Vale Nicholas Beames (5 March 1975 – 15 January 2026)

Astute Payroll founder and former CEO, Nicholas Beames passed away last Thursday, aged 50.

Beames was an outgoing and popular figure in the local recruitment industry, although he was rarely sighted at industry events after leaving Astute ten years ago.

Like many Australians of his vintage, Beames’s overseas travels in the late 1990s led him to London. He recruited in the finance sector before returning to Australia and founding his first recruitment agency at the age of 24. Subsequently, he worked at Ross Human Directions and Morgan Consulting.

Bored as an employee Beames left and started, what was to become one of the Australian recruitment industry's most high-profile vendors.

Astute Payroll started life as Aspire Human Capital Management, a Melbourne-based recruitment agency founded by Beames and David Matthews in 2006.

After a trademark dispute over the Aspire brand, the business changed its name to Astute People Solutions.

Matthews left the business in mid-2008 and the following year Marcus Webb joined as Product Director and cofounder of the new technology company, as the recruitment side of the business was closed.

By 2011, the Astute People brands included TimesheetsOnline (time and attendance), Astute Payroll (payroll management), InterviewGOLD (candidate preparation) and RecruitSure (interview management).

I met Nick in 2009 and subsequently hosted the national roadshow that launched Nick’s book, Different Thinking in 2011, a modern update of the concept pioneered in Australia ten years earlier by Tony Hall in his book First Interview: Success Secrets of Australia’s Top Recruiters.

I found Nick to be engaging and quick-witted, and I enjoyed spending time with him during the roadshow.

Astute Payroll’s ascent was perfect timing as paper timesheets were quickly becoming an anachronism of the Twentieth Century. Recruitment agencies and labour hire firms were eager to convert one of their most resource-intensive processes into one of their least resource-intensive ones.

The company received consistent public recognition, via various awards, including:

• Consensus Software Award – Winner 2012

• BRW Fast 100 Award 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014

• Smart Company Smart50 Award 2011 and 2012

• Deloitte Technology Fast50 Awards 2012, 2013 and 2016

By 2014, business was going so well that Beames and Webb found themselves on BRW's list of Australia's most wealthy self-made people aged 40 or under, at number 83 with a net worth of $25 million.

Astute Payroll’s Client Services Director, Shelley Mackie, who joined the business in its first year, described the demarcation of responsibilities between Beames and Webb in a message to me earlier this week.

The early stages of Astute Payroll were shaped through a partnership of distinct but complementary responsibilities with Marcus Webb. Marcus led the design, build, and development of Astute Payroll, establishing the technical and operational foundations of what is now a comprehensive workforce management system used by over 400 agencies in 3 countries. Nick focused on running the business and back-office processes, helping to put in place the structures that allowed the wider team to concentrate on selling, building and improving the product.

Beames’s departure from Astute in late 2016 “..to pursue other career and business opportunities” was both unexpected and never fully explained publicly.

Astute Payroll was acquired by ASX-listed PayGroup in November 2019 and PayGroup was subsequently acquired by US-based private global payroll and compliance firm, Deel, for $121 million in late 2022. Webb, who ascended to the CEO role upon Beames’s exit, left Astute and PayGroup at the time of the Deel announcement in mid-2022

Unfortunately, the friendship of Beames and Webb did not survive the rocky waters of business ownership, and they remained estranged at the time of Beames’s death.

In the years after leaving Astute, Beames continued his entrepreneurial ventures, founding Sami Insurance and Rounded, accounting software for freelancers and sole traders. Neither achieved anything like the success of Astute Payroll.

Sadly, Beames’s health declined over the past few years as he succumbed to hereditary addiction issues. The cause of his death has not been released.

Nicholas Beames is survived by his wife, Clare and three sons. Devastatingly, Clare is dealing with her own health issues at the moment so Nick’s recent passing is especially traumatic for his family.

I am deeply saddened by Nick’s death.

Nick impacted many people and businesses in the recruitment industry through his entrepreneurial drive and engaging personality.

Like many driven and successful people, he had another side to his personality that ultimately contributed significantly to his tragically too-short life.

Rest in peace, Nick, your legacy in the Australian recruitment industry lives on.

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