and think bigger about what great recruitment technology should look like for HR teams. Long may it continue!

Speaking of growth…

With more and more additions and enhancements being made to the Cezanne HR platform, it’s only right that the service around it continues to evolve, too. This year, we’ve invested heavily in strengthening our support, onboarding, development and customer success teams – making sure help is easier to find, quicker to access, and genuinely useful when you need it most. In fact, as a business, over 90 new faces have joined us in the past 18 months alone!

Whether it’s getting new customers up and running smoothly or supporting long-standing ones as their needs change, the focus has been on consistency, clarity, and real human support – not just more features for the sake of it.

… and that’s not all…

Did you know that customers who choose to partner with Cezanne stick with us for an average of over 10 years?! No, really! We’re incredibly grateful for the faith and trust our customers put into both our products and services, and we’re delighted to say that 2025 saw us grow our customer base even further. Over the past 12 months, we’ve seen our customer base increase by over 85%.

However, growth like that only happens when customers see real, long-term value – not just on day one, but year after year. It’s a reminder that while HR software will always evolve, strong partnerships, reliable support, and listening to what HR & payroll teams actually need still matter most. And that’s something we’re very keen to keep building on in the years ahead.

We made it onto the Fosway 9-Grid

A big achievement for everyone here at Cezanne in 2025 was our inclusion on the Fosway 9-Grid for the first time ever. This was a significant milestone for the business, recognising the strength of the Cezanne platform, our market performance, and the value we deliver to customers across the HR and payroll landscape.

Fosway is Europe’s number one HR industry analyst, and the 9-Grid is widely regarded as one of the most respected assessments of HR technology providers. Being featured on the 9-Grid places Cezanne alongside some very well-established names in the market – and is a clear endorsement of the progress we’ve made in recent years.

Most importantly, though, it reflects the work happening behind the scenes every day: building practical, flexible software, listening closely to customer feedback, and supporting organisations as they grow and evolve. For us, it’s not just another badge; it’s a sign we’re moving in the right direction, and one we’re proud to build on.

More fabulous features

2025 was the year we saw a serious levelling up of the Cezanne platform. Over 12 months, our amazing development and product teams rolled out an astounding 178 new product features, and released 10 new core updates – meaning our customers have experienced a platform which as continually evolved to meet the challenges and demands of ever-evolving workplaces.

From AI-powered features that enhance the roll of HR, to slick new mobile apps that offer true self-service functionality, the Cezanne platform really is built to support how people work today — and how they’ll work tomorrow. Practical, flexible, and designed to grow with your organisation, it’s all about giving HR teams the tools they need to stay one step ahead, without adding unnecessary complexity.

Levelling Up at Cezanne Connect

One of the highlights of the year was the return of Cezanne Connect 2025, our flagship customer event, and this time it was bigger, bolder and better than ever.

Held on the 18th November at the stunning De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in London, the day brought together over 300 Cezanne customers for a full schedule of insights, live product demos, thought-provoking discussions, and plenty of proper face-to-face conversations that you just don’t get over Teams or email. It was the perfect forum to celebrate how far we’ve come this year and share our vision for what’s next.

The event kicked off with a keynote from our CEO, Simon Noble, who walked attendees through the platform’s evolution over the last 12 months and set the tone for where we’re heading in 2026; with a focus on beautiful, user-friendly software and a joined-up customer experience.

He also talked candidly about Cezanne’s core mission: to become the most loved and trusted HR & payroll solution on the market. He highlighted how the relationship with our customers is absolutely key, remarking that “We take very seriously what our customers say. We listen to them. We take on their feedback – sometimes good, sometimes not so good – and we action it, and make a difference based on what they say.”

Simon went onto comment that “Today, they will have seen a lot of things they’ve raised in surveys or feedback that we’ve actually taken the task of fixing, improving upon or adding. We also do genuinely want to enable HR & Payroll professionals to be more effective and elevate them within their organisations. We’re a genuine cheerleader and champion of what they do, and how they do it.”

From there, customers got early looks at product enhancements, took part in lively panels about making the most of their HR tech investments, and even had opportunities for hands-on chats with our product experts… not to mention try their hands at our selection of arcade machines!

Cezanne Connect also showcased why community matters. The Second Annual Cezanne Client Awards crowned organisations who are pushing HR and payroll excellence to new heights, recognising teams that are innovating, embracing technology, and driving real results. It was a memorable day of connection, learning, and celebration; not to mention a timely reminder that while we build great software, it’s the people who use it that make it truly special.

For a full rundown of what happened at Cezanne Connect 2025, just click here.

More events and collaborations than ever!

If you happened to attend any of the big HR or payroll events of the year, you’d have likely have seen a fabulous team from Cezanne there, too!

2025 saw us exhibiting at a whole host of events up and down the country; including the huge HR Technologies Show, CIPD ACE, CIPP ACE, Rec Fest and the Festival of Work. We’ve also been privileged to continue our partnership with the HR Ninjas; a growing community of over 38,000 members that supports HR professionals with free peer to peer advice & support. Only this month, we helped organise their amazing Christmas Party for their members, and also released an exclusive investigative report into the hot topic of pay transparency.

We’re looking forward to attending even more events and forging even stronger bonds with the Ninjas community in 2026.

The 2025 Personnel Today Awards

This year also marked a major milestone for Cezanne, with our first-ever nomination at the renowned Personnel Today Awards for HR Tech Provider of the Year. It’s a genuine reflection of just how far both the platform and the business have come over the past 24 months: from accelerated product development to a growing focus on real-world HR challenges.

While we didn’t take home the trophy on the night, being recognised by industry peers alongside some of the very best in HR tech is something we’re incredibly proud of. It’s a strong vote of confidence in the work our teams do every day, and a clear sign we’re heading in the right direction. Consider this our warm-up… we’ll be back next year!

Fun fun fun…

While 2025 was undoubtedly our busiest year yet, we still made time to step away from our desks (virtually or otherwise), get together, and let our collective hair down. Because great work is important, but so is enjoying the people you do it with.

Our brilliant Social and People Teams kept the calendar well and truly full across our London, Glasgow, and Dublin offices. From kicking off the year together in the brilliant city of Newcastle, to organising Spring and Summer socials, Halloween competitions, Christmas parties, and plenty in between… there was rarely a month that didn’t include an excuse to get together, catch up, and have a proper good time.

And, it wasn’t just in-person events that brought everyone together. 2025 saw the expansion of our social clubs; where like-minded members of the Cezanne business could get together – both virtually or in-person – to share their love of all sorts of stuff – from beers to gym training, films to skiing, there’s genuinely now something for everyone to enjoy… when they’re not working of course…

So, what about 2026?

If you thought 2025 was a big year for us, strap in: because 2026 is shaping up to be positively massive.

We can’t give too much away just yet (no spoilers), but our teams are already hard at work on brand-new functionality for the Cezanne platform that will genuinely take things up a notch. Add to that a steady stream of enhancements and upgrades rolling out throughout the year, and customers can expect an even more intuitive, powerful user experience – with plenty to look forward to.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this round up of our year, and we look forward to seeing you all again in the new year. In the meantime, have wonderfully peaceful Christmas break – you’ve earned it!