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DEVIZES AND WESTBURY HEAD FOR THE BORDER
Devizes Building Supplies and Westbury Building Supplies have made decisions regarding the software they use in their merchants.
A
fter a successful system installation and an on-site training programme, independent builders merchant Devizes Building Supplies and its sister company Westbury Building Supplies went live with CounterAct on the 1st August 2019.
CounterAct is the software system from Border, one of the UK’s leading suppliers of software dedicated to timber, roofing, plumbing, ironmongers and builder merchants. Designed as a tailor-made system for merchants, ranging from small family run single sites, to large multi-branch companies, CounterAct is one of the most user friendly software systems available on the market today.
Devizes Building Supplies’ previous software supplier was retiring and gave them a year’s notice period to allow them to source an alternative. During this time they shortlisted five suppliers and invited them to perform a one hour demonstration each. From this they shortlisted three potential providers, eventually selecting Border Merchant Systems and their intuitive CounterAct software as their supplier of choice.
Barclay Matthews, director of Devizes and Westbury explains why he felt that Border was “the best fit” for them. “We went for a supplier that we felt ‘comfortable with’, whose people and cultures aligned with our own and with our values. The CounterAct software also met all of our requirements, but for us it was a ‘gut reaction’ to engage a supplier who we felt really understood our needs”
The process started with the extraction of data from Devizes system which was given to Border to process. The information was then returned to Devizes and they had one month to ‘tidy up’ the data. Barclay explains why this
step was so critical “This process allowed us to eliminate duplicate data, corrupt information and old data that needed updating or removing. For example, supplier details and their products needed to match; we looked at cost prices and even item descriptions. It was really worth the time to make sure the information we returned to Border for a second time was accurate as it prevented problems arising when we went live.” The hardware was installed in March 2019 by Border and staff training started with four visits by Border personnel. “The quality of the training was excellent, there was almost ‘too much information’ to take in”, explains Barclay. “However, we were then given a test system to ‘play with’ for two months prior to go live and this allowed our staff to test and experiment with the system and further improve their confidence, understanding and knowledge.”
Going Live
Go live went to plan in August 2019. “This process could not have gone better, in fact it was exceptional”, stated Barclay. “Our expectations were for customers not to notice the difference – and it worked.
This may sound a strange aspiration but with any internal business change you don’t want the customer to notice the changes, or for it to affect their business, unless it is in a positive way.”
The Benefits
“One of the biggest benefits is that our system is fully integrated across our two separate limited companies – they are both run from the same system making information sharing transparent but allowing us to also operate as two VAT registered companies”, explains Barclay. Devizes and Westbury are using new parts of software such as purchase ledger information. “Many customers prefer electronic invoices and statements which can now be emailed. Prior to CounterAct we were manually producing this documentation.” One of the biggest improvements for the businesses has been the use of CounterAct’s Management Information System (MIS). “We can now analyse ‘real’ information and we are not ‘reacting’ to business day to day, but can plan using forecasting and data from the system. For example, stock holdings, we
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net April 2020
have less ‘stock outs’, we can monitor slower moving items and are able to maintain healthy levels of stock across our branches. Cash flow and forecasting is greatly improved, we can see what is due in, and due out, in a quick and easy to use spreadsheet. It has taken much of the guesswork out of the business and given us accurate data, for example, outstanding invoices for both our suppliers and to our customers, who we need to pay, and when, and which accounts are overdue,” said Barclay.
Ongoing improvements “We are still learning at seven months into the process but have become fairly self- sufficient in the use of the system already. When we have had issues or queries, Border’s helpdesk has given us information quickly and efficiently. Updates are free and the system is always evolving.”
“The transition has been seamless, and in many ways, the customers have not noticed the difference which for us is a great success. Border has been a pleasure to work with, and our ‘gut feeling’ about the business and the people was spot-on, they are decent people who genuinely want to help our business,” he concludes.
Phil Davies, commercial manager at Border stated: “Robust and adaptable Software is at the heart of any successful business. We are delighted that Devizes and Westbury have chosen Border and our dedicated software. At Border we continue to grow as a business with CounterAct evolving to meet the ever changing demands within the builders’ merchant sector. We look forward to working with them for many years to come.” BMJ
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