Aquila Heywood

What Aquila Heywood does

Aquila Heywood (trading as Heywood) is a UK-based pension technology company that has been operating in the workplace pensions market for approximately 50 years. The company provides a vertically integrated software and data services platform to pension schemes, third-party administrators, UK employers, trustees, and insurers. Its flagship product, the Altair pension administration platform, is described as the most widely used pension administration platform in the UK market, supporting more than 8 million members across 180+ customer schemes, administrators, and employers. Notable named customers include Tesco, the Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA), Royal London, and Next.

The product portfolio is structured around four core platforms: Altair for pension administration, Heywood Passport for pension risk transfer and bulk purchase annuities, Heywood Engage (and Heywood Video Engage) for member-facing digital engagement, and Pensions Dashboards ISP (including the Possible Match Resolver) for UK regulatory compliance connectivity. A data services suite complements the platforms, including Heywood Insights, data quality services, GMP equalisation solutions, mortality and care home screening, McCloud compliance modules, Spouse Append+, i-Connect, and the Heywood Calculations Manager. The platform processes approximately 500 million data items annually, and the company's Pension Pulse research programme is built on analysis of 3 million member records. The technology is supported by an agile development model and an extensive information security posture, including ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, ISO 27701, and SOC 1/SOC 2 Type I and II/SOC 3 certifications.

Heywood operates a B2B subscription-based revenue model with bespoke annual enterprise pricing, supplemented by implementation, data migration, and consulting professional services. The company sells exclusively through a consultative direct enterprise sales motion targeting UK pension schemes, third-party administrators, employers, trustees, and insurers, with no use of resellers or indirect channels. The company is privately held, with no disclosed funding rounds, parent company, or external investment, and has approximately 200 employees. Its commercial positioning is reinforced by consecutive European Pensions Awards wins in 2023, 2024, and 2025, and additional recognition at the Pensions Age, MoneyAge, and Investor in Customers programmes. Leadership comprises Andy Ross as Chief Executive Officer and Finlay Ross as Founder and Executive Chairman.

Name

Aquila Heywood

Legal name

Heywood

Website

https://aquilaheywood.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1975

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Aquila Heywood provides UK pension administration technology through its flagship Altair platform, serving 8 million members across 180+ pension schemes, administrators, and employers with subscription-based software, data services, risk transfer, and dashboards compliance modules.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pension Administration Software

NAICS

Pension Funds (52511), Pension Funds (525110), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

Benefits Administration (BPACAPAC)

Keywords

• Pension administration software
• Workplace pension technology
• Pension risk transfer
• Pension data services
• Member engagement platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Redhill

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Software Platform Licensing (Altair): Recurring software licensing for the Altair pension administration platform, which is the most widely used in the UK market. Delivered as a hosted/managed service with ongoing support, migrations, and updates included.
2. Specialist Module Licensing: Additional modules and specialist solutions including Altair Payroll, Heywood Calculations Manager, Mortality & Care Home Screening, GMP Equalisation Solutions, McCloud compliance, and Spouse Append+, typically sold as add-ons to the core platform.
3. Pension Risk Transfer Solutions (Heywood Passport): Technology and advisory support for Bulk Purchase Annuities and de-risking transactions, serving trustees, insurers, pension schemes, and advisors.
4. Member Engagement Solutions: Heywood Engage and Heywood Video Engage platforms for member-facing digital engagement, sold to pension schemes and administrators seeking improved member outcomes.
5. Pensions Dashboards ISP: Compliance-focused dashboard connectivity solutions ensuring pension schemes meet regulatory dashboards requirements, delivered as a certified ISP service.
6. Professional Services & Implementation: Implementation, data migration, and consulting services supporting the deployment and ongoing use of Heywood platforms.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Aquila Heywood develops and licenses the Altair pension administration platform and related software (Heywood Passport for pension risk transfer, Heywood Engage for member engagement, Pensions Dashboards ISP, and a data services suite) to UK pension schemes, third-party pension administrators and employers. Offerings are delivered as hosted/managed software with annual subscriptions, supplemented by implementation, data migration and specialist consulting services, and are built specifically around UK workplace pension regulation (pensions dashboards, McCloud, GMP equalisation).

Product overview

Heywood operates as a platform-plus-modules provider of pension technology solutions. The core offerings include: Altair (the most widely used pension administration platform in the UK market) and Altair Payroll as its add-on module; a comprehensive suite of Data Services including Heywood Insights, Data Quality, GMP Equalisation Solutions, Mortality & Care Home Screening, McCloud, Spouse Append+, and Heywood i-Connect; Heywood Passport for pension risk transfer and bulk purchase annuities with specialised PRT solutions for trustees, insurers, pension schemes, and advisors; Heywood Engage and Heywood Video Engage for member engagement; Pensions Dashboards ISP and Possible Match Resolver for pensions dashboard compliance. The portfolio is unified by their data-driven approach, processing 500 million data items per year across 8 million members on their platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Altair: The most widely used pension administration platform on the market, offering seamless migrations, expert support, and scalable calculations.
• Heywood Passport
• Heywood Engage
• Heywood Video Engage
• Heywood Insights
• Data Quality
• GMP Equalisation Solutions
• Mortality & Care Home Screening
• McCloud
• Spouse Append+
• i-Connect
• Heywood Calculations Manager
• Pensions Dashboards ISP
• Possible Match Resolver
• Altair Payroll

Quantifiable outcome

• 500 million data items processed per year
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Equiniti: Equiniti provides UK pension administration technology and services alongside its share registration business, competing head-to-head with Altair for large scheme and third-party administrator workloads.
• Civica: Civica supplies software for UK public services including pension administration modules used by LGPS funds and other public-sector schemes, competing with Altair in government and large scheme segments where SPPA is a notable Heywood reference.
• XPS Pensions Group: XPS is a UK-focused pensions consulting and administration business with significant DB scheme administration and pensions dashboard capability, directly comparable to Heywood's trustee and administrator-facing offering.
• Now: Pensions: Now: Pensions is a UK workplace pension master trust serving employers with auto-enrolment obligations, comparable to Heywood's employer/contract-based customer base for workplace pensions technology.
• Capita Pension Solutions: Capita is a major UK outsourcer with a dedicated Pensions Solutions business providing administration software and services to UK DB and DC schemes — directly competing with Heywood's Altair platform for trustee and administrator customers.
• Smart Pension: Smart is a UK workplace pension provider operating its own master trust and administration platform — overlapping with Heywood's employer and DC scheme customers, though more DC-focused than DB.

Broad incumbents

• Legal & General: Legal & General is a UK life insurer and major bulk annuity provider; it overlaps with Heywood Passport on the insurer side of pension risk transfer and competes indirectly for scheme de-risking mandates.
• Mercer: Mercer is a global consulting firm with deep UK pensions administration and advisory services, competing with Heywood for large scheme mandates while offering broader investment and benefits consulting.
• WTW (Willis Towers Watson): WTW is a global actuarial and pensions technology consultancy with significant UK DB and DC administration operations; it is a broader incumbent that overlaps with Heywood's schemes and risk transfer work but spans consulting, broking, and software.
• Aviva: Aviva is a major UK life and pensions provider with workplace pension and bulk annuity capability, overlapping with Heywood's scheme, employer, and risk transfer customer ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@heywoodltd
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aquilaheywood
• Instagraminstagram.com/HeyPensionTech

Compliance8 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Aquila Heywood